EGN Annoyed my inner nerd, but I still wanna play this game

I've got a post about Walking Dead coming up in a day or two, but since we're nearing the end of Zombie Awareness Month, and I have yet to do any zombie-themed posts for May, I figured I'd add another.  In this case, I'm also motivated by the issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly I picked up today.  Cover story: Dead Island.

I normally don't bother with it, but I've been following information on this game since first seeing this:




Did you watch it?  Did you?!  As horrific as it is heartbreaking, this micro-family-drama-in-reverse is possibly the best game trailer ever.  I'll grant you, some of my reaction to this video probably has something to do with my deep and abiding interest in all things zombie.  But still.  Did you watch the video?

So, of course, I had to buy this issue of EGM.

Overall, I was pleased: an interview with the developer, new screen caps... what's not to love?  I'll tell you what: "John Romero."

Not Id's John Romero, of "about to make you his b*tch" fame -- though come to think of it, that may have been part of the problem in editing the piece -- but the creator of the original Dead trilogy, King George Himself.  It may seem a little nitpicky to complain that an article about a zombie game accidentally called the godfather of All Things Zombie by the wrong name -- heck it happens all the time; and EGM probably has "John Romero" in its auto-correct database -- but still.  All I'm sayin' is, if you're doing a piece about a game that was clearly inspired by the Dead films, in a genre practically invented by the creator of those films, and reaching a core audience of fans of those same films, George Romero is a pretty important name to get right.  (Note: At least they got it right in the online 'zine.)

Again, this is forgivable.  What isn't is that the writer seems not to have actually seen any zombie movies, but is instead basing all his or her comparisons to zombie movies on what he or she has seen referenced in and among pop culture.  Example, references to slow zombies as "Romero" archetypes and following it up with "Think: Braaaaiiiiiiins."  Maybe it's just the fanboy in me, but I have a serious problem with a write-up of a zombie game making the assumption that, A, people wouldn't understand what a Romero zombie is and, B, that those same people could get the basic 'gist' as long as they've seen footage of Dan O'Bannon's parody.  Y'know, in spite of the fact that the "Living Dead" in Romero's and O'Bannon's movies were actually very, very different.  Okay, yeah... I'm probably being nitpicky again. 

Apart from that, the write-up and interview are well worth checking out.  In the meantime, I'm still looking forward to this game.