Zombie Apocalypse

Forget the Cranberries (why would you even consider serving zombies berries anyway?), this is a serious pickle! Over a thousand walking dead, including several greasy fatty ones. The family-coffin-sized guys. Not the best in military strategy, but heck, who cares whether you simply follow the infamous Red Army ‘nas mnogo’ doctrine as long as you actually outnumber your foes five hundred to one? And you don’t really care about casualties, since the cannon fodder has already fed a few cannons? Over a thousand zombies, @honeydue and I, and one heck of a realistic free-roam VR experience. Happy New Year, suckers!

Not the best plot ever. You’re among the last surviving humans, meant to protect scientists struggling to figure out the cure for a zombifying virus. Or whatever, the story is not what you really care about before getting handed a futuristic weapon, both an assault rifle and a shotgun, and the VR headset with blacked-out goggles. Take a few baby steps into the arena… and learn how to shoot your gun. The adventure is about to begin.

I’ve played VR games, the home version. I’ve been to a free fall/flying simulator. This, however, is a completely different level. You communicate with your teammates through the headset, hearing them over the headphones even if they stand by your side. The graphics are surprisingly realistic, at least until it comes to climbing up ledges or walking down stairs. This feels weird. Yet believe you me; when we were meant to get up onto a skyscraper roof to hop on a helicopter and had to climb a ledge John McClane-style since the elevator got jammed, we both shook in our boots. What would happen if we stepped into thin air? Who knows!

VR is undoubtedly the future of gaming. And of lifestyle, too. Combined with various augmented reality gadgets, starting with goggles that already exist and leading to similar helmets we used. Will we end up lost in the maze of virtual realities tailored to our needs and expectations? From simple shooting games to second lives, that would eventually grow more important than our real lives, the ones we still consider the primary ones? I can see that coming: a game is always easier than real life (this one was for sure – who’d pay for a game if they ended up torn by zombies after the first two minutes?). Will we give up on dating just to cherish a perfect VR mate somewhere in cyberspace?

A few years ago, during the NFT boom, Facebook even rebranded to Meta, aiming to sell nonexistent properties and fictitious goods in the Metaverse. A virtual realm that could possibly become that cyberspace. And it may still come; it’s just that we still don’t have the technology accessible and affordable to the masses. Although, I can imagine the upfront cost being quite affordable, with a pricey subscription to cover the costs. It will become pretty addictive anyway. Fancy a flying car? Feel like spending a gloomy January evening? Just subscribe to our Economy Lite plan, and get up to three vacations a month! Multiplayer-ready, although you can still get NPCs tailored to your taste, and I guess these are way cooler and more obliging than your ~~real life~~ friends anyway. Upgrade to Economy Premium, and you can have twice as many friends AND a fancy mansion by the beach! Suitable for garden parties!

So much for your free time. It's quite likely that two to five years from now, office workers will work in VR. Instead of meeting your colleagues for a coffee break, mocking people who are sipping coffee in the building across the street, you’ll just unplug and make yourself some Nescafé in the grey, dull reality. Before plugging back in, since your 11 a.m. stand-up is about to begin. No commuting, no large offices needed, and let’s face it, anything’s better than Teams meetings. You’d be able to use your time more efficiently. Or, rather, spend more time in your Economy Premium VR.

The real apocalypse, albeit zombie-free? Or just a paradigm shift? Like when the Internet and smartphones took over our lives? Can you imagine interacting with your folks and friends, shopping, traveling, or simply just living without that little thingy in your palm? We spend quite a significant amount of money on these devices. And they already augment our reality. Are smartphones actually taking over our lives, as I suggested above, or just augmenting them to our benefit? That, perhaps, depends on your personality. VR and AR would do the same, just to a far greater extent.

Anyway, we did complete the game, eliminating a battalion of zombies and a villain in a helicopter. We even reached quite a high score, both as a team and as individuals. Definitely not bad for complete rookies. And, interestingly, we both walked some 1,200 meters in 30 minutes of gameplay. I mean we actually walked that distance in the arena. It didn’t feel like that, but we did. That, perhaps, shows how immersive VR already is. If you have a chance, give it a shot yourself. Before it turns your life upside down.