I have my dad to thank for a lot of things, but as I've gotten older, I've really come to appreciate all of the movies, games, and music he shared with me as I was growing up. From feeding my love of '80s music with bands like The Jam, Queen, Tears for Fears, and The Police, to watching countless movies together both old and new, his tastes opened me up to all kinds of genres. Eventually, dad's penchant for zombie-related graphic novels, TV shows, and movies found its way into our rotation, and it soon became an education in cult classic horror –- I'm talking Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Day of the Dead. I'm not going to lie, George A Romero's gory special effects always scared me, as did the idea of zombies in general, but the films were something we bonded over.
I guess it sounds kind of funny to bond with your dad over fictional flesh-eating fiends, but eventually that would bleed over into the world of games through the only co-op zombie survival game I've ever enjoyed: State of Decay 2. That's not to say that other experiences that tap into this genre are bad, it's just that as a self-confessed scaredy-cat who's actually terrified of the idea of getting attacked by zombies, Undead Labs' open-world base builder is (so far) the only one I can actually handle. That's mostly down to the fact that I can face the hordes, search for supplies, and try to stay alive with my dad watching my back, but I also love the sense of teamwork it's always encouraged between us. The series is something of an anomaly for me, but the way it's brought me and my dad together in years past just makes me all the more excited for it to return with State of Decay 3.
