Humans Versus Zombies

Nerf guns and orange bandanas could be seen on the students all over Utah State University campus this week. Bandanas worn on student’s heads meant they were zombies. Bandanas worn on the arm meant they were still human.

Humans Versus Zombies is a popular game that was played by USU students this week.

“It’s just basically a glorified game of tag,” said Brice Colby, one of the administrators of HVZ.

This semester held the fourth HVZ game to be played at Utah State and a new aspect was added to it. In past games, there were storylines connected to HVZ that would be played out like a real zombie apocalypse. It was all the same this semester but in addition, there were more characters than just humans and zombies.

“We split the humans up into three different groups,” Colby said. “This time we thought it would be a little more interesting, so they’re kind of competing against each other for mission objectives, while at the same time trying to fight off the zombies.”

There was a group of humans with a storyline focus to find a cure for the zombies. There was a group who were warrior type with the objective to kill all the zombies. Lastly there was a group that was in-between with the objective for reconciling differences between the humans and the zombies, Colby said.

“They’re just more of a fun thing to do,” said Dallen Baldwin about the storyline and character objectives. “I played last semester and there were issues I had about the story. I think this one’s actually really fun. It kind of makes it more like a real zombie apocalypse idea.”

Even with the new addition, students still commented on the lack of participation this semester.

“For the first three games, we’ve had well over 800 people sign up,” Colby said. “This time we’ve had about 400 sign up and about 300 actually playing.”

Some students think the lack of participation was because of bad timing.

“It’s because they decided to do it after spring break,” said Baldwin. “It was harder to do advertising. If they would have waited one more week, they would have had more people.”

Because of the lack of participation, some students feel it brings a damper on the game.

“This year it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of zombies trying,” said Zak Ricklefs, a student that played HVZ. “This zombie snuck up on me at the TSC while I was on the stairs. I turned around and saw him and he was probably 15 feet from me. He said, ‘Ah, you got me.’ I was like, ‘you’re not even going to try?’”

Despite some problems, students have continued to love and play the game.

“I played fall semester too and I loved it,” said Baldwin. “It kind of caters to a specific audience and I love it.”