User blog:Wassboss/Halloween Special: Zombies (PvZ) vs Infected (L4D)

Welcome one and all to Wass's annual Halloween battle. Zombies are all the rage these days with a plethora of Movies, Television Programs and, most relevent for this battle, Video Games devoted to bringing these brain munchers to life. Today we pit two of video games' most prominent undead combatants against each other for control over the zombie apocalypse. But in the end whoever wins, humanity loses;

The Infected: The Green Flu infected individuals whose only purpose is to kill humans.

vs

Zombies: Doctor Zomboss's Creations, out to get the brains of one determined home-owner

Who is Deadliest

The Infected
"It's them or us!"

- Coach, on the Infected. The Infected are Left 4 Dead's take on the classic movie and pop-fiction zombie. But rather than being undead, they are living humans who have been Infected by the Green Flu virus, causing massively increased aggression and loss of many higher brain functions such as speech and self-preservation. Unlike cinematic Zombies, those present in the Left 4 Dead series attack human victims but do not attempt to eat them.

Common Infected "Holy shit, zombies are real. I KNEW it"
 * -|Standard Enemy =

- Ellis.

The Common Infected are, as the name suggests, the most commonly encountered infected in the game. They can be found just sitting or standing about but turn aggressive when attacked or when exposed to loud noises such as gunfire or explosions. They are very fast, easily able to catch up with the survivors but are not very tough and a well placed bullet or melee swing is usually enough to take them down. Their attacks consist of punches and kicks and unlike other zombies in the media, do not try to eat their victims, suggesting their motivation is nothing more than mindless aggression.

Numbers: 150 Charger "He's bashing me into shit!"
 * -|Heavy Hitter =

- Ellis.

The Charger is a powerfully built member of the infected, most notably on his right arm, which has grown to massive size at the expensive of his left arm, which has become shrunken and useless. The Charger's main form of attack, as his name suggests, is charging at an opponent and grabbing hold of them, knocking aside any survivor standing near enough to be hit by the charge. He will then proceed to pummel his opponent into the ground until they are dead, at which point he must wait for his attack to recharge. He can also swing his arm as a club, which does high damage.

Numbers: 2 Boomer "Boomer, don't let it puke on you."
 * -|Exploder =

- Zoey.

The Boomer is a large, bloated infected and his large size helps him to store his main weapon; his Boomer Bile. The Boomer is capable of projectile vomiting which can be aimed to hit multiple targets with one stream. The bile obscures the view of any hit survivors and also has the added effect of attracting a horde to attack the coated victims. This attack needs to be recharged after each use. When the Boomer is killed they will explode, coating any opponent in the resulting area with Bile, attracting a horde and knocking the surrounding enemies back. The Boomer can also claw at an opponent, although it does very little damage. For this battle for every successful bile hit, the Boomer will attract 10 more common infected to the battle.

Numbers: 5 Hunter "Yeah, you better hide! Sweatshirt wearin' little wuss"
 * -|The Sneaky One =

- Francis The Hunter may look like like a common infected but in reality he's much more powerful.The Hunter is incredibly agile and is able to leap great distances, allowing him to cover ground quickly. The Hunter's main method off attack is to pounce on his opponent and once he has landed on an opponent he will start to tear into them until they are dead. The Hunter can also attack with his claws, which do heavy damage to an opponent.

Numbers: 4 Jockey "That ain't right for a man to be ridden like that."
 * -|The Strange One =

- Coach The Jockey has undergone severe changes due to the infection, acquiring a large amount of muscle mass on his upper body. His main form of attack is to leap onto an survivor, riding them and dragging them away from the group. The victim can resist but it will only slow down the Jockey rather than change it's direction. After the survivor is significantly damaged the Jockey will jump off, leaving the opponent incapacitated. For this battle, the Jockey will kill his victim rather than incapacitating them. The Jockey can be knocked off with a strong enough shove but this drastically cuts the recharge rate of his next pounce. The Jockey can also claw at an opponent with his hands, doing minor damage.

Numbers: 5 Witch "RUN LIKE HELL!"
 * -|Mini-Boss =

- Zoey The Witch is quite possibly the most dangerous off all the infected. The Witch will start off passive, sitting still and crying. If a survivor approaches she will growl and start to get agitated and if the person continues to disturb her or starts shooting at her she will launch an attack at the person who has disturbed her. Her initial attack will incapacitate her target and she will then proceed to swipe at them with her claws rapidly, doing massive damage until they are dead. For this battle once she has killed her initial target, she will move onto a new target and will continue in this fashion until either all threats are dead, or she is killed. The witch has abnormally high health and strength despite her small frame and can kill a person in a matter of seconds. For this battle she will have roughly the same health as the Robo-Cone Zombie.

Numbers: 1 Smoker "Smoker. He's gonna have to use that tongue to choke my foot out of his ass"
 * -|Ranged Attacker =

- Francis The Smoker is an infected with an extremely long tongue. His main method of attack is to launch his tongue at a target from a distance and once it is latched on, dragging them away from the group. Once dragged over to the smoker he will begin to claw at the survivor, killing them quicker. If the target gets blocked by something e.g. a building, then the smoker will just constrict the survivor doing damage. The tongue can be dislodged with a hard enough shove and the Smoker has to recharge his ability between each use. He can also claw at an opponent with his hands to do minor damage.

Numbers: 4 Spitter "So that's a Spitter, huh? Do you think she's single?"
 * -|Support =

- Nick The Spitter is possibly the most grotesque looking infected of the lot and her ability isn't much more pleasant. The Spitter has the ability to spit out a ball of acid from her mouth, which upon hitting the ground spreads out into a large pool. Any enemies caught up in the pool will be damaged for however long they stand in it or until the pool disappears after a few seconds. When the Spitter is killed she will leave behind a small pool of acid which has the same effect as her regular spitting attack.

Numbers: 5 Tank "Run or shoot?... RUN OR SHOOT?!"
 * -|The Big Bad =

- Louis

The Tank is the biggest and most powerful of all the infected. He has an immense amount of upper body strength and can easily pick up and throw people great distances and is able to smash cars at his foes to do massive damage. He also has the ability to rip out large chunks of the ground around him and throw them as a projectile attack. Once an opponent is incapacitated the Tank will move onto the next enemy but if there are none around he will continue to pound the downed survivor until they are dead. His huge size also makes him incredibly durable and he can soak up lots of bullets before he succumbs to his wounds. For this battle he will have roughly the same health as the Gargantuar.

Numbers: 1

Zombies
"Hello, we are about to launch an all-out attack on your house. Sincerely, the Zombies."

- Note from the Zombies. Zombies are reanimated, mindless, decaying corpses with a hunger for human brains. They are the main antagonists of Plants vs. Zombies, as the objective of the game is to prevent them from eating the player's brains. Zombies, like their defensive counterparts the plants, are varied in strength as well as speed, and command unique aspects which must be countered appropriately. Regular Zombie "This zombie loves brains. Can't get enough. Brains, brains, brains, day in and night out. Old and stinky brains? Rotten brains? Brains clearly past their prime? Doesn't matter. Regular zombie wants 'em."
 * -|Standard Enemy =

- Regular Zombie Almanac Entry

The Regular Zombie makes up the bulk of Zomboss's army. They are pretty much the classic zombie, slow moving and deadly in a group. The Regular Zombies main form of attack is to grab onto and munch on an opponent, in an attempt to get to the juicy brains stored inside. He can also attack with his arms, punching or pulling at an opponent.

Numbers: 150 Football Zombie "Football Zombie gives 110 percent whenever he's on the field. He's a team player who delivers both offensively and defensively. He has no idea what a football is."
 * -|Heavy Hitter =

- Football Zombie Almanac Entry

The Football Zombie is a much tougher version of the Regular Zombie. He is encased in football gear; Helmet, Shoulder Pads, Gloves etc. and this gives him extra protection against attack although if his helmet falls off his health restores to that of a regular zombie. His form of attack is the same as the regular zombie but he is considerably faster and tougher.

Numbers: 2 Jack in the Box Zombie "This zombie shivers, not because he's cold but because he's crazy."
 * -|Exploder =

- Jack in the Box Zombie Almanac Entry

The Jack in the Box Zombie is a zombie in a straight jacket carrying an explosive Jack in the Box which he wind up as he walks towards an enemy. Once he gets close enough the jack will pop out and blow up all surrounding foes including the Zombie himself and any of his teammates in close enough proximity. He cannot attack in any other way and if he is killed before his Box can detonate then the explosive will be deactivated.

Numbers: 5 Digger Zombie "Digger Zombie spends three days a week getting his excavation permits in order."
 * -|The Sneaky One =

- Digger Zombie Almanac Entry

This Zombie carries around a pickaxe and wears a helmet with a flash-light. As his name suggests he can dig underneath the ground, bypassing enemy defences and leaping up out behind the enemy lines. He is easy to spot because it's helmet sticks out of the ground as it digs but it cannot be attacked until he surfaces. He attacks similarly to a regular zombie but he also has access to a pickaxe which he use as a makeshift weapon to do extra damage.

Numbers: 4 Dancing Zombie "Any resemblance between Dancing Zombie and persons living or dead is purely coincidental."
 * -|The Strange One =

- Dancing Zombie Almanac Entry

The Dancing Zombie enters the battlefield moonwalking accompanied by his own jingle and spotlight. It will then turn around and summons 4 backing dancers which surround him, protecting him attack on all sides. They will then begin dancing towards the enemy and once they make contact, will begin attacking either by swiping with their hands or trying to eat their opponent. The backing dancers are the same health as a regular zombie but the dancing zombie himself is significantly tougher to kill. The dancing zombie will continue to summon backing dancers to replace any that are killed until he himself is killed. When he dies any remaining backing dancers will continue to attack until defeated.

Numbers: 2 (10 in total, including the 8 backing dancers) Robo-Cone Zombie "Zombie engineers considered the orange cone the height of zombie protective technology. It wasn't until they perfected the design for the Robo-Cone that someone remembered the bucket."
 * -|Mini-Boss =

- Robo-Cone Zombie Almanac Entry

The Robo-Cone Zombie is a zombie inside of a large cone shaped machine. This machine comes with a pair of grabber arms and a pair of metal jaws which the Zombie inside uses to do damage to an opponent. The jaws do significantly more damage than a regular zombie's bite and the machine itself is also much more durable. For this match-up he will have roughly the same health as the Witch.

Numbers: 1 Catapult Zombie "Of all the things Catapult Zombie could launch with his catapult, basketballs seemed like the best and most obvious choice."
 * -|Ranged Attacker =

- Catapult Zombie Almanac Entry

The Catapult Zombie is a large zombie riding in a catapult machine. Once within an area and range of it's weapon the Catapult Zombie will proceed to lob basketballs at a selected enemy until they are dead at which point they will move forward and pick out a new target to launch basketballs at until they run out of ammo. Once this happens they will just drive forward and run over any other enemies. The Machine increases this zombies durability but once it is destroyed the Zombie will be killed instantly in the resulting explosion.

Numbers: 4 Wizard Zombie "All the zombies agree, Wizard Zombie's powers of transmutation are impressive. But what they don't get is ... why sheep? Everyone knows it would be more helpful if the Wizard used his powers to turn plants into, say, more zombies. But yeah, no one is going to say that to his face."
 * -|Support =

- Zombie Wizard Almanac Entry

The Wizard Zombie is the only Zombie that makes no attempt to eat the player's plants. He instead uses his rod to fire a beam which turns any opponent struck into a sheep which will then just stand passive, unable to attack or contribute to the rest of the battle. He can do this an unlimited number of times until he is killed and his durability is above that of a regular zombie. His beam does have a recharge time of a few seconds during which he is vulnerable to attack.

Numbers: 2 Gargantuar "When Gargantuar walks, the Earth trembles. When he moans, other zombies fall silent. He is the zombie other zombies dream they could be. But he still can't find a girlfriend."
 * -|The Big Bad =

- Gargantuar Almanac Entry

The Gargantuar is the biggest and toughest of all the zombies excluding Dr Zomboss. He carries a large weapon, either a telegraph pole or a sign post, which he uses to crush any opponent in his way, killing them instantly. Upon going down to half health he will throw the Imp on his back at the enemies. This Imp is a much smaller and weaker version of a normal zombie. For this battle the Gargantuar will have roughly the same health as the Tank.

Numbers: 1

X Factors
Speed: Infected=85/Zombies=45

The Infected are the personification of the modern 'fast zombie' and all of the members can move quickly and fluently and are almost human like in their movement speed. The Hunter, Witch and Charger get special mention in terms of running speed and the Hunter is also very agile, able to jump from roof to roof with his incredibly long jumps. The Zombies are more like the traditional Romero zombies, they don't move very fast and their movements are also more clunky. The Football Zombie is the only one in this team who can move at anything quicker than a slow amble although the Digger Zombie can dig quite quickly but besides those two they are painfully slow.

Intelligence: Infected=85/Zombies=80

The Infected show an human level of tactical knowledge and the Special Infected can often been seen working together to attack survivors, playing to their strengths and covering their weaknesses to take on armed groups of survivors. They do lose a few points however main due to the lone wolf mentality of the Witch and the Blind Rage of the Tank and Common Infected which often lead to them getting in the way of the others more organised attacks. The Zombies also show a degree of human intelligence, many have learnt to use human equipment and weapons and even create their own tools to use. However there is still more of a horde mentality, a group of individuals rather than a collective force and they tend to attack in an unsynchronised manner which is what gives the Infected the edge.

Durability: Infected=79/Zombies=86

Durability is where the Zombies really shine. They have a lot of highly durable members such as the Football and Wizard zombies and even the regular zombies can take a fair bit of punishment before going down. The Infected have some very durable members such as The Witch, Charger and Tank but as a whole they are lacking. The Common Infected are notoriously weak and can be taken down with a single solid melee attack and the Boomer and Spitter can't stand up to much damage before going down. As a whole the Zombies are just more durable as a group whereas the Infected are split between very durable and not very durable which is what gives them a lower rating.

Endurance: Infected=75/Zombies=90

The Infected are a determined bunch but all of the Special Infected (with the exception of the Tank) have a recharge time between each of their respective abilities, suggesting a lack of ability to maintain an constant attack. They are hit-and-run, jump in, do damage and they run off to wait for another opportunity. The Zombies are much more direct and will keep going at an enemy with seemingly not break. The Wizard Zombie is the only one who has a particularly long break between attacks all the rest can attack constantly. The Common Infected are good at this too but their lack of durability means they can't keep this up for long and the Special Infected can maintain an attack with their basic slashes but these aren't very damaging. The Infected's saving grace is the Tank though who needs to constantly fight to keep himself alive and has very little recharge time in-between his attacks. He's not enough to save this catagory for them but he improves their rating a bit.

Miscellaneous
Battle will take place in a large city complex.

Voting closes on the 31st of October.

In order to be counted in full, votes must be at least 5 lines long or have been done in an edges format.

Anything less than 5 lines but which is competently argued and thought out will be counted as a half vote. I will inform anybody if their vote is considered a half vote and allow them to amend it to bring it up to a full point.

Irrelevant votes will not be counted at all.

I reserve the right to award a vote as half or discount it entirely for reason not mentioned here if I feel it is applicable.