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‘Days Gone’ Borrows the Best Thing About ‘World War Z’
When I first relayed the reveal of the post-apocalyptic PS4-exclusive Days Gone, I compared it to The Last of Us and “Sons of Anarchy”. This was before I realized one very cool thing the game is borrowing from Hollywood’s commercially successful, albeit woefully generic, adaptation of Max Brooks’ eponymous novel that ultimately had little to do with the movie it inspired.
The film did do a very interesting thing with its zombies, which it presented with as little humanity as one could expect to movie starring zombies. In World War Z (the movie), the infected behave like a swarm of insects, as tens of millions of us witnessed for the very first time in the trailer, which culminates in the literal hurling of bodies at the walls of Jerusalem, or the equally memorable poster where the infected employ the Jenga method in order to reach a helicopter.
As you’re about to see in this lengthy gameplay demonstration of Days Gone is how it borrows probably the only thing that really worked in that film, and use it to a spectacular effect that offers a glimpse at what our fancy new gaming hardware is now capable of.
The best part about engaging with collaborative genre fiction on the internet is that anyone can get in on the action, with worldwide accessibility often resulting in absurd story beats that wouldn’t be possible if any single person was responsible for the entire narrative. And while Kane Parsons’ Backrooms film is definitely the young filmmaker’s own unique take on the infamous creepypasta, it’s fun to see other creators join the Backrooms sandbox now that the big screen adaptation is getting ready for a record-shattering opening weekend.
As if cleverly timed releases like Puppet Combo’s The Backrooms game weren’t enough (not to mention that Scary Movie poster poking fun at Parsons’ flick), McDonald’s official social media accounts have now released an analog horror video of their own celebrating the liminal terrors of the McRooms – complete with a familiar purple surprise at the end of the footage.
While it’s funny enough to see the world’s most recognizable Fast Food giant engage with internet-borne Found Footage thrills seemingly out of the blue, the video is actually referencing a long-running gag among the Backrooms fandom where creators jokingly talk about there being a fully functional McDonald’s restaurant hidden somewhere in level 0 of the infamous liminal labyrinth.
Now, would it be too much to hope for a moist-carpet-flavored McShake to tie in with the film?
Backrooms is now playing only in theaters from A24.
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