Quote:
Originally Posted by RogerBW
The thing that strikes me as weird about this is the multiple forms that the enemy can take. How does this add to the story?
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It illustrates the alien nature of the opponents. It also means they can and do adopt more complex tactics, the more numerous (and intelligent) they get. Also, simple protective measures aren't enough.
I mean, the Dark aren't about to get into dogfights with any F-22s that managed to survive the EMP, but they can certainly glide over the chain link fence and concertina wire that protects the
airfield. Some of them can fly over log stockades or stone walls (or just silently climb them), or lurk in a thick forest canopy and either drop on prey, or wrap a target in a barbed tail and
then drop.
Any of this can take place while the group is keeping a sharp eye on the undergrowth, around them, because as sure as they don't, some toothy, clawed Dark horror will pounce.
Making the opponents more tactically unpredictable adds to the suspense, I think, and prevents the "bug-hunts" from becoming repetitive. The enemy has a
different mix of capabilities, every time.
Basically, I don't think zombies make very convincing reasons for the collapse of civilization and, honestly, they're really boring. Give me a predatory species that is very definitely
not human, and I could do a lot more with it.