Ants + Fungus = Zombie Ants! If I had know that formula earlier you would all be under my rule. As my army of worker, soldier and fire ants trampled over England. Crushing all in their path for their benevolent ruler (me). Through a mixture fungus based mind control and Golden Syrup, I would destroy the Con-Dem alliance government. I would force Arsene Wenger to sign a new goalkeeper and defender, and I would ensure that Lisa Faulkner won Celebrity Masterchef….placing her as queen of the new ant based economy of New Modhavania (formerly known as England).

I would pity my insect subjects. Knowing that a fungal spear would sooner or later burst from their bodies, spraying their spores all over the land, would fill me with sadness.  But equally, they are only ants. Having as a child, shamefully, thrown an ant into a spiders web to see it consumed, I would appreciate that this fungus / ant relationship was nature at its cruellest.

Weirdly, this story got me thinking about the Resident Evil / Biohazard series. I loved Resi 4, a rollercoaster ride that had the perfect balance of action, suspense, and flat out terror. It is almost cliché, but the moment Dr Salvador appears with his chain saw was the first time in a game that I have felt flat out panic. Obviously the Umbrella Corporation was good with creating monsters that upset and scare, but it took a man with a sack over his head with a chain saw to really scare me. It made me excited for Resi 5. When they stated it would be set in Africa, I was doubly excited. Getiing away from the hackneyed ghost houses and laboratories  of the first few, I thought it was another great leap into the unknown.

Then an upsetting grumbling noise started, one to do with race, and one which was most vocally supported by one N’Gai Croal of Newsweek fame. I won’t repeat his various points, merely link to them below, but needless to say, he said that any kind of portrayal of African’s in such a light was intrinsically racist due to the historical connotations and the portrayals of Africans in various media in the past.

I remember thinking at the time this is one of the most unbelievably ridiculous arguments I have ever heard. I was mightily offended by his use of holocaust victims as zombies as a comparative example. This was a trailer for a game about zombies in Africa! Not a political commentary. I am sure N’Gai had no problem killing Nazi’s or fictional middle easterns in the various Call of Duty games. He probably had no problem with the mud people in Left 4 Dead 2. But he took umbrage at this? Why? He didn’t even mention that a lot of the other zombies in the game are of Asian origin, probably because it didn’t fit with his weak argument.

I wonder if he would be a staunch defender of Zombie Ant rights. Giant Ants that have had a bad press since the 50s B movie. I doubt that too!

http://www.destructoid.com/n-gai-croal-comments-on-re5-trailer-but-all-we-see-is-another-capcom-hit-80891.phtml

Anyway, again this rambles on, and makes no points or conclusions. Maybe I just really wanted to talk about Zombie Ants…and should have stuck to that.

- Anand