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ALLEVIATE STRESS WITH ZOMBIES

Many of you were only recently searching for the perfect gift, crushed amid a slavering horde of bargain-minded shoppers. Perhaps thoughts turned to clearing a path to the cash register with a few swings of the discounted Dyson vacuum cleaner. Video games can help you.

Few game enemies are as perennially popular as zombies. The undead offer a nearly guilt-free opportunity for indulging some violent retribution—after all, using a shotgun to create a bowling-ball-sized hole in a shambling corpse is only returning your once fellow citizen to his well-earned rest, right?

In any case, those seeking to purge the stress of the new year with the (virtual) perforation of non-breathing humanoids have two excellent choices. The first is “Left 4 Dead 2”, a new high-speed, high-intensity first-person shooter from Valve Software. The setting is a sketchily explained zombie holocaust, and the game pits you and three other survivors against a never-ending horde of monsters. This is something you can play alone, but it was created to be played as a co-operative experience with others, as you and your compatriots struggle against seemingly insurmountable odds, armed with assault rifles, Molotov cocktails and the occasional frying pan.

Another great post-holiday tension reliever comes in the form of “The Zombie Island of Dr Ned”, a downloadable expansion for the game “Borderlands”. This $10 pack (currently available on Xbox Live, Playstation Network and through various PC download services) requires a copy of the original game and, like “Left 4 Dead 2”, is best enjoyed with friends.

“Borderlands” pits players against various hostile people, animals and aliens in a quest to unlock the mysteries of a mythical vault. The “Dr Ned” expansion recasts the game’s core first-person shooter gameplay around a series of science experiments gone terribly wrong. Most of the enemies that players face are simply “zombified” versions of enemies from the original game—in other words, instead of firing guns at you, they shamble toward you with the aim of biting, scratching or otherwise inflicting harm up-close. While they’re easier to dispatch, they attack in huge numbers, and the effect is frantic, claustrophobic and fun.

Neither game sacrifices action for the sake of narrative, but each tells a pretty good story, if you’re paying attention. “Left 4 Dead 2” uses well-designed environments (including a compelling sequence in the heart of the French Quarter in New Orleans) and the messages left on the walls by previous survivors to provide context. “Dr Ned” takes a decidedly light-hearted approach to its story—the titular doctor, for example, is a dead ringer for the “Dr Zed” you meet in the original “Borderlands”, save for a huge fake moustache tied to the outside of his surgical mask.

So have a great 2010, and aim for the head.

“Left 4 Dead 2” and “The Zombie Island of Dr Ned” are both out now

~ BRETT MCCALLON