Can you permanently kill zombies???

[The.Spaz.]

Yes, I am very late to playing this. I guess some of the challenges in this remake that everyone kept hyping up during the time gave me pause. Anyway, I just fired this game up for the first time and am already stuck in the gas station where you encounter a zombie for the very first time. Can you kill this thing or will just keep getting up after being downed after a few seconds? I am out of bullets and the have to get the key further in the back but its almost impossible to dodge or evade this shambling corpse. HAAAALLLP!!!!

[Seamus]

You can kill them, yes. Don't fire wildly. Shoot when the reticle is at minimum size.

[BroadsidedOtter]

Always aim for the head, these are traditional zombies where if the brain is intact, they'll almost always come back. Even when they stop moving you may come back later to find them up and about again. treat them more as obstacles than actual enemies, hit them enough to stumble them so you can run past.

[Seamus]

Originally posted by BroadsidedOtter:

Always aim for the head, these are traditional zombies where if the brain is intact, they'll almost always come back.

That's... not true nor is it how this game works.

The most effective way to kill them with the pistol as far as ammo goes is kneecapping them so they fall then using the knife while they're down. No headshots required.

[V I D A L]

Originally posted by The.Spaz.:

Yes, I am very late to playing this. I guess some of the challenges in this remake that everyone kept hyping up during the time gave me pause. Anyway, I just fired this game up for the first time and am already stuck in the gas station where you encounter a zombie for the very first time. Can you kill this thing or will just keep getting up after being downed after a few seconds? I am out of bullets and the have to get the key further in the back but its almost impossible to dodge or evade this shambling corpse. HAAAALLLP!!!!

Yes, but not here. You're in the introduction. You're supposed to just down the first zombie, get the key and run out. You won't have ammo to kill the zombies in the gas station. If this first zombie is getting in the way, back up and lure him into the corridor you just came on and away from your exit point.

He will come up again after you come back with the key, just run to the door on your left and out of the store.

Originally posted by Seamus:

Originally posted by BroadsidedOtter:

Always aim for the head, these are traditional zombies where if the brain is intact, they'll almost always come back.

That's... not true nor is it how this game works.

The most effective way to kill them with the pistol as far as ammo goes is kneecapping them so they fall then using the knife while they're down. No headshots required.

I disagree. Played through this game over a dozen times on hardcore. The shooting kneecapping strat is a botch and waste.

At some point someone came up with the idea of shooting the knees and run past zombies.. Nah, you have enough ammo to kill everything and clear the area. Just shoot them in the head.. always in the head. Take them out for good.

Use the knife to poke them while they are down to confirm the kill.

[Seamus]

Originally posted by V I D A L:

I disagree. Played through this game over a dozen times on hardcore. The shooting kneecapping strat is a botch and waste.

At some point someone came up with the idea of shooting the knees and run past zombies.. Nah, you have enough ammo to kill everything and clear the area. Just shoot them in the head.. always in the head. Take them out for good.

Use the knife to poke them while they are down to confirm the kill.

That's a slow ass way to play.

[Senki]

Originally posted by Seamus:

Originally posted by V I D A L:

I disagree. Played through this game over a dozen times on hardcore. The shooting kneecapping strat is a botch and waste.

At some point someone came up with the idea of shooting the knees and run past zombies.. Nah, you have enough ammo to kill everything and clear the area. Just shoot them in the head.. always in the head. Take them out for good.

Use the knife to poke them while they are down to confirm the kill.

That's a slow ass way to play.

How is shooting them in the head slower than killing them with a knife? You're not making much sense

[Seamus]

Originally posted by Senki:

How is shooting them in the head slower than killing them with a knife? You're not making much sense

Headshots don't do much more damage than leg shots.

Knife damage scales DRAMATICALLY with your frame rate. Knife is the fastest way to kill most things.

And my initial point was about effective combat, not fast combat.

Regardless, knife damage is absurd.

But just kneecapping crap and running past is faster.

[RockysPoppy]

Duck, dodge, and weave, my friend.

[Operatix]

While shooting any part of zombies does the same dmg, the headshot has a chance for a crit where the head explodes. I only use the knife to comfirm some kills or for good ol grapples.

[V I D A L]

Originally posted by Seamus:

Originally posted by V I D A L:

I disagree. Played through this game over a dozen times on hardcore. The shooting kneecapping strat is a botch and waste.

At some point someone came up with the idea of shooting the knees and run past zombies.. Nah, you have enough ammo to kill everything and clear the area. Just shoot them in the head.. always in the head. Take them out for good.

Use the knife to poke them while they are down to confirm the kill.

That's a slow ass way to play.

Well it's not about speed. Shooting zombies in the head is fun, slashing them to death in the ground is not. Simple as that.
Besides, if you are lucky, you get those awesome critical hits that blow their heads in half with one shot and it's very satisfying. They don't do that from knee shots.

I do give them a few slashes when they fall to the ground, but I rather preserve the knife and back out for more shots than damaging the knife killing zombies.

[Seamus]

Originally posted by V I D A L:

Well it's not about speed. Shooting zombies in the head is fun, slashing them to death in the ground is not. Simple as that.
Besides, if you are lucky, you get those awesome critical hits that blow their heads in half with one shot and it's very satisfying. They don't do that from knee shots.

I do give them a few slashes when they fall to the ground, but I rather preserve the knife and back out for more shots than damaging the knife killing zombies.

You enjoy going slow.

Good for you.

I wasn't arguing that your way isn't fun.

The point is that the knife is more efficient, particularly on hardcore and particularly if you use the infinite one as it doesn't affect your score.

Disabling and knifing them is more efficient. And with increased frame rates, it's also substantially faster and more reliable than hoping for lucky headshot crits.

[Senki]

Originally posted by Seamus:

Originally posted by Senki:

How is shooting them in the head slower than killing them with a knife? You're not making much sense

Headshots don't do much more damage than leg shots.

Knife damage scales DRAMATICALLY with your frame rate. Knife is the fastest way to kill most things.

And my initial point was about effective combat, not fast combat.

Regardless, knife damage is absurd.

But just kneecapping crap and running past is faster.

Oh I didn't know about the frame rate thing

[V I D A L]

Originally posted by Seamus:

Originally posted by V I D A L:

Well it's not about speed. Shooting zombies in the head is fun, slashing them to death in the ground is not. Simple as that.
Besides, if you are lucky, you get those awesome critical hits that blow their heads in half with one shot and it's very satisfying. They don't do that from knee shots.

I do give them a few slashes when they fall to the ground, but I rather preserve the knife and back out for more shots than damaging the knife killing zombies.

You enjoy going slow.

Good for you.

I wasn't arguing that your way isn't fun.

The point is that the knife is more efficient, particularly on hardcore and particularly if you use the infinite one as it doesn't affect your score.

Disabling and knifing them is more efficient. And with increased frame rates, it's also substantially faster and more reliable than hoping for lucky headshot crits.

Sure. Ok you do you.
I'm not into speed running, much less using the unlockable cheats. I like to take it slow.

[The.Spaz.]

Hey thanks for the response. I had to reduced the difficulty down to normal to stand a chance since it seems zombies at least stay down a little longer. That was enough for Leon to grab the key and beeline out of the area. Since then I have been mostly using the knife to slash downed zombies after a few shots. Much like the original there is an RNG based critical I can score on head shots that would make their heads explode and take them down permanently but that's pretty rare. Surprisingly made it pretty far into the game, I am at the point where Mr. X finally makes an appearance. Time to see how annoying he gets.

[Krypto]

Here are some protips.

Shoot the zombies in the legs (try to focus on a single leg). With a few shots, they'll fall over. Afterwards, get behind them and knife until they stop moving. Then, knife again until they officially stop moving as some will play dead. If you don't have a knife. Pop them a couple times in the head. If they don't move at all, they're dead. With luck, you'll get a crit and the head will explode.

For lickers, just walk past them. Unless they are super close, they won't hear you.

Most rooms will have enemies "reposition" meaning they'll go to a preprogrammed spot in that room and wait for you. Other rooms, they'll burst into it coming after you. You can use this to your advantage with some enemies as their repositioning can lead to them never noticing you if you stay away from them.