Trashdome - Fury Of Dracula VS Last Night On Earth

WELCOME TO TRASHDOME!

This is part of a series of bloody matches to the death. Show support for your favorite game so it will do better in the fight. You can support it by writing why you think its the better game and more importantly by betting (i.e. voting for) it. Please make it clear for when I check the bets later. You have until Friday when I tally the bets and declare the winner. I will reserve my bet for any tie-breakers.

Although you should be familiar with both games, there is no rule that says you have to have played both of them. The only rule in Trashdome is this;

Two games enter! One game leaves!

Oh wow, why do you hate Last Night on Earth so much? This is going to be a rout.

I'm voting for Fury of Dracula. It's generally an excellent game, and with experienced players, it becomes outstanding. It's all here: theme, drama, strategy, tactics, luck, action, deduction, screw-you cards, teamwork, opposition, and very nice components.

Last Night on Earth just doesn't interest me. I already have multiple zombie games, and one of them is really good. Last Night on Earth looks cheesy with the photo-art, and the combat system looks no better than Zombies!!!

Fury of Dracula by fifteen lengths.

Fury of Dracula

As if making me vote for Doom over Space Hulk wasn't embarassing enough. I love Fury of Dracula but not everyone in my group feels the same way. It is hated... really hated by at least one member and only moderately liked by another.

No one is adverse to playing LNOE though. We all laugh and enjoy. Fury evokes stronger emotions. I prefer it and so does another guy in the group but a game is only as good as the group that plays it. I always make my votes a collection of my groups opinions and since Fury never gets played because of the adverse reactions to it I have to vote for LNOE. Embarassing, I know. But what can I do. I do agree that the combat system is stupid. I hated that system for some time but it is growing on me and I think this game will be a classic. Even with the "cheesy" photo art (although highly original), I like the feel of the art, even if not the look of it.

I shouldn't have to defend myself. LNOE is a good game. Fury is calssic.

vote: LNOE

Vote: Last Night on Earth

Fury is good, but seemed like a longer and in some respects more tedious version of Scotland Yard. The hide-and-seek aspect is great and the way Drac handles his encounter track and such is brilliant, but beyond that, it's really kind of meh for me... Granted, I've only played once, and I do want to play again, but that one time was somewhat disappointing compared to the raves I kept hearing about the game. There were some exciting parts, no doubt, but a lot of it ended up being the kind of dry, focused attention thing that we make fun of Euros for.

LNOE, on the other hand, has always been an absolute blast to play and elicits cheers and laughter and other such noises. With LNOE, it's all here: theme, drama, strategy, tactics, luck, action, second-guessing your opponent, screw-you cards, teamwork, opposition and conflict, tension, flexibility and creativity, and very nice components. It's a lot lighter than FOD, of course, but doesn't take itself nearly as seriously, so it fits what it's depicting really well. It's about a perfect mix between tactical/strategic choices (with more tactics and strategy than it may seem) and random elements (but randomness that can really contribute to a memorable and fun story, as in holy crap I can't believe Nurse Becky just survived against 10 zombies).

What I really love about LNOE, though, is that it requires not only cooperation among the Heroes, but often a real sense of sacrifice, bravery and heroism. It's not just "well, I'll give up this skill card to help the situation"... it's "I need to go and let myself get eaten to pieces by zombies in order to pull them away from that building so our team can have a chance to win". Even though it's just a game, people don't like to lose their stuff or let their character die, and this game often requires that. And it's not just a token moving on a "hiding track" or something like that... it's a cool, detailed plastic mini moving across an actual map. The graphic style may be pooh-poohed by some, and the game may depict bad B-movie zombie archetypes instead of uber-hip dark zombie movies, but so what? The artwork and the style and mechanics of the game fits what it is trying to be, perfectly well. Above all, LNOE is unique and original... There is no comparison between LNOE and Zombies!!! other than the general subject matter.

For me, I'd say LNOE is the pinnacle of AT. So um, yeah, Last Night on Earth, all the way.

The combat system in LNOE is an example where the mechanics of the game are very well integrated into the theme. Isn't that what we like to see in AT games? It's not easy to kill a zombie with bare hands (must roll doubles and higher on one die), but you can at least fend them off temporarily, and with weapons you have a much better chance of killing them. I think it's brilliant and simple and effective.

You're telling me the combat system in FOD is better than that? Glorified rock-paper-scissors??

Are you kidding me? People are actually voting for LNOE in this one?

LNOE is a stupid, stupid game. Yeah, it's kind of fun a couple of times. Yeah, it's accessible. But those things don't make it a great game, let alone something that can stand up to _either_ version of FURY OF DRACULA.

And you know what? LNOE isn't all that thematic. Sure, it's got plenty of executive theme, but you could just as easily replace all those stupid fucking hick-ass characters with pictures of the same friends and family members done up in Party City astronaut costumes, change all the crudely drawn tiles out for spaceship pieces, replace all the zombies with alien figures, and change out the text on the items and events and it'd be the exact same game. Oh, you could make that truck an escape pod.

FURY OF DRACULA has both conceptual and executive theme. The idea of the game is pure gothic horror, and the execution is perfect for the subject matter. Both editions have merits and missteps, but both are also among the very greatest games ever made. There is simply nothing in LNOE that comes close to the awesomeness of tracking down Dracula for a final showdown, or a weakened Dracula racing for the Castle, or that sense of hunting and tightening of the screws. With LNOE, it's "I ROLL 6 AND BLOWED TEH ZOMBIE HEAD OFF, DUH HUH". Maybe you'll get to play that "This is our Last Night on Earth" card, champ. "TEH CHARICKCHOORS ARE HAVENG SEXXX WOOT!"

And on top of that, the so-called "rock paper scissors" combat of FoD is a billion times more compelling than any given mechanic in LNOE. It captures a sense of blow-by-blow combat with a lot of detail- FFG's modification and expansion of the day/night element makes fighting something much more strategic. I can't believe anyone here would fault the combat in that game. Grudunza, see me in my office when we're through here.

And beyond all of that, FoD doesn't includes a fucking horrible ass CD of some guy's girlfriend's keyboard noodling. Nor does it have that god-awful artwork. Yeah, it's identifiable and it brands Flying Frog's games. But it brands them as ugly shit.

LNOE was the game that made me realize that zombies were over. But vampires, not even TWILIGHT can make me lose interest. Vampires are better than zombies on every level, and this Trashdome will ultimately bear that fact out.

In other words Barnes is voting for LNOE.

Fury of Dracula

The fact that the game is basically a sequel to the novel in every way is seventeen kinds of awesome.

Dr_Mabuse wrote:

In other words Barnes is voting for LNOE.

Ahhhh yes - the classic "big rant but forgets to vote" post, there's been a few of those during Trashdome's lifetime.

Everytime Barnes uses the term "executive theme" it makes baby Jesus cry.

LNoE is a good fun bash and kill zombie game. FoD is a great gaming experience, even if I'm not that hot on the VPs-for-surviving-a-day scoring in the FFG version.

Vote: Fury of Dracula

Making Baby Jesus cry is a way of life...I'm trying to join the Christpunchers.

I'm riled up. I've been pretty quiet on the last few Trashdomes because they've been walkovers. But this one has me angrier than any Trashdome to date. Why? Because this one SHOULD be a walkover but folks are lining up to vote LNOE early and often. I guess some of you guys are too dazzled by "Jenny" and her white trash hot pants faithfully recreated in miniature to recognize what is obviously the superior game here. Guess what? You can see real redneck girls at Wal-Mart, any given friday night. They even sell chainsaws there, so maybe you could trade one of them some meth to hold one and you can have a picture made. It's sad, really. I guess if I ever design a game I'll go hire some down-at-heel Hooters waitress to be on one of the cards and F:AT will LOSE THEY FUCKING MINDS.

LNOE is every bit as derivative and repetitive as any Eurogame. It's one of those places where all this talk about theme and narrative breaks down because any that exists is occuring between the players, outside of the game. That happens in Eurogames too. And there is practially nothing novel, interesting, or innovative in LNOE. A good, solid, meat-and-potatoes game is fine, but tell me why the HELL I would play LNOE over, say, SIEGE OF THE CITADEL? Oh, that's right "JENNY HAZ BOOBIES".

You know what though? I think the game is OK. I think it can be fun. I gave it a decent review. But sometimes, it completely sucks and the game is a drag. The scenarios sometimes don't work, and running back and forth between the buildings looking for a fuckign lighter or whatever gets very, very dull.

But to vote for it over FoD? That's like saying "Hello, I am at odds with everything awesome in gaming".

FoD is one of the tentpole AT games. It stands with DUNE and BSG as _the_ ultimate expressions of what theme, narrative, and drama mean in gaming. So HELL YES, I am voting FoD. I would vote for it if it had wooden cubes to represent Dracula and the hunters.