The simplest way to debunk the zombies we see is to understand very basic chemistry/physics. You need energy (calories) to actuate the zombies' bodies. No matter what's doing it...an infected brain, strange microorganisms, or nanobots, you need an energy source for walking, running, leaping zombies that never tire. That's it. End of debate. Unless you want to cross into the realm of the supernatural (which I do!), you're limited by this concept.
When I play, I just presume that all the zombies I see are relatively recently infected and are running off the body's food reserves and perhaps the death throws of a digestive system. I put the whole oxygenation of the nervous system out of my head, because it's a game and stuff.
Anyways...it sounds like I'm cut from similar cloth as OP. I like the traditional walking zombies and was in high school in the early 80's (and I played a whole lot of Everquest). I also prefer the supernatural (curse, voodoo, etc.) zombies because there's so much more you can do with them AND there's zero loss of immersion due to bad science.
I fondly imagine this game with some zombies that can only be destroyed by burning or decapitation. Nothing more I'd like to see than other forms of undead....stuff you can only really run away from unless you have some very special gear/training. Which reminds me...all this talk about digging zombies....when can we get a graveyard where you're suddenly surrounded by zombies who have violently exhumed themselves?
I know that the last 100 or so zombie films have made the supernatural z's much less popular...and running, jumping, crazy zombies keep us on our toes, but those old Romero films weren't about being in a FPS...they were about the horror of running low on ammo and being boxed in and cornered by the endless dead when you thought you had a way out of that market you desperately needed to loot. Swinging that axe made you invincible against the slow z's....but....you're getting tired...so tired.
-Morloc
