Random thoughts on the subject:
You know...Zombies...or the majority of Zombie stories....come from Haiti. In fact, it's part of their religion. Voodoo beliefs reserve Zombification for the worst of the worst people. People who have been believed to be made into Zombies aren't allowed to work, they get shunned by their society and are all around loathed.
Personally, I totally see how someone can read racism into the trailer if that's what they want to do. It's all but asking for it. HOWEVER, I don't think the game is racist (it's a game, it has no feelings) nor do I think the idea behind it was racist in origin. Africa is a place not often done in games (nor is Haiti for that matter) and to be quite frank with you, this is visually one of the best representations of an African (or Haitian) town I've seen in a game. The people look like actual people of color and for part of the game, probably portrayed in a great light (see the opening parts of the trailer as ref). The fact that everything goes to hell in a handbasket is really just to move the story along and were this a choose your own adventure book instead of a videogame, I doubt it'd get more than a "classic horror" nod and no press at all.
I am not my skin. I am a person. I am an individual with a working mind and functioning body. I have feelings, I bleed, I eat, I love, I die. Do I care if someone calls me black? No. I'm not black. My skin is brown. Does it bother me when people in the real world butcher, ridicule and otherwise do harm to someone whose skin is similar to mine? Yes. Is it because of some shared kinship due to the color of our skin? No. It's because they're a fellow human. Once we stop being our skin, we can allow ourselves to be human. We can see beyond our own self love and self hate into a much larger arena. Hopefully, one day, everyone will see this is the only way the human race will improve.
As for the game. It's unfortunate that only this little clip was shown, as I'm sure the game is more than what we've seen it to be. It's equally unfortunate that so many people are quick to judge it without playing it through, allowing their own fears and prejudices to guide their opinion of something they know next to nothing about. You have your gut reaction. Let it rest for now and wait until more information arrives. Then you'll be well within your right to create an educated opinion on the matter. Until then, it's just projection.
Someone made an excellent point that we need more ethnic heroes in gaming. I agree with this, if for no other reason than that it can only help us to see each other in different ways than we normally do.
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