Now, depending on your religious beliefs, you may not agree with me on this part, but playing this game kind of made me realize that the saddest part about dying is the thought that I'll never know what happens to my loved ones when I'm gone. Like Lee did with Clementine, I try to protect my kids, teach them right from wrong, and hopefully prepare them for what's ahead. And if I imagine a situation where I'm dying while my kids are still young, it makes me sad to think that I'd never know what happens to them. Are they safe and healthy? Does tragedy befall them? Do they grow up to be kind people? Do they find love? Are they happy? Hopefully, I stick around this world long enough to find out, but the fact that a video game got me thinking about these kinds of things is pretty profound in my opinion.

What I really wanted to convey with this series of posts was that while games are often derided for their violence and death, games are in a unique position to let us safely experience things we can't or wouldn't want to experience in real life. While I'm sure it pales in comparison to the real thing, through games I've gotten a taste of what it might feel like to encounter death in a number of ways. Hopefully these virtual experiences make me better able to empathize with other people, or to better cope with death in the real world. If nothing else, it has made me more conscious of my own mortality, and how I need to cherish what time I have with the people I love. All from a game about zombies.

Follow Brian on Twitter: @HokieBriz