Rob Zombie has enjoyed a long career as a rock star and as a musician. As the lead singer of White Zombie, and later his solo career, Rob Zombie became a household name in rock and heavy metal circles. Zombie later became a name in horror movie direction with The Devil's Rejects and two Halloween movies. While his history with music and film is well known, his involvement with the video game industry is perhaps lesser-known. Rob Zombie has been involved with video games since the 1990s, much to the surprise of some fans.
His latest project sees him bringing a new take to the classic Munsters franchise for Peacock. Fans of Rob Zombie and the Munsters franchise are interested to see what he'll bring to the new movie. The Munsters is Zombie's newest project after the release of his film 3 From Hell in 2019. Rob Zombie's music and film careers are seemingly as strong as ever, but his involvement with the gaming industry has quietened down over the last decade or so.
Rob Zombie's Video Game Soundtrack Contributions
Rob Zombie's earliest musical contributions were for the Twisted Metal series. Some of his biggest hits like "Dragula" and "Superbeast" were featured on Twisted Metal 3 and Twisted Metal 4​​​​​​. As the new millennium came around, Zombie diversified his soundtrack contributions with different types of games. Gran Turismo 2, Sled Storm, and Jet Set Radio all featured his music, and it seemed like a natural fit for the gameplay of each title. At this point, Rob Zombie had gained a strong foothold for his soundtrack contributions within the gaming industry.
As the 2000s began, wrestling giant WWE began using his track "Never Gonna Stop" for Edge's theme song. This presented another opportunity for Rob Zombie to expand his presence on gaming soundtracks with the WWE SmackDown and WrestleMania games. Between 2002 and 2003, "Never Gonna Stop" featured on four different WWE games, but after some time, WWE superstar Edge started using different entrance music. As the decade marched on, Zombie's contributions became less frequent, but his music was still appearing in titles like FlatOut, Scarface: The World Is Yours, and Brutal Legend.
Rock of the Dead and A New Twisted Metal
One of his most significant and recent soundtrack inclusions was for the game Rock of the Dead. The game is similar to Rock Band and Guitar Hero where players use peripherals to play songs, but with a zombie theme. The game wasn't received particularly well, but it featured seven different Rob Zombie tracks and three White Zombie songs. Zombie also returned to the Twisted Metal franchise for the 2012 game. The 2012 title is notable for being Rob Zombie's latest video game soundtrack credit.
Rob Zombie As a Twisted Metal Character
Not content with just his music appearing in games, Rob Zombie himself was featured in Twisted Metal 4 as a character. The rockstar was portrayed as an undead version of himself using the name Mr. Zombie. In the game, Zombie drove his Dragula vehicle, which is a reference to his song of the same name and the car from The Munsters. Due to his ties to the series, some fans can't help but wonder if Zombie could be involved with the rumored new Twisted Metal game and television series.
While Rob Zombie seems focused on his music and film projects like The Munsters, his long history with video games can't be disregarded. While his involvement with the industry has certainly slowed down over the last few years, fans wouldn't be all that surprised to see him return to it. Rob Zombie is a multitalented artist, and the gaming industry would undoubtedly welcome his return to it.