It seems London’s Queen is having infestation issues in her beloved home, and requires the professional assistance of some zombie pest control experts. That means you, gamers! Time to use those Left 4 Dead and Dead Island skills for the good of Great Britain.
While its unconfirmed whether Her Majesty herself will appear as an end-of-level boss (I will be severely disappointed if this is not the case), her residents are running amok, chewing on civilian brains and the like. If you were expecting a civilised and formal visit, prepare yourself for overturned tables, broken furniture and many bloodstains. The video shows combat within the Royal household, showcasing gunplay and cricket bat swinging. Those who’ve played the two aforementioned zombie games (or the hundred other undead-themed games available) are no stranger to destroying zombies with guns and blunt/sharp objects. So what sets this game apart?
We already knew about the real-time action aspects from the E3 trailer, but its damn cool to see them in action rather than in a pre-set animated trailer. For those unfamiliar, the Wii U gamepad allows precision aiming with long range guns, providing a target sight that the player moves in their hands. Simple actions such as picking up loot or checking your map are also in real-time, meaning you’ll have to perform basic survival techniques as the undead lurch towards you. My personal favourite was the code-input section at the end – a 4 digit code is required to advance but only the first 3 digits are written in blood on a wall, where a survivor presumably did not finish before meeting their unfortunate demise. Its up to the player to input the correct number as creatures home in. No pause screen can save you here.
There is also a heavier emphasis on the gore factor in the game in this new trailer. You’ll be renovating the Queen’s home with bright claret colours as blood sprays onto walls and floors as you shoot, or decapitate downed zombies with a vicious curb stomp. If you’re fighting up close and personal with a walker then blood will also splatter on your hero’s hands and arms for you to see as you swing your weapon around, which I found was a nice touch.
As well as immersion, it seems Ubisoft is pushing the horror aspect with a decent jump-scare (which I won’t spoil). As a game that started in my mind as “that new zombie game that might be cool I guess”, ZombiU‘s potential is looking promising. This will surely give all the naysayers who complain about Nintendo’s lack of mature titles much to talk about.
