Why ZombiU Isn't Your Average Survival Horror Game
ZombiU turns Nintendo's new console into a dual-screen bloodbath with its scares and clever Wii U integration.
There's a new survival horror game on the block, and as a result, Earth is facing yet another zombie apocalypse. Ubisoft released the stirring Dead Island-esque trailer for ZombiU at its press conference yesterday, in the process promising blood, gore, and good old zombie-killing fun. The game has been designed specifically for use with Nintendo's Wii U, but despite the name, the game has more to it than simply helping the device meet its Wii U horror game quota. From our first hands-on play with the game, Ubisoft has gone to quite a lot of trouble to prove it's more than just another clone.
While the majority of the story is still a mystery to us, the gameplay is smart and uses the Wii U to great effect. You take control of a standard apocalypse survivor, but Ubisoft has stressed that they want the characters (yes, there are multiple playable people) to be representative of archetypes that would be perfectly at home in a horror movie. Our first survivor (or inevitable victim, depending on the playing ability) was a young man. The first level of our demo introduced us to the weapon systems, and players will primarily use the Wii U GamePad to explore the environment. There is a scanner that is accessible by holding the L button and allows you to survey the environment. You can dig into crates to find useful items once you spot the crates.
Essentially, the survival horror genre allows the Wii U GamePad to be your lifeline. Throughout the game it is the main source of navigation and hosts the map, the inventory, and the ability to analyze scanned items. Ubisoft stressed to us that you are encouraged from the get-go to make the most of your GamePad as it represents life or death for you. This became horribly apparent as we entered a new area, and all of a sudden the GamePad was reduced to static (an intended feature). Panic set in as we desperately longed for the red dots indicating zombies on our trusty scanner.
In ZombiU, your character is incredibly vulnerable. So much so that if you are bitten even once, you will die. However, instead of reloading, you become an entirely new character. You will need to return to the location of defeat to continue your progress.
ZombiU is genuinely scary. The game is designed to be realistic; you can’t switch out weapons with superhuman speed like you can in many modern shooters. Instead you have to painstakingly dig through your backpack praying you have enough ammo that you won't need to resort to your cumbersome cricket bat. The game's unique implementation of the Wii U hardware puts this title ahead of many of the other survival horror games released in the past few years. Don't expect this to be the next Amnesia: The Dark Descent, but if you like your survival intense, from what we've played so far, you're sure to find plenty of fun and clever gameplay in ZombiU. No release date information has been announced, but ZombiU will be released exclusively for the Nintendo Wii U. Keep it locked to GameSpot for more details.
Jessica McDonell likes spending hours in character creation screens and giving her characters names that no one can pronounce. She enjoys breaking controllers, ambiguous game endings and the Water Temple in The Legend of Zelda.
I think its funny how people say Nintendo is a kiddy company and yet they. First party too. Put out eternal darkness, perhaps the scariest console game ever. That was a gem. I hope this is that good.
I really hope the WiiU will do well, and this game looks like it could be very promising (both the game and the console). I want the WiiU to be a success so badly, just to prove all Nintendo haters wrong.
toshineon Same here.. But no matter what Nintendo does, haters gonna hate.
The game looks really impressive
Great! At least it's not set in New York,or some other US location and makes a change for once.
I'm sorry but it's bad version of DayZ.
MonkerzX How would you know that if you haven't played the game? DayZ wasn't exactly the first survival horror game with zombies in it either.
Lost me @ Wii U
An adult game? On a nintendo console? I wonder if this will cause another flare up of angry parents around the world that their children are playing violent games after having bought the games for them.
deadpeasant obviously you never got the fatal frame game they released. and they are releasing the sequel too. resident evil. no more heroes, all these games are adult games
WiiU is looking to be very amazing. I have said all along if Nintendo can load the WiiU catalog with games on the level of what the Gamecube had, it will be an awesome console. ZombiU and Pikmin 3 are most definitely a step in the right direction!!
I thought Killer Freaks From Outer Space was a more interesting title and aliens instead of overused zombies would have been nice, but this looks like a promising game. Bring on the Survival Renissaince!
scratch my last comment, this seems like a pretty legit game to open with, if they bring this out on opening day and it is indeed as good as described here, this could make a winning formula.
At this point, I'm getting very stubborn with what I want in my games. I want to play as a female.
BlueFlameBat boohoo for you then i guess =/ if thats your only complaint about this game then i feel sorry for you missing out.
BelmontWolf I've played a lot of so-called "great games" that turned out to be crap. A sausage-fest just tips the bean cup.
Sounds magnificently solid. Maybe I'd buy a WiiU if I had the money
RickDemonsbane I'll get the WiiU after the innevitable price cut 6 months after release.... hehe
Check out Kotaku's writeup about their hands-on experience with this game posted late yesterday.
Sounds interesting, but I do not like the one bite death. That sounds why to cheap.
KFHEWUI It's not cheap. I would have to say, that if one were to be bitten in real life, that person will have a hard time. I like the idea [ala Dark Souls] that the player will have to go back to spot where they lost everything. So staying alive is actually important in this game, and that's why this genre is called "survival horror". This game will make you think.
KFHEWUI and also it is not one hit death, but one bite. that means that you can survive for a coulpe of hits, but if you dont kill the zomvie in time it will bite you. The one btie death, means that a character that is bitten will not come back to life(as a human at least) and be playble again.
Good, nice to see a game set in my country instead of the over saturation of boring same old same old united states! will be looking out for this, coincidently, the Guardsman that turns at the end, anyone see his lapel pin? Was he a Welsh Guardsmen?
mikees1 i am from texas, and believe me when i say... AGREED, christ im getting sick of the same damn location in every game looking similar
if WiiU was released in 2006 then the other two consoles would have a serious competion.
Savoritias Wrong, the two other consoles hadn't steal the motion controls yet for that dates and, obviously, none of them had a secondary screen. Furthermore, Wii has been more than good competition as it has sold more systems to date than any of the other two
Love the trailer and it's microscopic infection thingy
atlast ,ninetendo might be a serious contender this yr for gaming and being online this game does look great cmon nintendo get back on your pedastal :)
finally, nintendo enter the gore realm
this game looks awesome, and if it as realistic as the description says, this could be the cornerstone for the next zombie games
I'm a big Nintendo fan, but I simply can't deny the deception the Wii was, with only a few titles trying to save it. I bought my PS3 in part because of this disappointment. However, for what I've seen so far, I think this new console is gonna take it's place in the new generation that's comming. Zombi U looks amazing, and I don't give a sh*t if the name looks silly, have in mind that it's a reboot of Ubisoft's first commercial game. I really like the change of direction that Nintendo is doing, and I hope it works.
IMO Zombi U is like the Wii's Red Steel. Supposed to look impressive with use of the new controls and targeted towards the hardcore audience, but Red Steel didn't end up being a good game at all.I wouldn't judge it until we see actual gameplay footage.So far we haven't seen anything out of the ordinary, IMO.
Sage9 well, the sequel of red steel was so much better, and since this game is to test out the new controls, we can expect that the 2nd generations of games from the consoles to be much more superior
Sage9 Maybe you are right, we can't know for sure yet. But the impression I got from this game so far is good. Let's see what it will turn out to be.
WilderEber
Check out nintendos e3 site it has gameplay footage :) Ubi Soft are huge Nintendo supporters and fans, they were one of the first developers Nin trusted with developer systems
this is AWESOME !
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Check out a ZombiU gameplay video featuring the Buckingham Palace and a sneak peek of new gameplay elements, weapons and a new scanner functionality.
Aug 31, 2012
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ZombiU
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- Publisher(s): Ubisoft
- Developer(s): Ubisoft Montpellier
- Genre: Action
- Release: Nov 18, 2012 (US) »
- ESRB: M
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