Open World Zombie Survival Games Coming

Undead Labs is developing

Zombie apocalypse game lurching onto Xbox Live - GameSpot.com

There are two games from what I'm gathering. Codenamed Code 3 and Code 4.

Code 3 will be an XBLA game that "lays the foundation" for Code 4. These are some things Undeadlabs said about Code 3:

"What if society came screeching to a halt? What if all our rules and laws no longer mattered? ‘Class3′ brings these questions to life in a very real way. It’s not just about combat; it’s about doing what you must do to stay alive. Food, water, shelter, and ammo — you’ll need them all. Taking you beyond the initial panic, and beyond the first weeks of the crisis, ‘Class3′ is the embodiment of the “What if?” zombie apocalypse scenario."

"Move through the world like a zombie-slaying badass. Dive through windows, jump on cars, and take it to the living dead with baseball bats. Hop in a truck and mow down some undead pedestrians. Break into the local police station and clear out their arsenal or walk into the local grocery store to stock up on your favorite junk food. The world is your oyster…a shiny oyster that happens to be filled with zombies."

"Class3’ is an open sandbox world that develops in real-time, dynamically generating content based on your actions, the choices you make, and the ever-increasing zombie threat. Decide where you’d like to set up a fortified safe haven for you and other survivors you’ve rescued, then form raiding parties to gather resources and create supply chains. Use the materials you’ve gathered to develop your community as you see fit, but be careful — resources will deplete as you pillage areas, and zombies are attracted to noise and activity. Take up the offensive by assaulting hordes before they reach your settlement, or focus on improving your defenses against the massed zombie attacks. Every choice and every action matter in this fully simulated, evolving world."

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That sounds FUCKING AWESOME and it's something I know a lot of people have been waiting for for a while. I just got word of this project and I cannot wait >.<.



So what is "Class 4" going to be then? An Xbox360 retail game that's MMO. From how it sounds the arcade Class 3 will be a lite and possibly single player version, and Class 4 will be the "full" online version. Undeadlabs has stated that Class 4 will be primarily skill based and NOT level based. I don't know if it will have any RPG elements to it, but it sounds like they'll take the backseat if included.

I've never played an Xbox360 MMO game before.. The few that existed never interested me much (the FF title seemed fun but I never got it). If the arcade title works out as well as it sounds it will, then I'll definitely be hopping into the Xbox MMO scene. Jeff Strain is working on it (a lead developer for WoW and worked on Guild Wars, neither of which I've played but hear they're good), and from what I hear Undeadlab usually delivers what they say they will. We'll see I guess

edit-
Just saw this Q&A that gives some more insight
http://undeadlabs.com/2011/02/news/rude-qa-2/

 

Yeah it's a shame the 360 might be the only system to see this game. Microsoft is the publisher, so that sorta hurts the chances of PS3 getting it =\. They also said they wont likely do it for PC as far as they're currently concerned.. But they have said that there's a possibility for it to come to any platform in the future. I dunno though, I still have a hard time seeing PS3 get it. Maybe PC though.

Oh, and here are some more details I've found rummaging around on the official website. This is about Class 3

- All buildings and such can be entered/exited without loading times to promote exploration and convey a true sense of freedom.

- You will be able to enter every building unless there is physical damage preventing you from doing so (e.g. it's collapsed or burned out)

- Climbing, jumping, grabbing, throwing, hanging, ducking, diving, and peeking confirmed. Possibly more. Such "organic action" is one of the developers highest priorities.

- Vehicles will be valuable assets that you'll wanna take care of.

- Also on vehicles, they say says "Class3 tracks and remembers all the vehicles in the game, including where they are, who currently ‘owns’ them, and their damage state"

- Using CryENGINE 3

- People and zombies ragdoll (fuck yeah)

- Doesn't sound like there will be much "special infected", developers said "This is a game about surviving the zombie apocalypse; not a horror game about mutants or demons or fungus creatures. Our goal is to ensure that Class3 zombies retain their humanity, because that’s a big part of what makes the genre powerful. They are us." But they also want to make zombies different from eachother has humans can be different. Some may be faster, slower, stronger, have keener senses, ect..

 

The announcement was, but I didn't see any mention of it on GC (did I miss it?). The details above however were released this year. They seem to update their site fairly often

 

I know, it's about time. I just hope it works out as awesome as it sounds.

There's a video on their site showing the day to night to day progression and the graphics in it look pretty solid.

 

Probably a while. The deal was signed early last year so they really haven't been working on it terribly long =\. But I don't know how long most arcade games are in development for so I dunno what to expect.