Gamers have had zombies on the brain since the beginning of video games. Remember the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo title Zombies ate my Neighbors?
The internet has been abuzz with DayZ, the multiplayer open world survival horror mod for the 2009 video game ARMA II and its 2010 expansion pack, ARMA 2: Operation Arrowhead. But here comes developer Undead Labs' recently announced attempt at the zombie genre, State Of Decay.
State of Decay is a new third-person shooter and an open-world game in development for Xbox Live and PC. The announcement states that the game is a 3rd-person action game "set in a dynamic open world," where surviving is an important aspect of the game rather than action and the player's choices will generate content within the game.
"You choose where to make your stand, designing and fortifying your home base, performing daring raids for food and ammunition, and rescuing other playable survivors with unique talents," said the game maker. State of Decay was previously codenamed Class3.
In an interview with gaming site IGN, creative director James Phinney further explained what influence choice will have on gameplay.
"If you see a bunch of survivors held up in a building, do you go in and save them? Do you then accept their gratitude and send them on their way or bring them into your shelter," he told IGN.
In an early interview about the game then titled Class3, game creator Jeff Strain unveiled to Eurogamer that the zombie-survival game for Xbox Live Arcade will start out as an open-world action title, but then later evolve into a massively multiplayer online game.
No release date has been announced.