At the launch of the Wii U in 2013, Ubisoft launched Zombi U, a survival horror game infested with zombies. It was met with generally favorable reviews and was one of the Wii U’s strongest launch games. Ubisoft have today announced that Zombi U, now known as Zombi, is to be released for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
One of Zombi U’s biggest draws was its ability to instill a sense of fear and imminent danger, largely thanks to the second screen functionality provided by the Wii U Gamepad. Needless to say, the PS4, Xbox One and PC sport no such peripheral, but this has been addressed by Hélène Henry, Zombi’s producer.
“We knew from the beginning that maintaining the tension and feel of the original was one of the main challenges, as the way ZombiU was presented on Wii U cannot be reproduced.”
“We maintain a minimal HUD as much as possible,” Henry adds. “It disappears when not required, giving the game a very lonely feeling. If you have surround sound, the awesome sound mix from the original still stands and greatly helps immersion. As much as possible, we’ve tried to keep those key elements.”
“…maintaining the tension and feel of the original was one of the main challenges”
“Also, there has been a slight increase in the field of view and players can increase and decrease it a little if they want to, but not so much that it takes away that claustrophobic feeling. Some work was also undertaken on the control mapping and response to improve the look and feel of the first-person movement.”
What hasn’t made the transition from Zombi U to Zombi is the single-system multiplayer, which allowed one player to use the Gamepad and place hordes of zombies in the way of the survivor.
Appearing on superior hardware, Zombi totes improved graphics, but that’s not the only change from the Wii U iteration. Zombi introduces two new melee weapons to accompany the cricket bat, namely the shovel and the nail bat, which provide the player with greater range and higher damage respectively. The flashlight has also changed, with players now able to switch to a different beam that, although travels further, is a great strain on battery life and poses a greater chance of attracting zombies.
Zombi is set to launch for PS4, Xbox One and PC on August 18th.
