The zombies are coming - and you'll be able to go inside Buckingham Palace, too.
Legend has often said that should the ravens ever leave the Tower of London, the kingdom will fall - and in ZombiU, it appears that that's exactly what's happened. With the ravens seemingly gone from the Tower, a plague has swept across London, turning all who remain into zombies. Luckily, a few people saw this coming in the years before (presumably when the ravens started grumbling about the quality of their accommodations), and have been training people, ready for the inevitable - and it's one of this group that you play as. Or, rather, you'll end up playing as several, as it's so easy to get killed. All it takes is a single bite to turn you into one of the shuffling undead - a move which it's hoped will force you to take things steadily, creeping round every corner, rather than legging it, gaily leaping as you go. Should you find yourself on the receiving end of a zombie's gnashers, you'll have to start over as a whole new character, losing any new abilities you may have gained, including your weapons - although if you can reach the point at which your last character died, you'll be able to at least reclaim your weapons.
Luckily, though, as the trailer below points out, there are a few things you can do to improve your chances of survival. For starters, the zombies are more than a little bit thick, and are incapable of climbing ladders - although they can happily leap over chairs and tables to get at you. Secondly, it pays to sneak around, as although zombies have rubbish eyes, they can hear, and smell you easily - so keep it schtum. Other tips covered below include keeping a distance between the zombies and yourself (in case they should catch you), and ensuring that you've blown up the zombie's head - as if its cranium is still intact, the zombie can keep going. Lovely.
Adding to the things helping keep you alive is your BOB, or bug-out bag, an all-in-one survival kit that looks suspiciously like a Wii U GamePad. Using the tablet-controller's screen and motion sensors, you'll be able to examine your environment for clues, and markers left by other players, warning you of upcoming danger, or pointing the way to hidden treasures.
ZombiU looks set to launch alongside the Wii U later this year. Check out our preview of the game for more on how things are going to play out, and be sure to check back as we approach the launch!
