So, Nintendo's Wii U Unveiling Show II wasn't the all singing, all dancing games extravaganza that we'd hoped and it didn't deliver a mass of third-party exclusives, but let's look at some of the positives. It's early days and there is one stand out title that isn't a port of something PS360 players have had for a year.
Yes, the zombie apocalypse genre of media has seen an explosion in recent years. One of my most played Wii games remains House of the Dead: Overkill (although as Agent G will tell you, we don't use the Z-word) so something of a similar ilk would be welcome when/if I finally add a Wii U to my console collection. Luckily, one of Nintendo's most constant supporters during the last generation have that covered. Ubisoft present: ZombiU.
A first-person survival horror adventure set in this Brit's beloved capital city, you play as many leading characters as it takes for you to reach the game's conclusion. There is no leading man or lady. If you die, you respawn as a new character and your old character becomes one of the walking, wailing undead that are out to kill you. One of your first objectives with your new character will be to locate old zombified you and reclaim your gear. Everything else you achieved in that past life remains as you left it, so it wasn't a totally wasted journey.
I like this idea. It appeals to the Walking Dead fan in me who craves a real-world zombie apocalypse just to see if it's as easy to survive as Rick and his gang make it seem...
The application of the Wii U controller also impresses me, and it's what I really hoped to see more of the third party developers embrace with their own from-the-ground-up titles. Sure, the GamePad screen works as your inventory, but the game keeps rolling while you're fishing through! There you are, frantically looking for your Big Zombie Bashing Club but on the big screen, the door is being hammered down by Zs.
The
impressions over at Kotaku sound terrific. The two screens are being cleverly implemented for the sense of immersion I had been hoping for with the GamePad.
Check out the
Gameplay trailer and more information at
E3.Nintendo.com/ZombiU.
