Undead Labs announces zombie-survival game for XBLA

Undead Labs has announced its to release a zombie-survival franchise for Xbox Live Arcade. Currently code-named Class3, it is to be published by Microsoft Game Studios, and feature local co-op.

This, apparently, isn't the zombie MMO the studio was on about back in 2009.

The inaugural title of the open-world-third-person-action-zombie-survival game is currently in development with additional information on it be revealed as the development cycle continues. The open world develops in real-time, is shaped by player actions, and game content is determined by players' choices and the ever-increasing zombie threat.

"Undead Labs is thrilled to work directly with Microsoft to bring Xbox 360 players an outstanding zombie-survival franchise," said Jeff Strain, founder of Undead Labs. "Our mission is to create original online games that truly feel at home on the console platform, and Xbox 360 is a fantastic platform for online console gaming. We plan to create an ambitious open world XBLA game and use its gameplay, setting, and technology as the foundation for a full online world game."

The game answers the questions: What would you do in the face of the zombie apocalypse? We know what we would do, but we don't feel like sharing our fantasies with you at the moment.

Apparently, in the game, the end has come, and human civilization has been annihilated. The few remaining survivors must band together, rebuild civilization. There will plenty of guns, fast cars, hand-to-hand combat, and "copious amounts of zombie gore," to get you through the ordeal though.

Players will be able to design and fortify their settlements, raid stores of food and ammunition, and rescue other playable survivors.

Undead Labs' Jeff Strain told Joystiq the developer is working with Microsoft towards the possibility of online co-op, but that the game will "certainly" feature local co-op.

Strain stressed that the gameplay is more than mowing down the hordes, involving the gathering of resources such as copper wire and seeds, as well as expert survivors, in order to outlast the zombies.

Commenting on the over-saturation of zombie games, Strain explained that unique mechanisms focussing on more than combat would keep the game "fresh".

"The gameplay itself that we're endeavoring to make here is going to feel fundamentally different from any other game that's come before, because of this emphasis on survival. I think it's going to feel very fresh," he said.

Nevertheless, the zombies are an important part of it.

"No game has really captured, in our opinion, what makes the zombie genre so popular and so compelling," he said. "... A very strong part of what makes the genre so pervasive is the survival aspect, and there's really never been a game, especially a modern take on it that really captures that aspect of the zombie genre."

Players will risk everything venturing out for supplies, and while Strain isn't ready to discuss the game's death system, he did comment that character death would be "meaningful", and involve "sacrifice". The game will feature a conclusion, if players can survive and rebuild efficiently enough to discover the cause of the zombpocalypse.

No date or price yet, but there is all kinds of neat information on the game through Undead Lab's official site.