ZombiU online elements inspired by Dark Souls

Ubisoft Montpelier has copped to a disastrously sexy comparison: ZombiU has a little bit of Dark Souls in its DNA.

Speaking with EL33TOnline, associate producer Nicolas Robin said the Wii U survival horror's unusual asynchronous multiplayer elements build on foundations popularised by From Software's dark RPGs.

"Dark Souls, Demon’s Souls inspired our online features and yes, it inspired us more in terms of making the challenge demanding," he said.

"Difficult but fair. And at the end when you achieve the thing you say, 'Whew!'"

Robin said the difficulty was partially inspired by nostalgia, too.

"This feeling in videogames that we used to have when we were young. In modern video games we have cool emotions also but we kind of miss sometimes the emotion of, 'Okay, I tried many times, it was difficult, but I have a really good memory of that moment that I will tell to the other ones and share with the other ones', and that’s really what we wanted to communicate with the game," he said.

"We had this type of conversation around Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls with [lead content designer] Mounir [Radi]. And yes, basically that’s more where Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls inspired us is to make a fair challenge but a difficult one at the end of which the player will say, 'Okay, you see the gas station, I shot the flare…' We had a lot of conversations with the playtesters and lots of very memorable moments."

Are you swooning yet? ZombiU is a lunch title for the Wii U, which arrives in November and December; get all the details here. Hit the link above for more detailed discussions of the title's origins and design ethos.

Thanks, Polygon.