Rot, Browser, Shotgun: Project Zomboid
This forthcoming indie, zombie, open-world, browser-based RPG (IZOBRPG?) was a bit of a Twitter sensation the other week, thanks to him what co-wrote Father Ted linking to it, but mean, paranoid rotters that we are on RPS, we decided to hold off posting until there was some footage to accompany the appealing concept. The 3-man team of Britishers behind it, Indie Stone, are funding the game with pre-orders - so let the below be the shells for your shotgun-of-purchase decision-making. Yes.
The video went to Plughead.net first; you should visit there for explanations from the devs on where the game's currently at, but dark embeddy magicks allow us to recreate the footage below. Important things of important note: the below is incredibly early footage, it's not a trailer per se, and the combat only represents a small element of the game. Really, the focus is on desperate survival in a sandbox post-apocalypse world.
Looting, building, running, hiding, fighting, trading, boozing: all these will apparently be possible. Also planned are the likes of depression, drug addiction, sickness and the gradual collapse of societal necessities such as electricity. This is a game of mighty scope beneath the lo-fi, isometric aesthetic. Oh, and death will come to your door: this is about just how you spend your last days.
Read all that? Good. Then forearmed with the knowledge that there is much, much more to it than this, you are ready to watch the combat video.
There are many more details of the many more features over on the Project Zomboid site (look for the blog links at the bottom). It's playable in either a standalone client or in a browser too.
If your fancy is suitably tickled, you can pre-order the game for £5/$8 here. The money goes directly to funding the game's development. At least, that's what they claim. They could be spending it all on bear baiting bets for all I know. I'm pretty sure it's funding the game, though.
