The dead walk, and the Wii U controller is your best hope.
Nintendo desperately wants stronger third-party support for its home consoles, and it needs titles that can demonstrate the viability and functionality of its special touch-screen controller. Ubisoft’s ZombiU, though sounding like a university for the undead, does both.
Set after a zombie apocalypse (natch), ZombiU becomes a tool in the player’s arsenal. The screen becomes a radar indicator to locate nearby undead, and zooms in to become a sniper rifle scope when shooting from afar. It’s also used for inventory management in what seems to be a classic “Inventory Tetris” a la Resident Evil.
Curiously, the use of the screen – and the inventory – seemed to be in real time. When the player switched to the inventory screen on the Wii U controller, the character on the TV pulled out his case, but the action continued. A zombie kept approaching, which necessitated a very quick change of weaponry to the shotgun and a switch back to the “action” screen to defend oneself.
The controller has plenty of context-sensitive scenarios, too. When attacked by a zombie, the Wii U gamepad becomes a first-person view of the zombie about to bite the player’s face off until he or she manually shoves the zombie away by shaking the controller. When trying to figure out the combination to a locked door, the Wii U controller becomes the keypad in question.
ZombiU will reportedly be about the fight for survival, as one zombie bite means that your character is dead. But don’t worry, though – you’ll be able to jump into the body of another survivor to try and hunt your old, now-zombified self down and recover what little equipment you can save.
ZombiU will also take advantage of the Wii U controller’s camera to “zombify” your face. I think the Reggie Zombie will give me nightmares for weeks.
