While zombie fans have yet to receive the ultra-realistic, hardcore, brutal undead apocalypse survival game many of them so loudly crave, indie offering Project Zomboid is shaping up to be something close. You can give it a whirl thanks to a newly-release PC demo, available for download here at Shacknews.

Developed by Indie Stone Studios, Project Zomboid is a sandbox zombie survival RPG that'll let you live out your last days in a zombie-infested world. As well as (obviously) killing zombies, you'll be looting, crafting and barricading to eke out a little more life. However, if the zombies don't get you, other survivors might.

Indie Stone hadn't intended to release a Zomboid demo quite so early, hence it being clearly labelled a "pre-alpha tech demo." However, after the emergence of a pirated version which sucked up the indie team's valuable resources, they went ahead and launched a non-immoral way for people to try the game for free.

You can pre-order Project Zomboid now for £5 (about $8). This'll get you access to a playable alpha version which will be updated as development progresses, like Minecraft and several other indies.