Published , by Kevin Tucker
Published , by Kevin Tucker
The developers over at Survios are working on a new VR game based AMC's hit The Walking Dead TV series, and from what we've seen and heard so far, it's going to be a brutal adventure packed with frenetic fights as well as loads of blood and entrails. Shacknews was able to chat with James Iliff, co-founder and CCO at Survios, to learn more about the inspiration behind The Walking Dead: Onslaught as well as the mechanical systems that make the game such an intense and bloody experience.
According to Iliff, The Walking Dead: Onslaught is directly based on the TV canon, but features "a whole custom story built into later seasons of the show. It takes place over a seven-part campaign, and you actually get to play as the characters from the show. We have Rick, we have Daryl, we have Michonne, [and] we have Carol. And we are working with the talent [from] the show to make this happen."
Many fans of the TV series may like the show for its dramatic and character-driven narrative, but let's be honest: Some people just want to see zombies getting slaughtered. Thankfully, the Onslaught name here rings true to the experience: Survios has come up with a variety of mechanics that allow for measured, accurate, and most importantly gory offensive options to clear out the undead hordes.
"We built this system called the progressive dismemberment system, and there's several subsystems to this. The first [is] de-limbing; you can chop off any joint at any point along any limb as well as decapitation. There's also [an] impaling system that utilizes context-based physics, so if you're swinging your katana, [and] depending on the [angle and velocity of your attack], you could actually cut all the way through it, or it'll cut into a zombie and get stuck and lodged, and you actually have to brace yourself against the walker and pull your katana out.
"The third subsystem is actually carving. So we built this proprietary gore mesh around all of our walkers, it's highly optimized, so you can carve a Zorro Z in their chest, it'll actually reveal all the gory bits underneath. You can carve their face... whatever works. You're going to see the endoskeleton, you're going to see all the guts pour out. It's super visceral, and it's right up in your face."
The Walking Dead: Onslaught will release for the Oculus Rift and HTV Vive this fall. Be sure to keep it tuned to Shacknews as well as GamerHubTV on YouTube for all of the latest gameplay videos and developer interviews from this year's E3.