Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery AKA how to make a quick buck...

[Placebo]

http://gamersyde.com/news_the_war_z_...-13091_en.html

Look familiar?

Arktos Entertainment and Hammerpoint Interactive Announce The War Z

New Game Studio to Bring Zombie-Apocalypse MMO to the PC


LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Arktos Entertainment Group and Hammerpoint Interactive, a new independent game development studio located in Los Angeles, Calif., are finally lifting the veil and announcing their debut title, The War Z (TWZ). A session-based, massively multiplayer online game (MMO), The War Z is inspired by all things zombie and is set in a true post-apocalyptic, zombie-infested world where other players can prove to be a greater threat than the undead hordes that populate the land. The game is slated for release in fall 2012 for the Windows PC platform.

“The whole team is completely obsessed with the zombie culture as well as with post-apocalyptic games like Fallout,” said Eric Nordin, senior game designer for The War Z. “Since we started the design of the game, we have continued to incorporate new features that inspire us as we go. At the end of the day we want to ship a game that we want to play ourselves and we’re hoping that other gamers will recognize our passion and be excited about playing as well!”

In The War Z, players are thrust into a post-apocalyptic world five years after a viral outbreak that ravaged the human population and left in its wake a nightmare of epic proportion. Hordes of undead zombies infest the cities, and the few remaining human beings have devolved into a lawless, nomadic society where the sole objective is to survive at any cost. Players must use skill and cunning in order to acquire food, weapons and other supplies necessary for survival. While navigating the vast landscape, they will discover cities teeming with the undead as well as other players that may or may not be friendly.

With strong RPG elements, TWZ allows players to earn experience points and then “spend” those points to learn new skills that will aid in their survival. Additionally, there will be opportunities to acquire in-game cash and gold, which can be used to purchase supplies at one of the few safe-settlements located in the game. The War Z will also allow those playing together to join servers as a group or locate friends already playing and join the same server.

Some features of The War Z include the following:

• Survival Horror MMO with entire game world build around a Zombie Apocalypse
• Two modes of play: Normal (downed characters can be revived after “cool down” period) and Hardcore (death will be permanent)
• Ability to switch between first-person (FPS) and third-person (TPS) perspectives
• Huge maps ranging between 200 and 400 square kilometers
• Meld of PvE (player versus environment) and PvP (player versus player) gameplay
• Unique social elements, including bounties, rewards, help requests, trap setting, etc.
• Safe Settlements: safe cities within the world where players can purchase, sell and store items as well as post notes for other players
• Single purchase, downloadable client with ability to play full game without subscriptions or requiring in-game transactions
• Full developer support with regularly scheduled, free content updates
• Dedicated public servers as well as private servers that can be completely self-managed in game client

“Hammerpoint Interactive is exactly the kind of developer we look to partner with,” said Sergey Titov, CEO, Arktos Entertainment Group. “They came to us with an innovative game design that fit our investment strategy and we’re excited to be backing this project.”

The War Z is currently in Alpha phase, with a closed beta planned for the very near future. Players can visit http://www.thewarz.com to be notified of updates and other information as well as to pre-order the game and guarantee a spot in the closed beta. More information on this title can also be found http://facebook.com/warzmmo

image_the_war_z-19785-2558_0008.jpgimage_the_war_z-19785-2558_0010.jpgimage_the_war_z-19785-2558_0013.jpg

[Mr Butlertron]

It's been in development since last year. Might want to scale down the paranoia.

[Tankbuster]

I'm not familiar with the zombie genre.

Is the use of the letter Z common?

Does it define the genre?

[Placebo]

It's been in development since last year. Might want to scale down the paranoia.

Paranoia? Was meant to be a joke but still

I read that they changed a lot of how it played out based on the success of DayZ, or is that also paranoia?

[Messiah]

One of the developers posts/brags here quite regularly

All these games take a healthy dose of 'inspiration' from others. DayZ is no different, WarZ (a rather awful choice of name) neither. Seems they aim to do what I always hoped STALKER should have been (minus the MMO part) but with zombies (yawn). Good, hopefully the DayZ CrayZ can be put to rest.

[Placebo]

I'd like to see one of these types of games with aliens, war of the worlds or falling skies type

[Messiah]

I'd like to see one of these types of games with aliens, war of the worlds or falling skies type

I'd honestly love to see STALKER reworked so it became what it was billed as (survival, find a safe place to sleep when you log off, etc - although that was all SP). Fallout allso springs to mind as a good brand to MMO survialise, especially with their take on creating home made weapons. Zombies just don't float my boat, the survival concept does, however.

[Mr Butlertron]

Paranoia? Was meant to be a joke but still

My bad.

[ProfTournesol]

MoreMoneyZ^TM

[Tankbuster]

I'd honestly love to see STALKER reworked so it became what it was billed as survival Zombies just don't float my boat, the survival concept does, however.

_this.