Updated my summary a bit.
Mission Design / Story
- It is not truly open world, nor entirely free travel. Instead, there are several levels/zones connected by sewers and other exits.
- You can move between levels/zones via sewers, and these exit points.
- There is no singular protagonist. You instead embody various randomly generated 'survivors'.
- These survivors are lead through the 'story' by four characters, communicating via radio and such. These characters drive the story, irrespective of what survivor you're playing as.
- These four core characters give the survivors missions/tasks that take place in the aforementioned zones, such as collecting objects and presumably killing shit. I assume we will visit zones multiple times.
- There is some kind of end game to work towards, following the missions.
Survivors / Abilities
- No singular protagonist = new survivor on each death.
- Survivors can upgrade weapon proficiencies and effectiveness by using said weapons often, think The Elder Scrolls.
- Weapons can be modified/upgrades for better damage, accuracy, etc by finding loot/goodies scattered throughout zones.
- If a survivor dies, they will take with them their weapon proficiencies and equipment. New survivor starts from scratch, story continues regardless.
- Zombified survivors exist within their respective zones, and can be killed to retrieve old equipment.
- Equipment can be stored in various safe houses by one survivor, and collected by other survivors (should the original survivor die).
- Changes made to zones are persistent. If one survivor unlocks a door, then dies, other survivors will find that door unlocked.
- Some degree of random generation to encounters and surprises in zones, ensuring not every survivor entering a zone will experience the same game.
Controls / Interactivity
- Basic controls not unlike any other dual analogue shooter. Move with one stick, aim with the other, shoot with buttons.
- Main TV screen represents your wider, first person view. GamePad represents intricate, focused view. Appears to emulate the difficulty of splitting your attention between the 'big picture' and smaller, fiddly stuff.
- Examples of the above: sorting through your backpack, picking locks, hitting switches, etc all take place on the GamePad.
- No ability to pause demands micromanagement between GamePad functions and using the big screen to continually observe your surroundings. EG: While picking a lock on the pad you will need to check the big screen to see if zombies are approaching, diverting attention between the two.
- Most weapon aiming appears on the main screen. Scoped weapons use GamePad for aiming, and gyro controls, to simulate a separate 'looking down a scope' perspective.
- Kill and eat rats and ravens for health. Risk of animal carrying plague/virus that depletes health instead.
- Use hammer + planks to barricade doors. Hammer also used for removing planks to access new areas.
- Pick up and read newspapers, magazines, etc.
Social Networking
- Social networking features, not unlike those found in Demon's/Dark Souls.
- Able to create and leave icon/image based messages in zones. These can be discovered/read by your own survivors, and will also be randomly uploaded to other games, appearing in another players zone.
- Zones will occasionally download zombified survivors from someone else's game, placing them in your own zones, with the equipment the other player lost.
- Downloaded zombified survivors will display a survivor score, allowing you to gauge their skill.
- Leaderboards and stat tracking allow you to view your various survivors and their performance, and compare them to others online.
Single/Multi Modes
- Normal campaign allows for infinite survivors.
- A true survivor mode, unlocked by beating the above, grants you only one survivor to finish the game with. Die and you have to start from the very beginning of the 'story' again.
- Various local (not social networking) multiplayer modes, including one where a player using the GamePad plays the game like an RTS, controlling zombie types and spawn points on the map for other players to combat.
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