Nothing’s more depressing than when a cool game feature gets cut before release.
Studio Liverpool – creators of upcoming Vita title Wipeout 2048 – have revealed that a planned a ‘Zombie’ mode for the game had to be removed during production.
The devs have explained that ‘ZOMBIE’ played out much like a survival mode – you would be pitted against swarms of zombie ships hell-bent on destroying your craft.
You could defend yourself with powerups like Cannons and Quake, but the longer you survived, the more undead ships would appear to ram your vehicle into oblivion.
So why would Studio Liverpool choose to taunt us with info about an awesome – but canned – game mode?
“That said, like a real-life Zombie, ZOMBIE mode is dead, but it’s not completely dead. :P”
Incredibly obvious hinting of ZOMBIE mode as future downloadable content, that’s why.
To whet your appetites for the content we’ll no doubt be buying at a later date, here’s some amazing concept art of a zombie ship:
Source: EU PS Blog
aerobes
A lot that’s wrong with this generation of games.
Removing elements of the game to punish purchasers for later on by way of DLC and an un-needed, shoehorned in zombie mode … yay. They could have just made it survival against the rival ships like the F-Zero games without zombies.
I don’t like myself for taking this attitude but I’m so done with zombies it’s ridiculous and with regard to the DLC thing, it’s just another punch in the face for consumers in an industry which has moved from giving what they can to taking what they can and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
I’ve spent way less than half the money on games last year than in previous years, not because I’ve fallen out with the hobby I love dearly but because of moves like this and the desire big corporations have to screw every possible penny out of us.
This business practices this generation has brought, like online passes, game elements being removed for DLC, DLC obviously being on disc but being locked away until you pay extra and gamers being used as beta testers with games being released half finished and then patched to death is like a cancer to the love of my favourite pastime. *sigh*
teflon
Aside from using the Z word, I don’t see what your problem with the mode is. As you say, it’s just a survival mode, really. There’s no actual zombies, just ships that are attacking you and you have to survive against, like the Marked Man mode from Burnout Paradise, where black cars are trying to take you out.
aerobes
It’s probably just the Z word then? Yeah, I’ll go with that. It’s more innocent than saying it’s just that time of the month.
teflon
Calm down, dear. ;)
Crocadillian
This is why i have gone from almost solely a console gamer to a PC and Nintendo gamer, although I have a funny feeling that this kind of corporate BS will invade the Wii U, which would be very sad. This also stopped me from pre-ordering a PS Vita, and I usually buy consoles on release day, anxiously waiting in anticipation :c.
teflon
PC games used to get disc based expansion packs for pretty much the whole of the last 2 decades, but now get similar kinds of things in the form of DLC, just as console games do.
You could argue that the scope of these expansion packs have shrunk, but so has the price you pay for them, most of the time.
Everything we see on consoles, with online passes, online keys etc. etc. the origins of that is from PC gaming.
Crocadillian
Oh i’m aware of that, but theres plenty of indie games on the PC, as well as ones that don’t use the kind of “business tactics” typically used in games by larger publishers such as bad DRM and DLC, so you can avoid it, unlike consoles where it’s becoming harder to.
Origami Killer
Very well said Aerobes. Completely agree with everything you have said. I feel disgusted when content is ripped from the original release only to become DLC soon afterwards. Probably the case here.
OriginalJonty (Aran Suddi)
Dear Games Industry,
Let’s get over the zombies, okay? It’s time to move on.
cam the man
Zombie,Zombie,Zombie.
Ben
Ooh, did someone say zombie?
Your right though; everyone loves a bad guy, but not when their half-dead.
Omac_brother
Companies got to make money. Its an industry. Just another way of squeezing every penny out of a game. Removing this feature wont effect sales, but selling it later as a DLC will make them a pretty penny. Fair play.
wirralsman
*awaits Zombie Fifa*
Nocure-fd
I hate football in all it’s forms. Previously Shaolin Soccer was the only incarnation I could tolerate.
However, Zombie Fifa would make it to my library.
Bodachi
Game content being cut due to time constraints is not new of this generation. While some companies will clearly cut content out of a game it to sell it later down the line as DLC.
Also the “Zombies” (Zombies can’t drive) look and sound more like Reavers from Firefly.
cam the man
A Firefly game could be good.
MICKY17
Like the sound of the mode, but it’s a shame that they had to cut it. Unfortunately this means DLC which will only be released to make extra money, instead of adding value to the original game.
Bilbo_bobbins
zombies is soooooo 2011/2010/2009…etc
sparkyscrum
I actually really like the idea.
This could be a good way to test the said mode, maybe forming part of the next Wipeout. Test the crazier deviations from the original game play.
Whitish-black Fox
Perhaps the DlC will end up like the fury expansion for HD. A new campaign with 3 or 4 new mode featuring these ‘zombie’ ships. I’d happily pay for that.
bacon_nuts
That would be great, fury was amazing, pretty much a whole new game as DLC. That type of DLC but based over zombies, as you said, would be great..
zide
“Soo, how could we make our game more appeal to the people?”
“How about zombies?! Everybody loves zombies”
“No, it has been done too many times already.”
“OH, I KNOW! How about ZOMBIE SPACECRAFTS?”
“YES! BEST IDEA EVER SO FRESH AND ORIGINAL”
Im glad that shit got canned.