I can guarantee that a zombie survival game called God Save Birmingham was not on your “2024 Video Game Announcements” bingo card. Set in 14th century England, you’re tasked with fending off rampaging hordes of zombies amidst a population that has mysteriously reanimated. Perhaps that’s because there’s no Maccies or TK Maxx in your local Bull Ring yet.
As the only Brummie who hasn’t been turned into a zombie, you have to do the usual survival game stuff: gather fodder, craft tools and weapons, hunt for food, and build a nice shelter to hide in. In Birmingham itself, there will be markets, boarded-up forges, and St. Martin’s Church on the iconic Bull Ring market, it turns out.
While I wouldn’t say the trailer above shows it, the game is aiming for “physics-based mechanics” that will allow you to outsmart the horde. The Steam page mentions stacking furniture to create barricades, using low fences to make zombies stumble, or simply mutilating them to make them creepier and less scurrying.
The game is being developed by Ocean Drive Studios, who initially worked on it with a team of two before expanding to a team of six. Their plan is to do some beta testing before the game launches in Early Access for a few years. When the game will launch in Early Access is unknown, but they plan for it to feature “a quarter of the entire city” to explore. The first year of Early Access will therefore be spent finishing “the city itself” and its “survival challenges,” with the next year focused on “creating light story elements.”
Honestly, survival games are getting to me now. I don’t feel like building things out of planks anymore! But I have to admit that I’m intrigued by a game set in 14th century Birmingham, a place I have no family connection to, but I’ve visited a few times for a wedding, a get-together with friends, and because the city hosts one of the most prestigious badminton tournaments. Maybe that’s how I follow the history of the city? By sitting at my computer and putting up little fences for zombies to fall over.
You can track your game progress on Couple.
