Sony Computer Entertainment has announced #killallzombies for PS4, a third-person shooter game with social interactivity elements.
While the gameplay from this new #killallzombies Gamescom trailer initially looks fairly similar to Housemarque’s top-down shoot ‘em-up game Dead Nation, the action has The Running Man twist where viewers are able to interact and change the dynamics of the game.
The action takes place in an arena where viewers can watch via a stream and vote on what happens next. Viewers will have the power to create traps such as blockades, spawn new obstacles such as cars and knives and change camera angles.
Developer Beatshapers explains the three main ways that spectators can affect the game via Twitch streams:
– Every 80 seconds, viewers have a choice of two encounter options available to vote on, including encounter spawns, various arena events, timed bonuses, and perks.
– The perk select screen has its own voting mechanic in which if the player decides to wait and select the spectator’s most voted perk, the player will be offered additional XP and Health.
– The chat commands are available throughout the broadcast as we are executing chat commands in real time, allowing the spectators to effect on a variety of imperative decisions that can significantly increase or decrease your chance of survival — such as increasing or decreasing your character’s speed or health, spawning more or less enemies, etc.
Weapons confirmed include plasma guns, sawed-off shotguns and M-16s as players fight off waves of zombies, earning XP and levelling up to unlock perks. There’s no release date just yet, but developer Beatshapers hopes to launch #killallzombies next month.
In concept it sounds like a decent idea, but it’s going to be interesting to see how many people actually watch the streams on Twitch to interact, or whether everyone will just rather play it for what it is, a zombie-killing, blood-fest.