The Zombie Apocalypse is Upon Us!

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Today on PSN a shambling mass of rotting corpses have appeared and are threatening the safety of the human race on Earth. You can do your part to fight back the zombie hordes in our new game, Zombie Apocalypse, developed by Nihilistic Software and published by Konami. For $9.99 you’ll shoot loads of zombies with one to four players fighting cooperatively in an online enabled zombie kill fest.

When Nihilistic first sat down and thought about creating a downloadable title, we immediately wanted to do it in the horror genre. We’ve got a lot of zombie and horror fans here. Not to mention some hardcore fans of old-school shooters. Combining the two felt logical and Zombie Apocalypse was born.

Zombie Apocalypse 1

Thematic inspiration was drawn primarily from classic zombie films of the 70s and 80s. Two films in particular are ZOMBIE (aka Zombi 2) by Lucio Fulci, and Nightmare City by Umberto Lenzi. The first level in Zombie Apocalypse is set in an airport which is a homage to Nightmare City. If you haven’t heard of either of these films and don’t mind some bad acting they are both incredible zombie gore fests. They are definitely not for the squeamish!

The game design was inspired primarily by two old-school shooters. The first was Robotron, a classic and innovator in the dual-stick shooter genre. In fact, the internal codename for Zombie Apocalypse during development was “Zombitron”. At the beginning of Zombie Apocalypse’s development, we held an internal Robotron tournament to get prepared. The second was gamer favorite Smash TV. We built upon the gore and arena combat of Smash TV by adding environmental hazards into our arenas that will tear zombies to shreds, blow them up, or light them on fire when you blast zombies into them.

Zombie Apocalypse 2


Zombie Apocalypse is all about survival and scoring big. When playing with friends either on the same console or online, the team is working toward a shared score. So to do well and hit the top of the leaderboards you’ve got to work together. Here are three PlayStation Blog-exclusive tips for hitting as high of a score as possible, applicable to either single or multiplayer:

  • The survivor characters all have chainsaws that you can pull out at any time. Use the chainsaw to grapple by pressing and holding the L1 button to score an instant kill on a zombie and to increase your score multiplier by three. Just be careful to not use the attack in the middle of a group of zombies, as it leaves you vulnerable for a moment as it ends. Try to lead a lone zombie away from the group then chainsaw them in half.
  • Make use of the environmental hazards. For example, blast zombies with your shotgun into the wood chipper in the Logging Camp level. Each hazard kill gives you an additional 5,000 points on top of the points you would have scored otherwise.
  • Use the zombie bait grenade not just to kill a bunch of zombies but to lead them to environmental hazards to score more points. In the Graveyard level you can throw the bait into the open grave and then shoot zombies directly into it to put them back to rest and get your hazard bonus.

If you reach the point where you think you can easily handle a Zombie Apocalypse and want an even bigger challenge be sure to unlock Hardcore Mode, one of our six unlockable game modes. Hardcore Mode restricts each survivor to starting with just one life and no extra lives are granted. That means you’ve only got one chance to try to score big on the special Hardcore Mode leaderboard. To unlock Hardcore Mode, complete seven consecutive days (missions) in the normal game mode without dying. Additional unlockable modes include Blackout Mode, where all the lights turn off except for one small light per player, and 7 Days of Hell Mode, where the survivors are tasked to survive through a week of sepia toned zombie mayhem.

Zombie Apocalypse Queen Zombie Apocalypse Kamikaze

So hit the store later today and get Zombie Apocalypse for PS3! But we are not just developers — we’re givers too! So to celebrate the launch of Zombie Apocalypse we will be giving away 25 codes for the game on the PlayStation Twitter feed. But make sure you’ve read this post, as there might be little pop quiz via Twitter! So keep your eyes peeled to Twitter later today after our PlayStation Store Update goes live!

Hope to see you online fighting back the zombie invasion with me!

Zombie Apocalypse 4

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234 Comments

16 Author Replies

  • Mark, could you please tell me how to unlock 7 Days in Hell mode? This is the only trophy I need. Awesome Game!

  • I wish it had custom soundtracks. Patch it in please. Screen capture and youtube support would be welcome also.

  • here’s a few things that could help this game:

    -Obviously fixing the online problems (crashing, freezing, etc)
    -Late join is going to be very important to this game. I’m finding that people are leaving games within a few rounds and it’s usually down to me and another person within 10 minutes. Late join is absolutely NEEDED.
    -Online/offline mixed coop. One or the other in this type of game doesn’t work out too well.
    -Lag hurts a lot in this game especially with the fatman zombie. You could be standing in the clear and all of a sudden a fatman will teleport over to you and you’re dead. I’m thinking add a small amount of time where the fatman could be killed by a teammate before he eats you, which would also add an element of teamwork to the game.

    Just a few of my thoughts. I want this game to do well :O

  • i wonder will this game come to psp hope so

  • i totally agree with “rumblemonkey” esp the lag/crashing/freezing a huge issue for everyone. pls fix it.

  • This game is RIDICULOUSLY broken online. Me and two buddies were trying private games last night, didn’t matter who hosted – the furthest we were able to get was round 4 or 5 without something going wrong. And then after that? We couldn’t get through one round. All sorts of weird stuff would happen – our PS3s would freeze, our characters would just disappear and reappear as corpses or in “Jesus cruficied” position and just stand there, lives would spontaneously go from 4 down to 1, the game would hang at the leaderboard screen between levels, we would be unable to pick-up any items, etc etc etc. It was unbelievable how broken it was.

    Which is sad because it is a pretty damn fun game. I had no problems in the single player game at all – I just wish the multiplayer worked as it should!

  • This is not good. I just installed the game and all I get is a dark screen and creepy piano music. Anyone else having problems?

    Things I tred:
    1. restarting
    2. redownloading the key

    Any other suggestions?

  • Is this a ps1 classic? no? then why does it look like one.

    These are the worst graphics I have seen on a psn title.

  • I just downloaded the game, and will be playing tonight. Add me if you’re looking for a fellow gamer who actually likes strategy and teamwork ;-)

  • Finally i came, i was hoping the demo provided some multiplayer support.

  • I bought this game yesterday eve I realy like all the featers the online got laggy but it might have been the host that i was playin with but other then that this game has a classic fun with todays spin I like the story has so much replayabilaty im gonna recomend to my friends so they can survive with me. Great job!!

  • I think it has great graphics besides everyone knows its all about the gameplay. you get what you pay for ps1 clasics are 6 bucks this is 10 and you get alot of depth for the price ill add you kensharp

  • The ps network is free and there is so many problems with its weird how microsoft has more money and they charge like 8 bucks a person so that you wont get a new game with online and try playing it with lagg and other many issues sony doesnt get that extra funding to help suport a smooth online expierance at least not yet

  • zombie killing, 2 player same screen, 10 bucks? Sign me up!

  • This game is fantastic I bought it yesterday and is worth way more than $10.

    Thank you nihl/Konami. Slam Dunk!

  • I’m really diappointed that EU gets the game weeks after everyone else and XBLA! I’ve never really understood this.

    I cannot wait to play this game online with a couple of mates. It looks simple but brilliant.

  • @DHILIFE – Play one level online and you will unlock that mode.

  • I hope the developers over at Nihilistic are still looking at the comments to answer this question.

    I’ve been playing Zombie Apocalypse and loving it. It’s an amazing homage to great arena shooters like Beserker and Robotron with zombie appeal. But I recently got to Day 37 and experienced a problem where my PS3 froze. I restarted my PS3, and on Day 38, it froze again. I’m not sure if it is a network problem or what. I could still communicate with my online friend via mic, but the screen was frozen and I could not exit out to the XMB menu. Hope this helps fix any problems or issues with the release. Thanks!

  • I played the demo… It great fun especially in multiplayer but the game is absolutely disgusting. I really don’t care for body’s being torn to pieces while there bloody intestines fly all around the level while the ground is literally plastered with blood. If there was and update or a patch or something where taking the blood and gore out was an option. If there was I would buy this game in a heartbeat! Any way you guys can do that?

  • This is pathetic, i bought the game and when i press online it goes to the online game searching screen and nothing happens, it freezes my PS3, i hope this gets fixed becuase the online is one of the main reasons i bought this game.

    I just hope the devleopers fix it within the next day or two becuase the game obviusly hasnt been tested enough and i dont want to have wasted my money.

  • why can’t I find this on the Australian Playstation Store?

  • I am also having issues with the game freezing when I try and play online. I hope it was just a server issue last night but I have not tried it yet today.

  • local multiplayer is amazing fun! my friends and I had hours of fun last night. Just need in-game custom soundtracks to make it perfect………

    Great game guys very enjoyable.

  • Its a great game especially 7 days of hell the downside is the online since yesterday is just FREEEEZZZE. Hello team Nihilistic can u guys fixe that issue. thx.

  • We have seen reports from some users who are experiencing issues with on-line connectivity in the PS3 version of Zombie Apocalypse. The first thing we want to say is that we’re sorry you are having an issue with the game.

    While the on-line mode of game is working correctly for many users, and thousands of on-line sessions have been logged, we are working to address these reports of problems as quickly as possible.

    For those that are having issues, please see this post on the PlayStation forums for more information on how you can help us track down the problem:

    http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3dlgames&message.id=171031#M171031

  • this game is crazy broken I got to play once cant even start the game now everytime I do my ps3 reset’s itself.

  • Some people are having issues with the game “blacking out” on them. So far it only seems to be affecting launch 60gb(with or without swapped HDD). If anyone is having this issue please post at http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3dlgames&thread.id=171049 with ps3 model.

  • tried to get into a quick match and guess what PS3 Froze. Fix it PLEASE

  • I tried to get into a quick match and guess what the ps3 froze Please fix this issue Thank You

  • When it comes to buying video games I’m bloody well cheap. Which is why I’ve only played the demo for Zombie Apocalypse and why I think this ten dollar game is great for me.
    But before I think about buying the game I gotta make one request. Could you guys fit in and update so that from the options menu you can choose to turn the blood and gore on or off.
    I hate too much blood. If you could do that please… thanks!

  • I don’t mean to sound like a sissy or anything but Zombie Apcalypse has a lot of gore. And relatives of mine constantly drop by…. with very young children. Now if they walk into my house with the children, I wouldn’t want to look towards the TV and see Zombie bits being blown with the rest of the level is scaterd with blood. Now the gore isn’t as bad as the blood and considering that removing limbs is how you get points I guess I can kind of under stand but all… of the … BLOOD.
    Is there any way I can remove the blood from the game because it’s a great game but…bloody.
    Thank you…

  • This Games Awesome but I hope the demo was multip-players :P

  • Is there a story line behind this like you know old resident evil games like out break?

  • love this game but why does it freeze my system everytime i try to join a quick game online?

  • I love this game, it’s great especially for co-op. We definitely need more stuff like this.

    The game does have a problem. When trying to search for Custom match it freezes, and from what i read, it’s happened to plenty of people. I hope this get’s fixed in a patch.
    Sadly, this also happens to me in MvC2.

  • The game is awesome but online multiplayer doesnt work. Every time I try to search for a game the game freezes. I hope konami releases a patch soon because online multiplayer was the only reason I bought the game.

  • ugh… so much blood any way I can turn the blood off.

  • I’m sick of dark fiction games, I like real games like GTA where you can kill regular people

  • Every time when searching for an online game my PS3 freeze,. not possible to play online mode..

  • Is this game offline as well? Looks pretty cool!!

  • why do these major companies like capcom and konami hurt their image by hiring horrible 3rd party developers to make games like this and rocketmen, etc etc.

    a game like this, is worth $5 at most and does more to hurt the reputation of the parent company.

  • This is a good game, except when trying to play online. It constantly freezes your PS3 and you must shut down and restart the system to continue.

    Not recommended (until Konami fixes the online play issue)

  • Please don’t listen to the wimps complaining about gore – it’s a ZOMBIE KILLING GAME you knuckleknobs. If you can’t handle the gore go play something else. Lol at the person above complaining that they don’t want the gore on their tv when kids and people come to visit. You may try turning your PS3 off and having some genuine interaction with your guests. Is it really so hard for you to pause the game or shut it off? Strange complaint :P

  • I agree with suggestions to add late joiners, but this is really because people seem to be heartless louts in quitting other people’s games. I would say I played about 40 times online MP and 36 of those times people quit whenever they damn well felt like it – no consideration for other players. I don’t know how one fixes that. These quitters should be ashamed of themselves.

    I also had issue with PS3 freezing A LOT during game searches, and lots of games where zombies would magically pop forward and kill you without any chance for avoiding it due to lag – also seen fellow players slide around the screen stuck in the floor and other weirdness that suggests the game is in dire need of a patch.

    Having said all this, I love this game – it’s one of the most intense gaming experiences I have ever had. 7 Days in Hell actually turned one of my fingers numb for several days because I gripped my controller so hard.

  • I agree with suggestions to add late joiners, but this is really because people seem to be heartless louts in quitting other people’s games. I would say I played about 40 times online MP and 36 of those times people quit whenever they damn well felt like it – no consideration for other players. I don’t know how one fixes that. These quitters should be ashamed of themselves. I also had issue with PS3 freezing A LOT during game searches, and lots of games where zombies would magically pop forward and kill you without any chance for avoiding it due to lag – also seen fellow players slide around the screen stuck in the floor and other weirdness that suggests the game is in dire need of a patch.
    Having said all this, I love this game – it’s one of the most intense gaming experiences I have ever had. 7 Days in Hell actually turned one of my fingers numb for several days because I gripped my controller so hard.

  • Love the remake you did here,I still love the original it is called Super Smash TV- have a stand up version of it in my gameroom here at home.

  • It´s an awesome game and I really like the soundtrack. Any chances for download it someday?

  • Hey, I just bought this, and there’s a problem…
    It says full game unlock…After I bought it the file that was called “Zombie Apocalypse Full Game Unlock (Full Game)” is only 6kb…And after downloading it I couldn’t find it anywhere…Please reply quickly

  • A patch was released on 10/16 finally (for PSN). I downloaded it, but did not get to test the online play until last night. Needless to say there was only 1 custom game in progress, but I joined it and played fine for several lvls. I also created my own and played for a while solo.

    We need to spread the word that this may be fixed so that people will get on and try and find games again. That big network issue really killed the launch fever of this game. If it is truly fixed now, we may be able to rebound it a bit.

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