Here's an open-world zombie survival game set in the Middle Ages… Birmingham?

I can guarantee you that a zombie survival game called God Save Birmingham is not on your “Video Game Announcements 2024” bingo card. It's set in 14th-century England and asks you to fend off rampant zombie hordes as a population succumbs to a mysterious case of reanimation. Maybe that's because there's no Maccies or TK Maxx in your local Bull Ring yet.

As the only Brummie who hasn't been zombified, you'll have to do survival game things: gather food, craft tools and weapons, forage for food, and build a nice little shelter to hide in. Birmingham itself will apparently be home to markets, boarded-up blacksmith shops, and St. Martin's Church in the iconic Bull Ring market.

Watch on YouTube

I can't say the trailer above shows any of that, but the game is aiming for “physics-based mechanics” that will let you outmaneuver the horde. The Steam page talks about stacking furniture to create barricades, using low fences to trip zombies, or crippling them to make them creepier and less fluid.

The game is being developed by Ocean Drive Studios, which initially started with a two-person team and has since grown to a six-person team. Their plan is to offer some beta testing over a few years before going into early access. We don't know when early access will be available, but they plan to have “a quarter of the entire town” to explore. The first year of early access will then be spent completing “the town itself” and “survival challenges”, while the following year will be spent “creating light story-focused elements”.

To be honest, survival games are getting on my nerves. I can’t be bothered with building things out of wooden planks anymore! But I must admit that a game set in 14th century Birmingham does interest me. A place I have no family ties to, but have visited a few times because it hosts a wedding, a gathering of friends, and one of the most prestigious badminton tournaments in the world. Maybe that’s how I watch the city’s history unfold? Sitting in front of my computer and putting up little fences to keep zombies from stumbling across it.

You can follow the development of the game on Steam.

Leave a Comment