14 DAY TRIAL // The third dev diary video for Tecmo Koei's upcoming hack and slash game Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z has just been released, titled Bringing Out the Dead and introducing the team's design process for zombies.
The action adventure game has players take on the role of a crippled cyborg assassin that has been restored and now has the opportunity to make use of his cyber-enhancements to exact his revenge on Ryu Hayabusa, the Ninja Gaiden franchise's protagonist, who maimed him during a confrontation.
The world is plagued by a zombie infestation, and players will be looking for the source of the infection. The latest video offers a glimpse of the design process for the zombies, the devs stating that they attempted to stay true to the classic zombie tropes such as shambling around with arms outstretched and falling body parts, while at the same time attempting to surprise them with novel ideas.
The developers have expressed their aim to differentiate the zombies by giving them unique personalities, having a sort of remnant of memory from their previous lives, and expanding on zombies being simple, mindless creatures by introducing a humorous side to the game.
Keeping in tone with the zombie element, players will be able to slash their way through entire legions of the poor things, in the process covering the screen in blood and gore, but with the emphasis on lightheartedness and comedy rather than on gritty realism, in order to keep the game fun.
The game has been developed in collaboration by Team Ninja, Keiji Inafune's Comcept and US-based studio Spark Unlimited, and as such it benefits from both Japanese and Western design influences.
Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z will be out on March 6 in Japan, March 18 in North America and March 21 in Europe, for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC platforms.
