Genre: Survival Horror
Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Publisher: Ubisoft

Superficially, ZombiU is just yet another contemporary video game featuring post-apocalyptic urban settings. It's in certain scenes where things get more interesting, as the game serves up eye popping vistas-- such as its view of the London Bridge-- with enough regularity to be notable. From a technical standpoint, ZombiU is a great illustration of what the Wii U is capable of, what with its ample use of shaders and fancy post-processing effects.

From Software's "Souls" series has popularized a "less is more" approach to aural design, and ZombiU makes good use of that philosophy-- the silence is often defeaning, leaving the wonderful zombie sound effects, occasional voice acting, and "dramatic when they are used" Cris Velasco piano and orchestra pieces to strut their stuff. The playable characters' thick breathing and genuinely terrified sounding grunts, as the player frantically beats back zombies with a cricket bat, are fairly incredible in their realistic execution.

It wasn't just the sound design that was borrowed from the "Souls" titles, but the gameplay structure as well, which involves very carefully and systematically exploring dark, maze-like areas while fighting off difficult enemies. Where they differ is that ZombiU is less RPG-- there are no player stats, for instance-- and more survival horror; managing the limited stores of ammo and other types of items is critical.

There isn't really anything to not like about ZombiU; it's probably the closest thing the Wii U will ever get to a "Souls" game, and it's a great impression at that. The gamepad integration is phenomenal as well, with the controller serving as both environment scanner and drag-and-drop inventory manager. One could complain that the game comes off as a bit vanilla at times, right down to the its generic sounding title. But its super aesthetic and excellent stage designs make it a winner nonetheless.