ZombiU writers discuss three-character story and hellish London setting

ZombiU takes place in a modern London stricken with a zombie plague, and the game's writers discussed that setting and story in a video released today by publisher Ubisoft.

According to graphic novelist Antony Johnston, who co-wrote the ZombiU story, the game is set in a "creepy, apocalyptic, hyper-real version of London where Hell is just around the corner." That setting gives ZombiU's developers at Ubisoft Montpellier the ability to deliver some striking set-pieces, such as an empty, unsettling Buckingham Palace.

Gabrielle Shrager, senior story director and lead writer on ZombiU, talks about the three main characters — the ex-army Prepper, a survivalist; Sondra, one of the leaders of the Ravens of Dee, a secret society; and Dr. Knight, one of the Queen's physicians, who is searching for a cure to the plague. All of them have different interpretations of John Dee's "black prophecy," the historical grounding for ZombiU's apocalyptic tale. Dee was a 16th-century Welsh polymath who advised Queen Elizabeth I.

ZombiU is one of 23 games set to be available on the Wii U's North American launch date, November 18th. Check out our preview from Gamescom.