'ZombiU' video explores the roots of survival horror on the Wii U

ZombiU, the upcoming Wii U survival horror game from Ubisoft, found its inspiration from classic survival horror games and the GamePad's tension-building possibilities, the developer said today in a video.

ZombiU, the upcoming Wii U survival horror game from Ubisoft, found its inspiration from classic survival horror games and the GamePad's tension-building possibilities, the developer said today in a video.

In ZombiU, each playable character receives only one life, and every continue begins with a new character. It's an attempt to make each life feel precious and compel players to confront what they'd do to survive.

Rather than think of the GamePad as a controller, Ubisoft wants player to think of it as a "survival kit." Used correctly, it will breed success and tension simultaneously by dividing the action between screens.

"In the team, we kind of miss these old-school survival games where fear is at the center of the experience," said Guillaume Bruner, the game's senior producer. "We saw with the Wii U GamePad an opportunity to return the slow paced, scary moments into the survival horror genre. It's a bit hardcore, but really that's the experience we want to give to the player."

According to Bruner, ZombiU is scheduled for a Christmastime release. Earlier this week, Nintendo revealed a September 13th event in New York where sources tell Polygon that we'll learn the Wii U's release date and pricing.

You can watch the video and learn about the tension below.