ZombiU is a first-person horror survival game based on Zombi , the first game published by Ubisoft. The game is set in London, England, and the player controls a random survivor of a zombie apocalypse and starts in a metro station. Next to surviving, the protagonist is also after a cure to combat the outbreak, which was first predicted 400 years earlier as The Black Prophecy by John Dee, an astronomer and adviser to the queen.
The game's story revolves around a secret society known as the 'Ravens of Dee' who researched his predictions and worked towards finding a cure. The protagonist explores different locations, needs to take out zombies, and collects items and weapons. True to the spirit of survival horror, it features a form of permadeath.
The gameplay involves careful exploration, item collection, and combat against zombies. Players must use items like flashlights, guns, and melee weapons to survive. The GamePad's touchscreen is used for context-sensitive actions, such as scanning the environment and hacking locks. The device's gyroscope is also used to scan the surroundings.
Attacking requires a careful approach, as players must use precise timing to take out zombies without getting caught. The game features a multiplayer mode where one player uses the GamePad as King Boris, while the other player uses a standard controller to complete levels. The asymmetric multiplayer is organized around three game modes and five maps.
ZombiU was released on November 18, 2012, for the Wii U console.