ⓘ Ocean Drive Studio, Inc., Kakao Games
God save Birmingham is still in development and is expected to enter Early Access soon. After a closed test with more than 1,000 participants, Ocean Drive Studio is now opening the doors to a large-scale public playtest in which anyone can participate. The game can be tried for free until Monday 9 November.
God save Birmingham it’s an open-ended survival sandbox without a traditional story mode. Players will have to survive against the hungry undead in medieval Birmingham while finding food, clean water and a safe place to sleep. Combat primarily revolves around melee weapons, including medieval weapons and improvised tools. For the first time, the game also features cooperative mode for up to four players, although this mode is still in its early alpha phase.
Unusual physics: be careful where you step
Besides the setting, the main feature of the game is its physics system. According to the developers, almost every object can be moved or used in some way. A dining table, for example, can be pushed in front of a door to act as a barricade, while a rolling barrel can be used as a weapon against zombies. However, the physics system can also work against players. Trip over something and you might lose your weapon. A poorly judged jump could even leave you with a broken leg.
Judging by the discussions on Steam, not everything is going well yet. One player complains that the constant search for food leaves almost no time for exploration and crafting. Another reports finding zombies inside a shelter that had previously been fully secured. It’s unclear whether this was caused by an enemy spawning bug or whether the undead managed to get in some other way. There are also isolated reports of cooperation issues, including zombies not appearing on private servers and attacks not working properly. Given that the game is still in beta, however, these shortcomings are quite understandable.
As a child in the 90s, my Gameboy was my constant companion. After school, the PlayStation was turned on. When I finally got my first PC, I was completely hooked. Since then my passion for video games has never waned. For me, writing for Notebookcheck means reporting on topics that are really close to my heart: in addition to games, I also like to write about electric mobility, photovoltaics and innovative gadgets. When I’m not sitting at the computer, I’m probably on water rescue duty on the Baltic coast or trying to counteract the downsides of my geek life of sitting for long periods at the local swimming pool.
