A 3D Project Zomboid Set In Middle Ages Birmingham Was My Sleeper Hit Of Gamescom 2024 (2024)

When we first got the Gamescom invite for God Save Birmingham, a new indie title from Ocean Drive Studios based in South Korea, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. A zombie survival simulator set in the small, muddy hole of Birmingham, UK in the Middle Ages? Sign me the hell up.

It did not disappoint. The game is still in its early stages - only in development for five months in total, with four of those with only two developers (now up to six working on the game) - but man, it’s exciting. You spawn in a ruined shack in the Middle Ages town of Birmingham, a place that unbelievably looks worse than modern day Birmingham. You’re naked barring a small loincloth which, when I removed by accident, revealed a perfectly detailed 3d modelled penis. The developers didn’t say anything so neither did I.

On the adventure went… into the muddy streets. God Save Birmingham is heavily-inspired by Project Zomboid, and you could tell from the simulation of food, water, energy levels, stamina, but also a bunch of other ailments in the status menu like sanity, healthiness, and so on, although they don’t appear to be working - at least not in this version of the game. I found a pitchfork, some lovely pork chops, and got to stabbing zombies.

The game’s detailed physics system put this pitchfork to work straight away. If you aim at the zombies’ legs with a weapon, you can knock them over. Aim for arms and you can lop them off. It already feels pretty great, if a little janky at moments. But in the jank I found it fun as I desperately tried to kick and push a rather fat zombie who grabbed me from behind. I was making hilarious sounds in real life, which is always a good sign. You can also grab barrels and other bits and pieces from the terrain to create obstacles for zombies - they walk into them and fall over. It’s simple, but it works.

As I explored I managed to find a small barracks building with a full set of plate armor inside. The developers made some appreciative noises - apparently not many people had found the armor yet. As you might imagine, this turned me into a slow-walking tank. Zombies can’t chew through steel. I powered through the shamblers in the muddy alleyways and made my way to a church. But though the zombies couldn’t really hurt me, they could still swarm me.

There was a moment of utter panic in the catacombs as they slowly circled around me. It was tense, even though I’d just met this character and his bizarrely-detailed penis only moments ago. By sheer luck and frantic pushing and clicking I managed to escape the catacombs, but with no loot to show for it. I spent the rest of the demo just wandering around, exploring, sitting by a roaring fire, and chatting to the team behind the game.

The game is planned to be based on the actual size of middle ages Birmingham, which isn’t that big, but still sizable for such a small indie team. There’s also a lot more planned for the game and the developers seemed pretty keen to draw comparisons with Project Zomboid - yes, they want to aim for that sort of detail, but obviously that’s a decently-long road. One key aspect that differs from Project Zomboid is that there will, eventually, be an ending. You’ll be able to prepare a cart to escape Birmingham. Stock it with food, tend to the animals - which will be in the game eventually also - and head out. The end of the game depends on how well prepared you are, of course…

Overall, God Save Birmingham was a pleasant surprise. It offered a lot more than I thought it would for such a new title, and I’m interested to see where the game goes over the next few months.