Horror News Network: What zombie movies were inspirations for the game?

Skander Essadi: A lot of zombie movies had been influential in the creation process of Trapped Dead. But one can say that the biggest influence came from the comic  “The Walking Dead”.

Horror News Network: Tell us a little about the story, are there going to be any surprises or twists?

Skander Essadi: Behind this survival scenario is an experiment that failed. The company tried to invent a sort of corn resistant to every kind of vermin. This genetically modified corn was the cause that a virus mutated and was passed on through the food chain. When a contagious, mad dog bit one of the inhabitants of the town the virus started to spread and soon all of them became infected. The virus effects cells of the body and if an infected person dies some of its cells will go on living. That's how this town changed into the home of soulless zombies. The company, being responsible for this incident, tries to cover it up and keep it secret as long as possible to remove any evidence. And of course there will be a lot of surprises and twists in the storyline.

Horror News Network: So, how much blood and guts is there going to be?

Skander Essadi: Trapped Dead definitely is an adult game and we have a lot of weapons in it. And zombies to be eliminated on your way to discover the dark secret of Hedge Hill. Fans of other zombie games or splatter movies will fully enjoy playing Trapped Dead ;).

Horror News Network: What types of zombies can we expect to encounter? Any bosses?

Skander Essadi: There are several types of Zombies: Cheerleaders, prisoners of the county jail, nuns, white trash zombies, army sergeants etc. There is one “real” boss (we are not giving him away as this is actually part of the story and several other strong zombies such as “The Butcher” which shouldn’t be approached in close combat.

Horror News Network: What can  you tell us about the A.I.? Are these zombies going to be tough and tricky? Do they work together?

Skander Essadi: The A.I. is one of our favorite parts of the game. Each zombie has his own A.I. in place, and the zombies interact with one another as well as the environment (knocking down doors, looking for copses to feast upon,…) They also react to 3 different events: Area of hearing, line of sight and smell. If you bleed, you better run, they can small you from far away. And one zombie coming for you is not a real threat, but if one is on the move, expect him to pull more toward you along the way.

Horror News Network: How about the playable characters, how do they differ, and who is the best to have on your team?

Skander Essadi: The characters all have different stats such as stamina, strength, inventory size, speed, life, healing skill etc. Also not every character can use any weapon. Our favorite two characters are Bo (who can use the sniper rifle and chain saw) and the doctor as he can actually heal people while other characters can stop their bleedings but cannot gain back any health by themselves.

Horror News Network: What are some of the environments in the game? How interactive are they?

Skander Essadi: There are 10 different environments in the game: Gas station, hospital, prison, weapon shop, shooting range, shopping street, library, freight station, church with  a huge graveyard and the military base. Each level has traps that can be used to kill zombies and also there will be some surprise effects like zombies rising from graves or coming out of the water. There will be some destroyable parts in the environment like barrels or fire extinguishers. And of course we have added a lot of Easter eggs for all zombie fans.

Horror News Network: Let’s talk weapons, what should we expect to see and which weapon is best?

Skander Essadi: 13 different weapons can be used: a shotgun, a sniper rifle, an automatic pistol, a revolver, an axe, a baseball bat, a katana, a crossbow, a taser, a grenade, a blood bottle, a first aid kit and of course the most important weapon for all splatter and zombie fans: a chainsaw. Each weapon has pros and cons. The sniper rifle for example causes very high damage and has the longest range, but needs a lot of time to reload. The taser for example only causes very low damage but it renders the enemy motionless for a few seconds. The funniest weapon is the blood bottle: if you throw a blood bottle towards an enemy, this enemy will be splashed with blood and then will be attacked by other zombies.

Horror News Network:  How many different game play modes are there?

Skander Essadi: We kept it pretty classical. There are two different game modes: Singleplayer campaign and coop multiplayer for up to four players via LAN or internet.

Horror News Network:  Thank You Skander and every one at Heads Up Games, we look forward to playing Trapped Dead! Comment on this article on our forum.