Tencent has announced "Undawn," a new survival game that follows the adventures of a group of survivors in a zombie-infested post-apocalyptic world. But the walking dead are not the only problem players face as they struggle to survive.

If you've played video games in the past 15 years, it should sound familiar: Undawn promises PvE and PvP, and in addition to the usual foraging and crafting, players can form groups to trade resources and make it easier to survive the end of the world. Shelters can be built, but it seems that conflicts between non-undead will also break out.

"With Undawn, we wanted to create a new type of action game that combines the freedom of an open world with RPG elements."

"The fact that we have created such a great experience for mobile and PC platforms means that even more players around the world can survive the apocalypse together, creating the possibility of a huge new type of open world experience.

Those who follow mobile games may notice that "Undawn" bears a striking resemblance to "Dawn Awakening," a zombie survival game released by Tencent last year. The game description is almost identical, "Dawn Awakening" is (or was) also developed by Lightspeed & Quantum Studios, and the Raven Squad character in "Undawn" looks similar to the character art in "Dawn Awakening. Dawn Awakening.

Well, two out of three is not bad.

In any case, they are indeed the same, as Tencent confirmed in an email that Undawn is the "official name" of the previously mobile-only Dawn Awakening. Does this mean: Tencent said that cross-play is "something the development team would like to include, but it is still in development."

It is also really unclear what kind of "great experience" Undawn actually is. According to a recently posted gameplay video of Dawn Awakening, it is a straightforward third-person shooter that transitions to a first-person perspective when you look down at your sights, but due to my lack of fluency, I am unable to pick up any further details. Descriptively, it sounds like a combination of Fallout 76 and Overkill's The Walking Dead, which is not the worst idea for a video game I've ever encountered. However, after watching about 10 minutes of that video, I have serious doubts about whether or not this game is going to redefine anything.

While it is clear that zombies are the central crisis, Undawn's website hints at a deeper strangeness. The Raven Squad, including the trio above, seem fairly straightforward as video game heroes, but faction is a different story altogether.

As with so many other things about gaming, it is unclear how the factions fit into the overall picture. They appear to be alive, but with a decidedly unfriendly appearance. Why someone decided that a zombie apocalypse was the perfect opportunity to play a Painkiller villain, we don't know, but it is unlikely that these people will be lining up to help rebuild society as we know it.

No in-store sales have been announced yet, but the website says Undawn is "coming soon."