If you've been living under a rock for the past few months you might not know about the recent zombie post-apocalyptic mod for ARMA 2, DayZ. It combines what many zombie fanatics have been craving for - a realistic game that involves surviving off what little food and water there is, ensuring you are well stocked with weapons while being under the watchful eye of other survivors.

Today it seems a new competitor has entered the ring, with developer Hammerpoint Interactive announcing their newest title, The War Z. Talking to IGN, Arktos Executive Producer, Sergey Titov, and Hammerpoint Interactive Senior Game Designer, Eric Nordin, have revealed that this zombie-themed game will be a survival MMO that will stray away from DayZ, but offer that realistic feature we've come to know.

The game is set five years after a “zombie apocalypse," so most of the human population is either dead or turned into zombies. Cities are decaying, resources are scarce and scattered around the world. About a year prior to when the game begins, a special, mutated type of zombie is discovered. These zombies have stem cells can be extracted and used to create a vaccine that cures humans of the zombie virus.

People around the world are hunting these “special” zombies, however they can only be found at night, and they are rare, so players will need to go to places where zombies gather in masses – namely – big cities, larger towns, etc. If you hunt these special zombies and extract the stem cells, you’ll be able to sell them to merchants at “safe settlements” for Gold Coins – the most valuable currency in the game.

While details are still light, the IGN article reveals that there will be two different modes to play in, giving a large amount of options to the player. The normal mode will allow players who have a tighter playtime the ability to jump in and enjoy the survival aspects that The War Z offers, however players will not start with a gun. In hardcore mode, players will start with a gun, however this also means tougher enemies, more realistic survival mechanics and hopefully harsher consequences.

For more on The War Z, make sure you check out IGN's article which delves deeper into the mechanics, including discussion on bandits, PVP, fortifications and more. For those interested, you can sign up on the official website for a chance to get into the closed beta that will be coming soon.