Among other video games, ZombiU was influenced by Resident Evil, Condemned: Criminal Origins and Peter Jackson's King Kong.

They are contacted by the Prepper, a mysterious figure who tasks them to maintain his safe house in order to be properly prepared for survival in this new destroyed London, all while the survivor seeks out a cure for the infection at the behest of Dr. Knight, a scientist/doctor stationed at Buckingham Palace.

The player has a number of ways to deal with enemies, and can confront the zombies with firearms, land mines, and Molotov cocktails.

By exploring the game's world, players can find beds (which are save points) and routes leading them back to their safe house.

While performing these actions, the television's perspective switches to a fixed third-person view of the player character and the surrounding area.

[17] A player, using the Wii U Pro Controller, plays a human survivor who must navigate a map to obtain all capture points.

According to the scientist, Black Angels would save the world; the Ravens thought that Dee was referring to their organization, but the Prepper believed that he was talking about something worse.

The player goes underground while scavenging at Buckingham Palace and is contacted by Dr. Knight, a physician for the Royal Family who is trying to find a cure.

He orders the player to find diaries and notes left by Dee in exchange for scanner upgrades and a virucide, a chemical capable of killing the virus in those that are infected.

Despite the Prepper's protests, who thinks the player should raid the petrol station, he goes to the nursery; the staff and children have been eaten by a nurse, who became a ghost-like monster capable of teleportation.

On the way back to the bunker with the petrol, the player receives a distress signal from a young girl that she and her family are barricaded in St. George's Church.

Boris' lights, microphone, and music attract a horde of zombies, and he and his gang are eaten whilst the player escapes.

[22] Since the hardware design was incomplete, the team made a number of prototypical games and decided that the new title would extensively utilize the Wii U GamePad.

Announced at E3 2011 as Killer Freaks from Outer Space, the arcade first-person shooter had players with extravagant weapons killing small monsters.

[19] Although reaction to the game's announcement satisfied the studio, they realized that its fast pace would make extensive use of the GamePad while muting the TV display's utility; players must focus on one screen while ignoring the other.

[19] The team chose London as ZombiU's setting because the prominence of the city after hosting the 2012 Olympics, and its dark history (including Jack the Ripper) matched the tone of the game.

[28] According to writer Antony Johnston, the game features environments from a lavish palace to decaying ruins to "reflect the contrast of modern London".

[29] London allowed the development team to use Beefeaters, royal guards and a cricket bat inspired by Shaun of the Dead.

The team then retooled the system to include features such as the mini-map, resulting in players focusing on the GamePad and ignoring the action on the TV.

According to Guillaume, the team realized this potential when they implemented the lock-pick feature (when players must be aware of their surroundings while trying to unlock a door).

[31] According to game director Jean-Phillipe Caro, players will do badly if they try to play it as a fast-paced action shooter like Call of Duty and ignore the GamePad.

[60] Hollander Cooper of GamesRadar agreed, saying that ZombiU "[honed] in on the 'survival' part of the 'survival horror' genre better than any release in recent memory".

[62] Patrick Klepek of Giant Bomb wrote that the game had some very scary moments, which players who liked survival horror would enjoy.

[66] Arthur Gies of Polygon wrote that the system helped create an "overwhelming sense of fear and risk", and made him play the game in a more careful, tactical manner.

[68] Marty Sliva of 1Up.com thought the game was decent but could be improved stating: "I really hope to see Ubisoft work on a followup that fixes some of the rough patches and delivers the survival experience which the mechanics seem to be promising.

[62] Gies appreciated the game world's development, praising Ubisoft for creating a believable setting; however, he and Schilling were disappointed by the story's supernatural elements.

[64] Stanton wrote that although the game's combat was simple, it developed into "something special" since players needed to choose their weapons wisely.

[69] Sterling compared its graphics to a Wii title and noted technical flaws, including glitches and slow loading times.

Disappointed with the lack of enhancement of the original game's graphics, the limited 30 frames per second and the GamePad transition to other home consoles, she called the package a wasted opportunity.

[61] James Orry of VideoGamer.com also criticized the lack of visual upgrading and overall improvement and the exclusion of the multiplayer mode, but found the game "an excellent entry in the survival horror genre".