Undawn: The Midas Touch of Zombie Games Returns, But Does it Shine as Brightly as Smith’s Past Hits?

Over the past two decades, actor Will Smith was known for his Midas touch, turning everything he touched into gold. However, this streak came to an end with a famous incident involving a slap to Chris Rock. Since then, Smith has lived a more reclusive life and only promoted a few selected projects. One of these projects was a small zombie game called “Undawn” that was released in mid-2023. Despite its recent return to the news cycle due to poor financial performance, I decided to give it a try.

Developed by LightSpeed Studios, “Undawn” is an open-world mobile game where players face primarily undead enemies, as well as robots, mutants, and wild animals. The premise is centered around surviving a zombie apocalypse caused by a mysterious meteorite. Players find refuge in the town of Raven Shelter and are recruited to help impose civilization in the chaotic environment, involving tasks like battling zombies, completing missions, collecting resources, and rebuilding bases.

The game offers a large open world to explore, cooperative and competitive modes for interaction with other players, and survival elements that require players to meet basic needs such as eating, drinking, sleeping, and more. Additionally, players can build their own bases