Government cuts are repeatedly slammed for piling more misery on an already strained NHS and taking police off the street – but now they’re being blamed for bringing a zombie apocalypse to Manchester.
The 2.8 Hours Later: Survival game will transform Manchester into a zombie wasteland in July.
Into its fourth year and third time visiting Manchester, the game will allow people to experience the terror of a world infested by zombies.
MM caught up with writer and director of 2.8Hours Later: Survival James Wheale ahead of the summer invasion.
“We’re very excited to be back”, said James.
“Survival is the biggest game we’ve ever staged and the game has been transformed with huge set pieces, multi-linear story lines and a new story which means it is going to be absolutely ace.”
Over recent years real life survival games have boomed and Mr Wheale cites government cutbacks as the primary reason for their success.
“Inspiration for this type of game actually came from the Tory cuts a few years back”, said James.
“It seemed the most logical representation of the impact that the cuts would have upon many facets of the country – from culture to employment.
“The zombie genre has always been about social commentary and we were keen to continue this tradition.”
Groups of up to eight people will attempt to steal food, hack terminals and complete challenges throughout a Manchester plagued by zombies over the course of the day.
While doing this players will interact with characters scattered throughout the city, each with a different storyline, while trying to do the most important thing – survive.
Should you end up being an unfortunate victim and caught, you are then marked and transformed into a zombie courtesy of professional make-up artists before being released back into the city to hunt down the remaining survivors.
Then at the end of the day, survivors and zombies get the chance to make a truce as they attend the Zombie Disco to finish off the event.
With more dates planned for next year, James is confident that the events will continue to get bigger and better.
“We’ve seen more and more street games appear around the world, which is really, really exciting as it mirrors the interest in our game,” he said.
“We love what we do, and we’re thrilled to see how many people want to take part, the popularity of it at the moment is thrilling.”
To purchase tickets for July 18 or 25, visit www.2.8hourslater.com.
Tickets are already sold out for the July 19 and 26 events.
Picture courtesy of 2.8 Hours Later, with thanks.
