Everyone is familiar with that iconic horror fixture the zombie, the shuffling, groaning undead who has become a hallmark of the survival horror genre. Today the zombie has been given new life, to put it one way, by appearing in a new Half Life 2 mod that was released over the weekend. The new mod, titled Zombie Panic, places players in the well known situation of a zombie outbreak that the player must survive. At the start of the game players have the option of playing a human survivor of the outbreak or turning themselves into the first zombie on the field or, if no one wishes to join the ranks of the undead, the game will select a player randomly for the job. Be warned: it may sting a little.

Each team has certain advantages that make them distinct in ways other then physical apperance.  The human players, for a start, have a slight speed advantage over the zombie unless the player is overburdened with gear. Humans can also use various types of weapons, both short and long range, and explosives to kill off the zombies and will also have the advantage of numbers and the ability to plan tactics to use against the zombie(s) present on the map. On the flipside zombies have the ability to heal themselves and also, when killed, they will come back at you again and again, killing the human players, until they run you down by numbers. The zombie players also have a special unit called The Carrier, which is the first zombie to start the match, and all zombies possess the power of Zombie Vision which amplifies any light source around to allow for better vision and also can be used to track human players.

Interested? If so go to the official Zombie Panic mod site at http://www.zombiepanic.org/site/index.php