Con Artist has been busy with The Last Stand: Union City for some months now and we must say it’s starting to look very promising. The game will have many features compared to the previous game, including an experience and levelling system. Since we’ve been out for a while, we’re going to sum up all the information released up till now by Con Artist. At the bottom of the page you’ll find the link to play the Alpha version of the game!

The Last Stand: Union City, the third installment in the Last Stand series is currently in production and will be released in Q1 2010. It will take place during the first few weeks of infection in Union City. Taking the role of a survivor who holed up in their apartment during the initial spread of the infection, the player will be forced to venture out and make their way in the city. Escape will be the ultimate goal.

During your travels you will encounter other survivors, they will help you get a grip on what’s happening, tell you their situation and in some cases join your fight. Union City itself is a living city with day and night passing as you travel, it’s once living citizens will be driven dynamically, no street or building will play the same each time you enter. The game will have two seperate game modes – Run ’n’ Gun and Survivor. The Run ’n’ Gun game mode will be more in line with the original games and have a focus on action and lessen the RPG elements. Survivor on the other hand will have common survival problems such as hunger, need for sleep and conservation of ammunition to deal with. Much of the story and gameplay will be identical in both modes.

Your character’s vitals are the core set of stats that keep you alive. They include Health, Stamina and Nourishment and Sleep. Depending on which game mode you’re playing, you’ll have all or a few of these to worry about. Health and Stamina are present in both games and determine your character’s life and how active your character can be respectively. Nourishment and Sleep are only available in the Survivor game mode, so you’ll need to make sure you eat and sleep. Not doing so will affect all of your skills gradually and may even kill you if you’re not careful.

Each character in the game will have a set of attributes that will determine a number of factors throughout the game. They affect things such as your carry weight, health, melee damage, firearm accuracy and how much food and water you need. The base attributes are: Strength, Endurance, Intellect and Precision. There are 14 Skills available, with each one falling under the influence of one of the base attributes. If the player has a high Strength for example, all of his/her Strength Skills will recieve bonuses.

As you progress through the game you’ll earn experience (XP) and work your way through levels. When you hit a level, you will be provided with skill points. There will be bonus skill points available to your most used skills, this is to replicate your character “getting better” at a task by repeating it. You can choose to assign your skill points to the most used skills or put them into any other skill and not recieve the bonus.

That’s all information available at the moment, below you’ll find a Q&A which might answer some more questions:

Will this be 3D, Isometric, 2D or what?
It’ll be mostly 2D with only left and right movement, there won’t be as much depth. Have a look at this early mockup of an empty room, it allows for easy prop implementation and for rooms to be resized and made easily. Furniture and other props will sit in the foreground and background.

Will I be able to save my game?
Yes. At this stage I’m working towards having a number of save slots.

Is the main character coming back?
Yes, but not as the main character. You will create your own character.

Will there be classes?
Kind of, the ‘background’ you choose will determine your starting skills. You can of course create your own custom “background” however.

Will there be vehicles?
At this stage, no.

Can we customize weapons?
Weapons will have attachments to improve their properties, I’m still figuring out the best way to implement this though.

Is there a time limit on how long you can play?
There will be events that will affect how long you can play, but the game has a very different structure. It may take hours to finish as opposed to 30 mins.

What kind of melee weapons will there be?
I’m aiming to have an “anything you can pickup” kind of approach to melee weapons. So everything from hammers to table lamps.

How will survivors work?
You’ll meet other survivors, some may choose to travel with you. When they do, they’ll fight along side you, following you through the world.

Click here to play the alpha version of The Last Stand: Union City