One of the more interesting games I saw at PAX East was God Save Birmingham. Developed by Ocean Drive Studio, the team behind Section 13 and Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch, this zombie survival game is clearly the studio’s most ambitious yet. The vision for what this game can be is clear, even if most of the enjoyment comes from what the players make of the world.
I had 30 minutes to play God Save Birmingham, exploring the medieval region that’s become infested with the undead. I equipped a pitchfork and started whacking enemies, popping off some of their heads with its sharp prongs. I got a bit overzealous and depleted my stamina, hindering my ability to attack and sprint. Of course, I took a few blows in the process. When zombies get close, they don’t just attack you, they grab you. You then have to spam melee attacks to push them away from you. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you’re surrounded or caught in a tight space.
This is where some of the more traditional survival elements come in. You can scavenge for supplies such as food, from houses, farms, and other miscellaneous points of interest. I also found a watering hole, but there were too many zombies for me to safely use it. After sustaining some attacks, I was moving slower and steadily losing health. After checking my status, I realized that I had gashes on my legs and feet, and that I was bleeding out. Luckily, I had some bandages on hand that I used to patch myself up.
God Save Birmingham is an open-ended experience, meaning there are no missions, campaign, or narrative throughline to guide you around the world (though the developers told me that they’re considering adding some sort of story feature in the future). Your only goal is to survive and kill as many zombies as possible. Interestingly enough, zombies don’t respawn, so you could theoretically clear out the entire population of infected and roam freely. That said, it’d be quite the time-consuming task.
In the spirit of adventure, I decided to explore a church that I spotted on my compass. I couldn’t even open the doors fully with how many zombies were waiting on the other side, and I was immediately ambushed. After a chaotic, janky few seconds of spamming the jump and attack buttons, I was able to escape the hoard and run up a flight of stairs. Now in a narrow, enclosed space, I had to fight through several more zombies before I eventually made it to the rooftop. It gave me a nice view of the surrounding area, and there was even a supply crate! Unfortunately, it was empty. No hard feelings, that’s the name of the game when it comes to survival.
It’s clear to see what the gameplay loop for God Save Birmingham will be: gather resources, fight zombies, and expand your base so that you can get more resources, kill more zombies, and expand your base. It’s standard survival fare with a medieval zombie spin. It’s certainly rough around the edges, but could be a fun addition to the genre once its vision is fully realized.
This preview is based on a demo played on PC at PAX East 2025.
