Call of Duty: WWII's Nazi Zombies trailer reveals 'a dark vision of undead horror'

War never changes, as the saying goes, and in what I'm guessing is that spirit Activision has released a trailer introducing the Nazi Zombies of Call of Duty: WWII. But these zombies, Sledgehammer Games boss Glen Schofield said, are going to be quite a bit different from their predecessors. 

"With Nazi Zombies, we're creating a frightening world full of terrifying characters and events that will make you jump and look over your shoulder. There's an incredible amount of myth and lore, which our team has poured through in our development," he said. "This is unlike anything before, we're taking players to some very dark, grim places in Nazi Zombies. This is one hell of a horror experience."   

It sounds like the basic premise will be essentially the same: "An international team peels back the vile layers of a malevolent plot masterminded by the Axis powers to harness unimaginable occult forces and create an invincible undead army." And it will feature a cast of recognizable names and/or faces, including David Tennant, Elodie Yung, Katheryn Winnick, Udo Kier (of course), and Ving Rhames. 

But the trailer seems darker than previous CoD zombies outings (like, for instance, this), and if Sledgehammer takes a genuinely horror-focused approach to it, Nazi Zombies could be the most interesting crossover between the worst infestation of inhuman evil to ever plague the Earth, and zombies, in years. 

Call of Duty: WWII is set for release on November 3. If you're unclear as to why an ostensibly serious shooter about the Second World War has hordes of undead running through it, catch up with our history of Treyarch's zombie timeline (big surprise, it begins with Nazis) right here.  

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.