The Nightfall Update

Darker nights

• Every map has its own colour: warm firelight on The Block, a sickly green in Gravewood, sodium orange in the Rail Yard and a cold storm blue on The Bridge.
• Blasts knock the lights out: a big explosion kills the lamps around it, sparks and all, for the rest of the wave.
• Lightning lights up the whole Bridge, with the thunder right behind it.

 

 

Every match opens on the map

• The Block: when the power went out across the city, one block decided to hold. The evacuation convoy is promised at dawn.
• Gravewood: the bell in the chapel started ringing on its own a week ago. Every time it rings, the graves open a little wider.
• The Rail Yard: freight nine left the depot with no one at the controls, and it hasn't stopped since. The night shift never clocked out.
• The Bridge: they closed the bridge at both ends to keep the city safe. Then the storm came, and the river started giving up its dead.

 

Bosses make an entrance

• The Abomination smashes in through the gate furthest from your team, in a burst of wreckage and dust.
• The Gravelord bursts out of a crypt in a flare of green light, with souls rising around it.
• The Yardmaster rides in on the night train and jumps down beside the tracks as it thunders past.
• The Stormbringer hauls itself up out of the river as lightning strikes the rail.

A world that breaks

• Cars catch fire, set off their alarms and explode a few seconds later. The blast takes out the zombies around it and can hurt you too, so step back. One burning car can set off the next.
• Everything else breaks too: concrete barriers crack into rubble, sandbags burst, the Bridge barricades fly apart, street lamps topple over, headstones crumble and pumpkins splat.
• The Rail Yard's fuel tank springs a burning leak, then goes up in a huge fireball.
• Zombies use the map: a charging boss or a brute shoves cars out of its way, runners vault over barriers, sandbags and cars, and gates rattle when zombies climb out near them.
• The fight leaves its mark: scorch marks and blood stay for the whole match, and fires smoulder after they burn out.

The night builds

• The Block: from wave 5 a helicopter sweeps its searchlight across the streets, and from wave 10 explosions light up the skyline.
• Gravewood: the fog creeps in closer as the night goes on.
• The Rail Yard: sparks shower off the rails from wave 8, and from wave 10 the boxcars start burning, one more every few waves.
• The Bridge: the storm gets heavier with every wave.

Every hit lands

• Zombies react: they rock back when you shoot them, and big blasts throw them through the air.
• Deaths match the weapon: explosives blow them apart, fire leaves a charred husk that crumbles to ash, frozen zombies shatter like glass, and bullets drop them where they stand.
• Bodies stay a moment in a spreading pool of blood, then sink into the ground.
• Spent shells fly out of the Sidearm, SMG and Minigun, with red shells from the Shotgun.
• The camera has weight: heavy guns kick it back and big blasts punch it in.
• Ringing ears: get caught right next to a blast and the world goes muffled for a moment.

 

 

Hear the night

• The horde murmur: a low crowd of moans grows as more zombies gather just off screen.
• Music that builds: extra layers come in as the fight heats up.
• Echoes: gunshots and blasts come back off each map in their own way.
• Footsteps change with the ground: grass in Gravewood, gravel in the Rail Yard and wet road on The Bridge.
• Life in the distance: sirens, car alarms and barking dogs on The Block, crows and a creaking gate in Gravewood, clanks and a far-off horn in the Rail Yard, and groaning cables on The Bridge. Between waves the wind picks up and you can hear the horde somewhere out there.
• The night train rumbles past: its wheels clatter over the rail joints, and the ground shakes harder the closer you are.
• New wind and rain for every map.

Stick together

• Callouts: survivors shout in speech bubbles with a short beep, like "I'm down!", "Big one!", "Behind you!" and "Clear!".
• Health at a glance: a ring under every survivor shows their health, and badly hurt survivors limp and leave a trail of blood.
• Revives up close: the camera moves in while you pick up a teammate.

 

 

A cleaner screen

• Blood on the screen: blood seeps in from the edges as your health drops, and a red glow on the edge shows which way a hit came from.
• Warnings for what you can't see: an off-screen boss, a boss winding up a charge, an exploder about to blow and acid coming down on you all show on the edge of the screen.
• Immersive HUD, on by default: the hotbar and score fade back until you unlock or upgrade something or switch weapons. You can turn it off in Settings.
• Sound first: after the first train or crypt of a session, you'll hear it coming before any banner shows.
• A proper ending: when your team falls, the camera pulls away from your last stand with a line for the map you fell on.
• Settings: a new Screen and HUD group with Screen shake, Reduce flashing, Immersive HUD and Survivor callouts. The sound settings have their own group, with a Main volume that moves all four sliders at once.

 

 

Also in this update

• The team score now matches everyone's scores added up.
• The rain stops when you leave The Bridge.
• The Stormbringer always makes its tidal waves again.
• The BOSS WAVE banner names the right boss for each map, with a tip for its big move.
• The Minigun shakes the screen a little while it fires, and the Ion Cannon has a punchier firing sound.