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Disaster video game series resurrected with support from the Kobe Fire Department

Evie Nyan Dec 2, 2017
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The Zettai Zetsumei Toshi disaster survival video game series has been revived, and will be more realistic than ever before.

The Zettai Zetsumei Toshi (literally translated as “A City in Desperate Straits“) video game series created by developer Irem seeks to recreate the atmosphere and tension of survival immediately following a serious environmental disaster. The series debuted in 2002 on the PlayStation 2 with its first entry, set on a crumbling artificial island. The game, which was localized as Disaster Report in the US and in the PAL region as SOS: The Final Escape, featured survival gameplay from a third-person perspective, where you as the main protagonist must make your way off the island, utilizing whatever items you can loot from the debris, whilst making sure to stay hydrated by locating potable water, and helping NPCs on the way. With sudden deaths from falling construction and collapsing walkways continually interrupting gameplay, it’s a tense yet often frustrating experience, although it does feature kooky gameplay elements like being able to build your own raft and paint it with polka dots to float downriver to reach your objective.

Nevertheless, the game performed well enough to spawn a sequel in 2006, Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 2, also for the PlayStation 2. The sequel was also localised for Western audiences under the name Raw Danger! The third entry, however, never saw Western localization, but was released in Japan and Korea in 2009 for the PSP handheld.

A fourth entry in the series, Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4: Summer Memories, planned for the PlayStation 3 in 2011, was suddenly cancelled for sensitivity reasons following the events of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. However, hardcore fans of the series have long clamored for the series to continue, and Summer Memories is now finally due for release in 2018 on the PlayStation 4, with the PlayStation 3 version being scrapped and new developers Granzella starting over from scratch.

▼The official Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 4: Summer Memories trailer

As announced in Famitsu magazine, in order to provide an authentic experience, the game’s developers have teamed up with the Kobe City Fire Bureau, utilizing their expertise to recreate disaster response scenarios realistically. Kobe suffered heavy damage in the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake, making the Kobe City Fire Bureau experts in disaster response.

In a press release on the Granzella website, Takeshi Takeoka, the Kobe City Fire Bureau PR chief, was quoted as saying:

“We at the KCFB have long been aware of the “Zettai Zetsumei Toshi” video game series’ popularity, and that is why we took the initiative ourselves to reach out to (game developer) Granzella to collaborate with them on this project. We would be delighted if people are able to learn how to stay safe in a disaster through playing this game.“

【プレスリリース】お待たせしました！「絶体絶命都市４Plus－Summer Memories－」グランゼーラhttps://t.co/3xGAJPgRVZ＊今日11月16日発売の「ファミ通」P56～P59にも掲載されています。ぜひ、ご覧ください！ pic.twitter.com/Qa3dgXgY35

— 渡辺　実 (@machiken2010) November 16, 2017

The game will also apparently feature realistic scenes of earthquakes, etc, with disaster prevention documents and manuals obtained in-game complying with official regulations to provide essential disaster response information. Clearly, the newest entry in the series will prove educational as well as entertaining, especially for those living in Japan, which is prone to environmental disasters.

Source: Jin115
Featured Image: YouTube / Granzella Inc