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Zombie infection hits GTA IV as the dead stalk Liberty City

6:12 PM on 10.23.2008, Jim Sterling 53 comments

Zombie infection hits GTA IV as the dead stalk Liberty City photo
     Xbox 360

Just in time for Halloween, it would appear that a viral outbreak is invading Grand Theft Auto IV and turning players into zombies. Earlier today we spoke about some curious shenanigans over at the Rockstar Social Club Web site, in which an image of a quarantine sign was discovered. We now know what the sign's "contagious disease" refers to, as the living dead have been discovered in Liberty City.

There is a virus sweeping through Grand Theft Auto IV turning many
unsuspecting players into Zombies. If you've seen the special
Zombie-with-yellow-briefs player skin running around during Grand Theft Auto IV multiplayer, then you may already know that the virus can be contracted in any and all multiplayer modes and is spread when an unsuspecting player kills someone who has the infection (BE ADVISED: The infected DON'T necessarily have to be wearing the Zombie skin, some show NO SYMPTOMS!). The signes of infection are:

- Access to the zombie skin
- having the Achievement "Let Sleeping Rockstars Lie".

With the all-new Viral Infection feature at the Rockstar Social Club,
members can now see whether they are currently infected, the number of total global infections and the number of infectinos in the last 24
hours. Digging deeper, Social Club members can also browse a color-coded world map tracking the spread of the infection worldwide, including breakdown for all 50 US States.

That's actually quite awesome, and just a little bit exciting. Is a zombie outbreak enough to coax you back to Liberty City? I must say it's tempting, although the zombies won't have much luck -- it's not like there are too many brains to be found over Xbox Live.

Hit the jump for more ...

!!!!!!!!!!!!NEW VIRAL INFECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!


Attention Citizens,

There is a virus sweeping through Grand Theft Auto IV turning many
unsuspecting players into Zombies. If you've seen the special
Zombie-with-yellow-briefs player skin running around during Grand Theft
Auto IV multiplayer, then you may already know that the virus can be
contracted in any and all multiplayer modes and is spread when an
unsuspecting player kills someone who has the infection (BE ADVISED: The
infected DON'T necessarily have to be wearing the Zombie skin, some show
NO SYMPTOMS!). The signes of infection are:

- Access to the zombie skin
- having the Achievement "Let Sleeping Rockstars Lie".

With the all-new Viral Infection feature at the Rockstar Social Club,
members can now see whether they are currently infected, the number of
total global infections and the number of infectinos in the last 24
hours. Digging deeper, Social Club members can also browse a color-coded
world map tracking the spread of the infection worldwide, including
breakdown for all 50 US States.

Registered members of the Social Club with a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV
linked to their account can click here to check it out.
<http://www.rockstargames.com/socialclub>

The rest of you: register here now.

www.rockstargames.com/socialclub
<http://www.rockstargames.com/socialclub>

LAUNCH GALLERY (2 IMAGES)
Photo Photo
 

Next page: More Zombie stories




Half left's Avatar
Half left at 10/23/2008 18:14
Whaddya mean "coax you back to Liberty City?". I never left.

It's a neat little Halloween event thing, but that's all it is really.
slee's Avatar
slee at 10/23/2008 18:15
Umm it has been free still is. It is an achievement you kill a developer or some one who has killed a developer I think I got mine like the week after it came out. Nothing too new you get the zombie option as well as the achievement ...that has been out since launch they are just drawing attention to it now though.
chuck the hijacker's Avatar
chuck the hijacker at 10/23/2008 18:16
seems like a great gimmick to me, though it is a gimmick none the less. It's a proven fact that gamers love zombies, and giving them one they can play online is bound to get some good publicity.
MrSadistic's Avatar
MrSadistic at 10/23/2008 18:19
Hah, the zombie skin is the only skin I use during multi-player games.
Unicorn's Avatar
Unicorn at 10/23/2008 18:22
this shit is already in the game. i play online in my zombie skin... and here i thought it was actually turning all the pedestrians into lumbering zombies awaiting the speeding bumper of my car...


LAME.

make my dreams a reality rockstar.
Danmartigan's Avatar
Danmartigan at 10/23/2008 18:23
Already have my zombie skin... but it would be fun to have a zombie vs. human gametype (with more zombies of course). GTAIV needs more creative game modes to get people playing online again.
slee's Avatar
slee at 10/23/2008 18:24
@Unicorn Holy shit that would be AMAZING!!
KaL YoshiKa's Avatar
KaL YoshiKa at 10/23/2008 18:25
Yeah I kind of though this meant that they'd be releasing a Zombie gametype/mode but just a skin that's already there?!

No sale. I'm too busy with Fable 2 and Dead Space.
xSledgewick's Avatar
xSledgewick at 10/23/2008 18:26
This is pretty awesome, it's nice to see Rockstar doing something cool like this... Other games offering multiplayer will update every now and then, but Rockstar having little events like this shows just how much they care about the community.
Dantronic's Avatar
Dantronic at 10/23/2008 18:29
Oh, That's rubbish.
awkwardmongoose's Avatar
awkwardmongoose at 10/23/2008 18:33
@everyone.

This obviously isn't the DLC, this stuff is already in game. They are just updated Rockstar Social to reflect it. Although maybe the DLC COULD be zombie related.
CBunn's Avatar
CBunn at 10/23/2008 18:34
You mean it's a hassle to get the zombie skin? How weird, it was there since the first time I played. Guess I just got lucky
Christiangamer's Avatar
Christiangamer at 10/23/2008 18:35
This has been happening since the game launched. This is just dumb.
Tubatic's Avatar
Tubatic at 10/23/2008 18:42
so now we'll just be dissappointed when the much hyped DLC is NOT about zombies.

At this point, I feel like the DLC can do nothing but dissappoint overall, unless its like an expansion pack size behemoth of content.

but if i get my samurai sword, it'll be all good.
Jack8274's Avatar
Jack8274 at 10/23/2008 18:48
It would be cool if it added a DLC like in crackdown that turns it into a creator mode.
dmgi's Avatar
dmgi at 10/23/2008 18:49
I'm so happy Zombies are not the DLC. Don't get me wrong zombies are amazing, but I don't think they have a place in the GTA universe.
Celerox's Avatar
Celerox at 10/23/2008 19:05
next thing you get will be a strange alien invasion to liberty city , prepare the aluminum hats
ZekeThePlumber's Avatar
ZekeThePlumber at 10/23/2008 19:11
Damn, it's not going to be as cool now that everyone has it.
CALkulon's Avatar
CALkulon at 10/23/2008 19:11
This is on PS3 too, right? Might be worth a look, been meaning to play some more multiplayer GTA.
Dan CiTi's Avatar
Dan CiTi at 10/23/2008 19:14
So this doesn't turn the singleplayer mode into a zombie infested Liberty City? meh.
Necros's Avatar
Necros at 10/23/2008 19:25
So wait, if we have that achievement, do we have the zombie skin? I honestly never noticed whether I have it or not.
lem's Avatar
lem at 10/23/2008 19:46
Pfft. Like everyone has said so far, an actual zombie outbreak in either single player or multiplayer would of been awesome-er.
Kyousuke Nanbu's Avatar
Kyousuke Nanbu at 10/23/2008 19:51
No, Saints Row 2 is still better and has an actual zombie stomping game in it.
Two's Avatar
Two at 10/23/2008 19:54
Disappointing.
B-Radicate's Avatar
B-Radicate at 10/23/2008 20:20
I thought this was gonna be a cool sidequest like in Saint's Row 2. Lame.
vexed alex's Avatar
vexed alex at 10/23/2008 20:25
Lame.

I'd love to have zombies replaced with the civilians in Liberty City.

Also, who still plays GTA online?
Wack's Avatar
Wack at 10/23/2008 20:33
Teetees Rising.
v0odka's Avatar
v0odka at 10/23/2008 20:46
nice yellow speedo.
Johnny Justice's Avatar
Johnny Justice at 10/23/2008 22:15
On the PS3 version, the zombie skin is unlocked when the player reaches level 1. It has been that way since the game's release.
CoverlessTech's Avatar
CoverlessTech at 10/23/2008 23:22
Jim, try doing a bit of fact checking befoe you post again please. This feature has been in the game since lauch. The only new thing to happen was that they added a few new stat trackers to the social club page.
Drach's Avatar
Drach at 10/23/2008 23:26
Yeah it would have been cool to infect the Citizens of Liberty so you can have a zombie slaughter fest... oh well...
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 10/24/2008 00:51
I got this the first day I went online with GTAIV. Neat, but a new game mode or something would be neater.
Timmeh's Avatar
Timmeh at 10/24/2008 01:53
This is ass. The zombie skin and achievement have been in GTA IV since day 1. All they've done is add a tracker to the Social Club website that tells you about the number of players infected.

I thought it was going to be a new game mode for Halloween or an event in the city where zombies started roaming around.
nebones's Avatar
nebones at 10/24/2008 01:58
I would rather a zombie outbreak in single player.
wonky360's Avatar
wonky360 at 10/24/2008 04:55
Zombie outbreak in single player dlc PLEASE.
TorpedoTed's Avatar
TorpedoTed at 10/24/2008 06:02
Man this is cool!, things like this show developers care, its like when i got a pumpkin hat on Guild wars, pointless but made me laugh!
Aurain's Avatar
Aurain at 10/24/2008 06:46
No mention of the Trophy patch due next monday? Poor Form.
TheGreatMango's Avatar
TheGreatMango at 10/24/2008 06:49
Nothing new, been in game since launch, etc.
Eltron6000's Avatar
Eltron6000 at 10/24/2008 07:33
Saints Row 2 already has an in game Zombie Uprising diversion. Suuuuuuuch a better game than gta4 - i bet ign is regretting their 10/10 rating right about now.
ShinAmano's Avatar
ShinAmano at 10/24/2008 07:41
Would be more interested if this was in the single player mode...would actually pop the disk in for that...for multiplayer...no thanks.
BlindsideDork's Avatar
BlindsideDork at 10/24/2008 07:44
All I got to say is HA HA!

L4D ftw!
elsteveo's Avatar
elsteveo at 10/24/2008 07:54
Well if they decided to come out with DLC earlier instead of when Fable 2 and GoW2 are gonna be out, they might get more people to actually go back and play the game instead of 5 months after the release of the game
Face's Avatar
Face at 10/24/2008 07:56
They need to do DLC filled with fun things like tanks and stuff from the old games.
J03yyz's Avatar
J03yyz at 10/24/2008 08:12
sooooo nothing new? rockstar is just talking about something that has been available since release?
pretty lame... not changing anything will not get me back into liberty city - ESPECIALLY online

i was hoping it would be the new episodic content - niko wakes up one day to find that liberty city has been overrun by zombies and you have to go around collecting guns, finding survivors, and killing hundreds of thousands of zombies...
Holyetheline's Avatar
Holyetheline at 10/24/2008 08:32
I might play this a bit later... but probably not. I've got too many games on my hands right now. haha
Tron Knotts's Avatar
Tron Knotts at 10/24/2008 08:58
Pass.
nukka jdav's Avatar
nukka jdav at 10/27/2008 14:16
I went on.

Got the skin.

Got called a fag.

Got off.
tha-ice-burg's Avatar
tha-ice-burg at 06/14/2009 02:29
so i have to have unlocked the zombie skin to get the zombie mode
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