The War Z spiritual successor Romero's Aftermath is now in open beta

The developer of The War Z (later renamed Infestation: Survival Stories due to trademark issues) has released an open beta for the spiritual successor to its poorly received zombie survival MMO with Romero's Aftermath.

If you're confused by the title that seemingly infringes upon the name of Night of the Living Dead director George Romero, you're not far off. It's actually referencing his son George Cameron Romero, who is collaborating with Free Reign on this project.

Developer Free Reign East is calling this zombie apocalypse game a "free to win" affair, meaning that it's free to download and all gear can be found in-game. "Romero's Aftermath costs nothing to download and play, and the only purchasable items are cosmetic skins, customisations and boosts that allow players to acquire certain in-game items more quickly," the developer stated. "However, every item can be acquired during play by exploring, looting, trading or defeating other survivalists."

The full game has both PvP and PvE challenges, crafting, base-building, melee and ranged combat, and more.

"I've long been a fan of survival horror games and when I had the opportunity to collaborate on Aftermath, I jumped at the chance to bring my experience working on horror films into a new medium," said George C. Romero. "Free Reign has built a great title that I think players are going to love, whether they're new to the survival horror genre or a huge fan like myself."

"Working with Cameron on Aftermath is a dream come true for anyone developing a survival-horror game," added Romero's Aftermath lead designer Adam Skidmore. "His knowledge and expertise in the genre combined with Aftermath's unique gameplay experience will usher in a new era of what survival horror MMOs can be, and we look forward to seeing how players respond to the game."

Here's what Romero's Aftermath looks like in action: