Steam's latest free game is an open-world zombie RPG starring Will Smith

Video games are becoming increasingly attractive to film and television stars, with plenty of familiar faces having popped up over the past couple of years.

There’s Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077, Idris Elba in its Phantom Liberty expansion, David Harbour and Jodie Comer in the new Alone In The Dark, Norman Reedus in Death Stranding, Megan Fox in Mortal Kombat 1, Cameron Monaghan in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Lance Reddick in Horizon Forbidden West … I could go on.

Did you know that Will Smith fronted a video game last year? If your answer to that question was no, I really couldn’t blame you as Undawn proves that star power isn’t all you need to launch a successful game.

Developed by Lightspeed Studios and published by Level Infinite, Undawn is a free-to-play open world survival RPG released to both mobile and PC in mid 2023.

“Embark on an adventure with other survivors four years after a worldwide disaster where hordes of infected roam a shattered world,” teases the synopsis.

Take a look at the game’s reveal trailer below.

Smith’s involvement in the game is perhaps more fleeting than initial cinematic trailers would have you believe. The actor’s character Trey Jones, is more of a cameoing guide than a fully-fledged companion.

Players will join a faction known as the Raven Squad, facing off against enemy groups known as the Clowns, Eagles, Night Owls and Reivers.

Of course, there are also those aforementioned ‘infected’ to deal with which look far more like alien mutants than they do The Last of Us’ cordyceps-ridden humans.

Created in Unreal Engine 4, Undawn will task you with keeping an eye on your hunger, vigor, health, mood, and hydration as you also contend with this world’s harsh elements.

It’s a promising, albeit basic, premise and yet even with Will Smith’s face at the helm, it hasn’t exactly been enough to lift this free-to-play title off the ground.

At the time of writing, the game has ‘Mixed’ ratings on Steam. It had a reported budget of $140 million but one review joked, “Game’s budget went into Will Smith’s wallet.”

“Bad graphics, bad ‘story’, awful controls, bad audio,” added another, while other players raised concerns over the game’s pay-to-win mechanics.

A new report by Reuters claims that Undawn “flopped spectacularly”. Fair to say, I don’t think it’s the start of a budding franchise.

Still, if you want to check it out, it is free to play on both PC via Steam and mobile.