Virtually Dead: Immersive experience brings zombie apocalypse to east London

The world is being taken over by zombies infected by a killer virus - and you can fight them in London's latest immersive experience.

The Standard was the first publication to try out Virtually Dead, which opens this Saturday.

Participants meet at a secret east London location, to be picked up by an officer in a blacked-out army van and taken to the "Cultek Military & Training Facility", somewhere in Hackney. They change into a boiler suit and are told Arizona has been infected by a virus that has wiped out millions, and the UN is creating hubs to train up recruits should it spread.

There are 35 actors and countless scares in a one-hour experience set in a kilometre of tunnels, ladders and abandoned buildings. Players meet officers, scientists and, of course, the infected. The Standard was reduced to a quivering wreck hiding behind the tallest recruit in the room, clutching a saucepan for protection.

The experience is said to be the first in London to combine virtual reality and live acting. At one poiny players use a VR headset, with HTC Vive technology that gives a 360-degree view, for a zombie shoot 'em up.

Organisers ask that the rest is kept secret to avoid spoiling the fun.

James Cadwallader of Noma Labs, which created the experience, said: "There's no playbook for an event like this as it's never been done before. What we've created will blow people away."

Some 10,000 £30 tickets for Virtually Dead sold out within hours, but 500 go on sale tomorrow at 3pm.Visit virtuallydead.co.uk for more information.

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