Majesco catches Planet Moon's Infected

Majesco today announced that it will publish Infected for the PSP. The shooter is being developed by Planet Moon, the studio behind the PC title Giants: Citizen Kabuto (which was later ported to the PlayStation 2 by Digital Mayhem) and the PC and Xbox title Armed and Dangerous.

Infected sees players experiencing a not-so-jolly holiday season in New York City. In a story reminiscent of Danny Boyle's zombie flick 28 Days Later (though with Planet Moon's reputation for gratuitous comic relief, it may be more like Shaun of the Dead), a strange virus has made its way to the populace, turning citizens into infected hosts with violent dispositions. The game's hero, rookie NYPD Officer Stevens, finds he is one of the lucky ones: His blood makes him immune to the virus.

With the help of one Dr. Schaeffer, the two create a "viral gun" that fills bullet casings with Stevens' blood. Dual-wielding these bioweapons, Stevens takes to the streets, leaving exploding Infected in his wake.

In addition to the single-player campaign, another aspect of the title is the multiplayer mode. After creating a unique avatar, players will be able to battle it out using the PSP's integrated wireless functionality. When a player is victorious, his or her avatar "infects" the loser's handheld, and the virus can be spread even further as the loser plays and defeats other opponents.

"Infected will certainly be 'socially communicable' in that victorious players can wirelessly invade their opponents' PSP systems and spread their unique virus, literally, around the world," said Ken Gold, vice president of marketing for Majesco. "This type of compelling gameplay is further enhanced by allowing players to check their ranking against other players, as well as see just how far their virus has spread."

Earlier this year, Planet Moon announced its plans to focus solely on developing games for the PSP, leaving the competitive market of console gaming. Infected is the first of a three-game deal between Majesco and Planet Moon.

For more information on the game, be sure to check back with GameSpot. We'll have more on Infected as word spreads.