Days Gone’s monsters won’t just be mindless zombies that charge the player with abandon.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that Days Gone was a traditional zombie game, given the giant monstrous horde that rushes the protagonist in the trailer. But according to senior animator Emmanuel Roth, these “freakers” are infected – but still living – humans. In fact, they’ve been designed to individually respond to the game world in ways that will become clear when the game releases.

“Every creature is different, they are a living type,” Roth told GamesRadar+. “They have some needs and behave differently depending on the weather, the location.”

Which isn’t to say large swarms don’t exist in-game, although the open world allows you to avoid them until you’re ready. “There’s going to be different sizes of horde; you’ll come across varying ranges of numbers,” senior artist Brian Pape added. It’s worth noting Pape wasn’t actually allowed to discuss the maximum size of an in-game horde. “We’re not really allowed to discuss it, but it’s a lot.”

So what can players expect when they aren’t staring down an entire swarm? That isn’t entirely clear yet – current trailers have only shown swarms and a small freaker that tries to jump on the player. But Roth does confirm they will be varied and dangerous. “They are not weak … Maybe we dumbed them down a bit for the demo but they are not weak. It’s very dangerous. Those guys will be hard to fight.”

Days Gone is expected in 2017, exclusively on PS4.