David Hasselhoff says his character in the new Call of Duty: Zombies video game is a combination of “everything David Hasselhoff has ever done”, as he appeared at the Gamescom show in Germany.

The Baywatch and Knight Rider star plays a theme park DJ in the 1980s-themed Zombies in Spaceland, the new version of Call of Duty’s popular zombie spin-off series, which will launch alongside Infinite Warfare, the central story, in November.

Infinite Warfare will see the series move into space for the first time, while Hasselhoff’s zombie experience takes place in a demented theme park inspired by 1980s films and TV, where his character offers advice to players as they go through the levels.

There’s something about killing zombies that’s really funny

“The reason I loved doing Call of Duty is they encouraged me to create the character. It wasn’t just ‘let’s just hire David Hasselhoff and make him be a typical DJ’,” the actor said.

“I’m surprised they didn’t throw in Baywatch. They’ve got Michael Knight in there, they’ve got the Knight Rider car, there’s all the Hoffs.

“That, and the fact that it was fun. It wasn’t just about killing, it was about killing zombies, and there’s something about killing zombies that’s really funny because they splatter everywhere, you know. Why can’t zombies win at poker? Because they always throw in their hand. Zombies are stupidly funny.”

The trailer for the game was released during Gamescom, which was expected to see around 300,000 video games fans flock to Cologne’s Koelnmesse centre to preview the latest titles, including the new Fifa game and Resident Evil VII.

“I’m really anxious to see more,” Hasselholf said.

The actor and singer said the storytelling had also drawn him to the project.

“The reason I like the gaming thing is the crossover into stories and acting. I like that about this game. I hate movies that are just special effects and don’t have a story. They lost me totally and there’s so many films out there now that are just so over the top.”