Zombie Driver HD was reviewed on the Xbox 360, a review code was provided. Zombie Driver released for the PC in 2009 and is available via both Steam and retail channels. It is due to release for the PS3 shortly.
“The undead are like scotch. Some nights you’d sit alone and force down whatever filth you found in a bottle, but other times you splashed out on the good stuff. Single malt. Double rocks. Maybe even a clean glass” Shaun Greenhaff – 2012
Take for instance Zombie Driver HD, a top down zombie massacre driving game; you won’t be finding any emotional character moments seen in Telltale’s The Walking Dead here (even if the rather tension building title music would make you think otherwise), instead you’ll be mowing them down in their hundreds as you drive the streets of a dead city rescuing civilians, racing rivals, and just going all out on the zombie population. It’s easy to say that the Zombie genre is saturated, but the zombie driving genre…well that’s something else.
There’s a lot going on in Zombie Driver in nearly every aspect, as everything from the menus to the game world is packed with quite an overwhelming amount of items, sometimes to its detriment. Before you even get into the game you’re bombarded with a whole host of options and information that at first glance is a little hard to grasp. There is however a lot content, just it doesn’t seem very well organised, and once you do figure things out, there’s quite a bit to see and do. Even after the quite lengthy campaign, there’s a tournament mode featuring a variety of racing types, and even a ‘kill everything’ slaughter mode, which really is pretty much a given in a Zombie game.
Once you do wrangle the menu system and get into the meat of the game (no pun intended), it’s quite a bit of fun, only there are some caveats. It’s hard to play more than a few seconds without noticing that there’s something not quite right with the framerate. It’s not that it’s prone to slowdown (though there can be when the screen fills with zombies), it’s a combination of heavy screen tearing and a constant unevenness that doesn’t give off a good first impression. Like any visual anomaly, it is something that you’ll get accustomed to, but it’s hard to see how Zombie Driver made it through QA without this issue being brought up.
It is rather puzzling however, as the game itself is actually quite technically impressive in many other regards. The copious amount of zombies (sometimes bordering on plain stupid), alongside the many objects strewn throughout the environment that react accordingly to gunfire, the screen can get very busy. It’s in this chaos though where Zombie Driver shines, since the core combo system relies on a constant stream of blood and guts to net you the high scores on the leaderboards, This also feeds into some friendly competition as you can directly see scores from players on your friends list during the tournament and slaughter modes for that extra little incentive.
The core campaign of Zombie Driver will last you a good eight hours or so, as you take on tasks (through a rather barebones story, terrible voice actors, and every stereotype known to man) ranging from rescuing survivors, destroying giant mutations, to some interesting diversions involving a fire truck and a tank. Each individual mission is kept pretty compact, and for the most past quite varied. The city environment is very expansive, and even though it’s not particurly memorable, you’ll start to pick up on good routes to stick to when you’re under a time constraint. Distinct areas help break up the city streets, though they’ll soon be soaked in blood, but it all feels a little like a missed opportunity, due to both the lack of persistence between levels, and the fact that there’s no free roam mode. Throughout the streets you’ll find many weapons and pickups ranging from flamethrowers to missiles, machine guns to railguns, and even mystery money crates placed in some of the cut through areas. All the weapons pack quite a punch, though you’ll most likely gravitate to your weapon of choice after a couple of missions (machine guns for me), which are also upgradeable during mid-mission briefings. Upgrades are segregated to each separate mode, though car paint schemes appear to be shared, another confusing aspect that isn’t explained in full detail.
Throughout the fun gameplay that Zombie Driver does provide, there’s always one particular thought that lies in the back of my mind “Why is this not a twin-stick game”. The right stick has absolutely no purpose, and especially on both the tank and fire truck missions, it seems rather baffling that you can only fire in the direction your vehicle is in. Getting swarmed with zombies in a corner after a bad turn is a common occurrence, and through a number of driving manoeuvres seemingly taken from Austin Powers’ tunnel scene, you’ll soon learn to take the corners a little slower. This would also alleviate the long standing issue that I’ve always had with car combat games such as Twisted Metal and Vigilante 8, the fact that cars cannot strafe, leading to either a head-on battle or copious T-bones.
It may sound like I’m pretty down on Zombie Driver, but in all honesty I had a great time barrelling through the campaign, completing sub-objectives, and generally reducing the zombie population via quite unnecessary force. The top down view means that you’re always on your guard, as you never know when you’re going to run into a spawner, and the night time missions in particular showcased some great lighting effects. Some small interface additions could have made the experience a little more friendly however, such as an indicator pointing towards health packs when you’re near death, or the timer freezing when survivors are entering your car. Other little niggles such as the game being very precise on where it wants you to stop your car, or the rather indecisive nature of the game on what you can and can’t smash through sometimes mar the overall experience, though by no means spoil it.
Underlying throughout the entire game is the combo system, adding multipliers as you rack up the zombie kills, culminating in a nice bonus to your wallet to upgrade your car and weapons; and as long as you hit a zombie every couple of seconds to prolong the streak, you can get start wracking in the cash very quickly. This comes into play during the Slaughter mode which asks you to survive as many waves as possible, and one look at the leaderboards can show you how the combo system is necessary to master the mode. In fact, you’ll most likely find yourself getting dizzy before you hit the gold medal standard, as to hit the high scores, it’s key to find the best circular route around the level. It’s almost like driving through a thick soup of zombies on occasion, as swarms will slow you down, though upgrades such as nitro, stronger armour, and a better front ram will make your trip across the city a little smoother. The numerous types of zombies do keep things interesting, ranging from explosive (boomers), to hundreds of rabid dogs.
To wrap things up, there’s the Tournament mode, which is actually a culmination of a number of different race modes such as racing, elimination and endurance (asking you do survive against a ticking clock with a bomb attacked to your vehicle). This is the most disappointing mode however, as both extreme rubber banding and aggressive AI don’t play nicely with the sometimes fiddly controls, leading to some frustrating last moments of a race where a single bad corner can cost you the entire race. Still, it’s added value, even if you have tired of the game by that point.
Overall, Zombie Driver is quite a hoot (yes, I used that word). The technical and interface issues can often get in the way of the experience, but there’s a lot of fun to be had here. The lack of any type of multiplayer is also a let down, though watching the credits you’ll see that the very small team had their work cut out for themselves anyway. The overwhelming amount of on screen carnage can often be a sight to behold, and there’s enough variety to hold your interest. A little more time in QA could have resulted in a much more polished experience, but what’s there isn’t anything to scoff at.
Zombie Driver HD is available to purchase from the Xbox Live Marketplace for 800 MSP
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