Review - PC
Top-Down Action, Horror
8
Graphics – 8.5
Sound Effects – 8
Music – 6
Gameplay – 8.5
Length – 7.5
Difficulty – 7
Stability – 9
Post-Release Support/Expansion – 7
Ten dollar vehicle mayhem in a zombie apocalypse. Jumping on the bandwagon, yes, a worthwhile ride, yes.ProsSolid code, lots of meaty killing, destroyable terrain objects, satisfying weaponry, simple controls, easy to get into, good vehicular 'feeling', repeat 'Slaughter-mode' play addictive.
ConsArguably short campaign, limited roster of zombie foes, no in-game overall city map.
Zombies seem to be hot stuff these days. Valve`s success in that realm seems to be bidding forth a plethora of projects that wish to do likewise, and some of what is being produced deserves to.
Expectations
Utilizing an engine called Ogre 3D and incorporating PhysX systems, Zombie Driver endeavours to allow players to race motor vehicles into zombie hordes, causing various degrees of entertaining mayhem & carnage. For its price point ($10 Amer.) one would expect the typical top-down driving game fare: cheap graphics, buggy underlying code, architecture that one gets hung up on when attemping to drive over it, and becoming stuck on various environmental edges.
Zombie Driver is none of that.
What would happen if the defenders of Madrigal had access to automotive mechanics and 20th century ballistics.
Rapid kills in succession generate vast quantities of blood. And revenue.
The Meat Of Combat
Zombie Driver presents players with a variety of cars and weapons throughout a campaign, and the same once unlocked in the specially added 'Slaughter' mode of play. Successfully completing objectives in the campaign earns money in addition to that gained 'in the field' killing the mindless hordes. This cash can be used to purchase performance upgrades specific to each vehicle, or to upgrade the effectiveness of weaponry that will be found in-game, in the form of power-ups.
The conclusion of a mission can unlock upgrades, then purchasable in the garage before the next mission.
An impressive engine features some great zombie apocalypse scenes.
Locked power-ups will not appear in the maps until they are unlocked. Only a single power-up can be used at a time, each of finite usage, per pickup. Every power-up – consisting of Turbo, Machineguns, Flamethrower, Railguns, and Rockets – is both useful and enjoyable, their carnage potential considerable. One of the most exciting tactics is to Turbo towards a crowd of zombies, then apply the handbrake and fish-tail the vehicle`s body into them, cutting down a large bloody swathe.
Each vehicle has peculiar characteristics. Repair power-ups can fix damage to vehicles, though vehicles never lose performance due to damage.
The Meat
Zombie dogs.
They will chase you throughout the city streets in mindless coordination with a small array of like unminded zombies, including throwers of detritus, regular brain-eaters, hulks, and slow bloated exploding shamblers... shades of the favourite entity from Myth. Speaking of slow, with the exception of the dogs, these zombies are refreshingly not of the Olympic Left4Dead variety. The speed is yours thanks to internal combustion engines.
Driving an armoured bus into hordes of zombies. It is as fun as it ought to be.
Masses of zombies will lurch towards you as you enter their proximity. There is no hive mind behaviour, so not every zombie in the city will begin bee-lining for you upon the first encounter. Your combat experiences are local.
Driving through the hordes in the unending but well-balanced 'Slaughter' mode added in a patch.
Generally you are faced with objectives to rescue survivors. They cannot be picked up until all of the zombies in that area are slain. Driving them back to the secure military HQ is the routine. How precisely you go about that – that is, what routes you take through the city to and from a target – is up to a player. In this respect the game is very free-form.
Good thing this has wipers...
Standing still allows zombies to pound away on your vehicle. Putting the pedal down is the way to survive, bouncing hungering carcasses off your windshield. The greater the number of successive kills, the greater the monetary reward for doing so. Smashing through terrain also nets additional funds, without inflicting perceptible damage upon your car. This effectively encourages a proper indulgence in action-packed drives.
It may only be a top-down perspective, but the carnage sure ranks as spectacular.
Large hulking zombies are beefier than most, making them difficult to run over while maintaining speed. A Repair power-up is nearby.
Slaughter
A patch added the Slaughter mode of play, an open-ended fight in a specific map against unending waves of zombies. Accomplishments in score unlock other maps to play in, and in-game, per game, power-ups upgrade your chosen vehicle. If you can reach them.
Skepticism colours one`s view of such modes. Often they are flawed appendicis that are curious additions seldom worth the play. Zombie Driver lives beyond the campaign in this mode. Its a perfect quick game with addictive quality.
This is a big free-form city, and you need to find any Survivors before they get eaten, preferably.
Some of Zombie Driver`s most stunning visuals are to be found in exclusive Slaughter maps as well.
Summation
Thats it. Just straightforward weekend apocalypse vehicular destruction from a company you`ve never heard of before called EXOR Studios. Regrettably there is no multiplayer cooperative... say a driver with a .50 cal gunner in the back, or multiple vehicles racing through the desolated streets. Still, for the price paid this is a wonderful little game.
Cheap, solid, satisfying.Scott Hunter
