Wipeout 2048 had (and might still get) zombie mode. Sounds like all the least fun bits of Wipeout in a mode

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You know, like in Romero's Hyper-fast Futuristic Hovercraft Race of the Dead

There's a certain rather wonderful irony to the video game zombie mode. A certain deliciously self-mocking satirical feedback loop to the way that seemingly every game released at the moment gets one by default, developers mindlessly shambling towards the idea in a huge slavering mob, blindly devouring the concept and absorbing it into their games, and in turn making them all rather similar.


Above: A zombie. A flying metal zombie. You know, those ones

How did it work? Thusly: Your ship would be dropped onto an empty track, upon which an ever-increasing swarm of zombie ships (read: creepy, scummy-looking versions of Wipeout's usual craft) would appear, working as a mob to jostle and ram you into an explosive early grave. You would pick up weapons along the way in order to hold them off, but would eventually inevitably succumb. So basically, all the annoying, jostly wall-slamming aggressive bits of Wipeout condensed into a game mode all of their own, with presumably a fair bit less scope for the graceful swooping zen that makes the series' racing such a joy.

Personally, I will not mourn it. But what do you reckon to this most bizarre shoe-horning of token reanimated-corpse-based offerings into a video game format? Awesome, or me-too thinking taken to its nonsensical ultimate conclusion?

David Houghton
David Houghton
Long-time GR+ writer Dave has been gaming with immense dedication ever since he failed dismally at some '80s arcade racer on a childhood day at the seaside (due to being too small to reach the controls without help). These days he's an enigmatic blend of beard-stroking narrative discussion and hard-hitting Psycho Crushers.