Zombie Driver review

It’s a little hard to take a game about surviving the undead apocalypse seriously when it slavishly follows seatbelt laws. No, sorry Mr. Fifth Survivor, we can’t give you a lift to safety – this taxi only legally has room for four people. What do you mean you could squeeze in? Don’t be ridiculous. And for goodness’ sake stop crying.

Zombie Driver is a very silly game, though not as silly as it would’ve been if it was indeed about a zombie who could drive. Instead, it’s Crazy Taxi at the end of the world – collect and rescue folks before a timer runs down, killing hundreds of shambling deadheads by splatting and shooting. The top-down perspective and its matchstick-sized walking corpses give ample room to observe just how absolute the zombie apocalypse is, and for a budget-priced game it’s fattened with detail and destruction.

It’s at its best when your vehicle is heavily upgraded, able to slam through one enormous horde while mowing down the next one with a rocket launcher or railgun. Every kill earns cash, so as well as the sick thrill of the massive red blood pool your violent passage leaves behind, you’ll be excited about the new toys you can buy. Frustratingly, though, it’s incredibly stingy about ammo, so you don’t ever get to truly revel in the icky destruction for more than a couple of seconds. This might make it more of a survival game, but c’mon: you’re in a city full of zombies. You want to kill them all.

It’s short and simple, which is just as well. Tedium creeps in during the last couple of hours, and reaching your far-flung goals becomes a chore: more Zombie Commuter than Zombie Driver.

Jan 13, 2010