While some people are tired of zombie games running amok on the industry, I still have yet to tire from them. Killing zombies is simple satisfaction. Zombie Driver Ultimate Edition, recently released on Xbox One for $15 USD, is at its core just that; simple satisfaction.
Zombie Driver Ultimate Edition is an enhanced port of the PC release, which shambled on to Steam October 2012 for $9.99 USD. For those unaware of what this game is exactly, Zombie Driver is a top-down arcade racing game with the main goal of killing zombies. Ultimate Edition promises things I can’t attest to, like more weapons, all the DLC, and more zombies on the street at once. Well, there are a lot of zombies shuffling around.
Three modes are available, one of which is mildly painful, one which is a lot of fun, and another which is just fantastic. The bad thing is, to really enjoy the two fun modes, I was strong-armed into playing more of the story to unlock new vehicles. The story is a lackluster narrative about the player going from point A to point B (and maybe point C and possibly point D), then back to point A to accomplish a task given by someone presumably less talented behind the wheel than the player. There is rarely any tension, like there is in the Slaughter and Race modes, it’s simply drive from one point and back and hope to survive. At one point I was greeted with a “boss”, and during the showdown, I thought the game was finally picking up. But that was the only shimmer of enjoyment I had with the campaign.
You might find this hard to believe, but ramming zombies with your car deals damage to said-car. There are health pickups, and progressing from level to level unlocks upgrades to your car like machine guns and speed boosts. Outside of the different vehicle types, all of these upgrades and money earned are solely for use in Story mode.
Blood Race is the racing mode, with a pre requisite like finish in first place, or take down x amount of other racers. Each track is closed off but still open enough to allow you to find shortcuts and go around players. Money earned in these races can be put towards upgrading and purchasing new cars, though you have to initially unlock the car which means most are locked until you go through the campaign. The only lackluster part of the races is the fact there is no online multiplayer. There are leaderboards, but I never felt obligated to go back and redo a race to best a friends time. That said, sitting down and doing a few of these events was still more enjoyable than playing the campaign.
The real beauty of Zombie Driver Ultimate Edition is the Slaughter mode. Pick an arena and pick a vehicle, then get dumped into an endless horde of zombies. Surviving a wave nets an upgrade which spawns somewhere on the map, and weapons and health is also randomly distributed. Every time I played, I ended up at the edge of my seat by the end of the game. Slaughter mode is fun every time, and the leaderboards are actually worthwhile here.
Zombie Driver Ultimate Edition is different enough to stand out, especially in a dry spell for games. In small sittings, it’s a great way to pass a little bit of time between games like Watch Dogs or Sniper Elite 3. But the campaign dragged on me the longer I played in each session, and despite how great the other two modes feel, they don’t have legs outside of a few events per play session.
This review was written based off gameplay on the Xbox One console with review code provided by the publisher. For more on our review policies, please read here.
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