If inflicting wanton property damage while firing rockets at other cars sounds like a good time to you, then adding zombies should make it a great time…at least in theory.
Some of Zombie Driver HD’s drawbacks have to do with its PC roots (its non-HD predecessor came out in 2009). An extreme overhead, top-down view and tiny zombies look just fine on a monitor that’s a foot from your face, but on a regular TV — even in HD — the impact of running over the lumbering dead until they’re red stains on the pavement is diminished: you might as well be mowing down ants with a weaponized lawn mower. EXOR hasn’t even adjusted the eensy-weensy text in menu and mission screens, resulting in more squinting than a Clint Eastwood movie marathon.
Meanwhile, the fun factor varies wildly. The story mode is mostly a snooze, composed of 31 short missions ranging from rescuing survivors and clearing out zombie lairs to destroying zombie bosses. As you progress, you’ll earn more money to purchase better cars (limos, fire trucks, school buses) and upgrade your weapons (miniguns, flamethrowers, rocket launchers, and, oddly, a railgun), which provides more incentive to complete missions than the missions themselves do.
Slaughter, a mode pitting you against endless waves of undead hordes, proves more entertaining. But the most entertaining part is Blood Race mode, where you compete against A.I. drivers in races through ghoul-ridden cityscapes. And yet, no multiplayer support? Even for a zombie, that should be a no-brainer.
This hideously ugly boss is so fat that when it sits around the house, it really sits around the house.PUBLISHER: Cyberfront • DEVELOPER: EXOR Studios • ESRB: Mature • MULTIPLAYER: None (leaderboards only) • ACHIEVEMENTS: Brutal • COST: 800 Microsoft Points ($10) • RELEASE DATE: October 17, 2012
+ Slamming through zombies and destructible environments.
+ Blood Race mode is wild, chaotically good fun.
– No multiplayer support; mediocre story mode; tiny text and zombies.
? How do you release a racing game without multiplayer?!
