It’s been a strange old run for the Zombie Derby series. Ported to Xbox via a small Ukrainian development team, we initially found Zombie Derby: Pixel Survival enter the fray. That was then followed by Zombie Derby 2; a game that could – for all intents and purposes – be seen as the sequel. But we were wrong. Pixel Survival is, in fact, the third game in the franchise, whilst Zombie Derby 2 is the second game, the prequel to the pixelated zombie smashing.
So where does it all start? Well that comes with the third game to arrive on Xbox; the game that is actually the first. That game is Zombie Derby. But it’s probably the worst of the lot. Then again, we guess it’s good to see that a bit of series progress has been made, even if Xbox players won’t see it that way.
Zombie Derby pretty much does as you would expect. Obviously a throwback to the mobile scene, there’s nothing particularly new or original about it; even less if we consider the other two Zombie Derby games that came before (after?) it. And if we’re being honest, there’s little that is particularly good either.
Instead this is yet another entry into a series that is intent on being nothing more than a throwaway little title, giving up the gift of easy Gamerscore over an hour or so of gameplay. From there it’ll be forgotten forevermore.
I can’t sit here and say I hate Zombie Derby. It’s fulfilled an evening’s worth of play, ploughing through without a care, picked up when other games have run their course. But similarly, I can’t in all honesty say it’s a good game either. There’s tons of visual oddities and clip in, there’s the most basic of hill-climbing gameplay and there’s a grind that is required should you ever wish to see its conclusion.
It’s bloody great for providing Xbox Gamerscore in spades though. A cool 1000G gobbled up in twenty minutes flat.
So why are we here with Zombie Derby? Surely there’s some form of tale which kicks off the series? Well, whilst there is nothing in-game that will point to any narrative – except for the odd bit of pop-up text which tries to set a scene at the end of a stage – it’s not really needed. This is a game that is all about getting behind the wheel, running over zombies and seeing how far along the road you can make it, before stopping, grinding to a halt, ready for a repeat of the same action. It’s not particularly thrilling and aside to write this review, we’d have otherwise dropped it off as the ping of the final achievement hit our ears.
Soldier on though and you’ll discover nine stages in Zombie Derby, each of which you’ll be repeating time and time again, gathering up in-game cash and upgrading whatever vehicle you have to hand. It’s that level repetition which is key to any progress in Zombie Derby; without it, and without getting close to fully maxing out your vehicle, reaching the end of a stage is impossible.
Running over zombies rewards matters, and so the further you travel, the greater the prize pot as your fuel runs out. Throwing some of that cash into a bigger fuel tank is therefore essential, but so is piling it into a larger engine, a boost system, a front loaded battering ram and some better tyres; you’ll need that rubber to help climb the steep inclines. Of course, each of those elements have a few tiers within, steadily increasing in cost as you upgrade their parts. Deciding where to throw your money should therefore be essential.
But it’s not. In fact, purchasing whatever you can afford, getting back behind the wheel and just traipsing onwards is all that is required, with a few minutes – at most – wasted as you gain further income. There’s no real need for strategy in terms of upgrade purchases either.
There’s a roof mounted gun that you can stick some cash into too, and this is a good way of clearing routes of larger zombies or exploding barrels. But again, general play will see this unlocked and fully upgraded with more bullets as you go. And really, with only two zombie types present (we guess you could consider an occasional weird dog/wolf like creature to be a third), that weapon is pointless being wasted on smaller undead. Your bullets should be saved only for the slightly bigger guys or barrels that may slow you down.
Levels and stages play out as a rollercoaster affair, so pulling hard on the gas will see you climb hills, helped along by a boost when you need it. That obviously sees a big hit on your fuel levels though, so easing off in air or when going downhill should see you creep ever closer to an end of stage conclusion. We think that tweaking vehicle angles when in air – lifting the hood or dropping the rear – makes a difference to distance too, but it’s so negligible that we rarely felt the need to bother. And perhaps the various vehicle types make a slight difference too, although again, these are much of a muchness. For us, the only vehicle that ever switches things up in Zombie Derby is that of the Harvester; further distances fuelled by running over the undead.
With three ‘Extreme’ levels that do nothing other than frustrate, and a number of ‘Stars’ to collect on each stage, you’d think there was plenty of content going on in Zombie Derby. But we’ve sat here having rinsed all the stages, still completely unaware of what may work towards ‘progress’ in that stars collection. Some stages see us gathering up the full three, others provide just the one. Frankly, going back to run through an already completed stage is not something that excites.
But the basic gameplay and sheer boredom has nothing on other issues. Landing a jump in Zombie Derby invariably sees parts of your vehicle disappear into the ground, with visual clipping a real problem. It’s not like Zombie Derby is impressive on the eyes either; this is a decade old game and so you’ll rarely care for the graphical fidelity. Copy and pasted trees, structures and more are only thrown in to allow for a sense of speed but for the most part it’s all very generic. To give Zombie Derby some praise though, it shifts along at a decent rate, especially when you chuck some boost in.
And whilst we’re here, it would be remiss to ignore the audio. Although honestly, we wish we could ignore the audio. It is terribly generic and even more repetitive than the gameplay itself.
If you have played either Zombie Derby: Pixel Survival or Zombie Derby 2, then you’ll know exactly what to expect of Zombie Derby. Yet whilst those games themselves struggled to excite, this one shows its age even more. There’s some cheap and easy Xbox Gamerscore on offer if you must boost your numbers, but otherwise Zombie Derby is a game that’ll be over in an evening, swiftly removed from the hard-drive thereafter.
