Zombie Derby 2 Review

Introduction

Zombie Derby 2 is another in a long line of mobile ports to hit Xbox. Some have been easy cash grabs with easy achievements attaches and others have excelled in the market. Zombie Derby 2 falls somewhere in the middle, doing away with all microtransactions of the mobile game and offering a comprehensive amount of content to unlock.

Gameplay

Zombie Derby 2 presents a simple premise – pick a car, don’t run our of fuel and reach the end of the track. It’s not all plain sailing though as you attempt to traverse rolling hills, epic gaps and surprise surprise, zombies. Not only that, but each car is barebones and underpowered when you start, so don’t expect to clear each area on your first run. Each attempt, whether successful or not, provides coins that can then be spent on upgrading the vehicles with ploughs, a bigger fuel tank, a weapon and a nitro boost to make slaying and survival more manageable. The further you go, the more you make and the quicker you can get those upgrades added. The upgrade system is definitely in place to pad this games length though as coins are plentiful and the levels are very, very easy.

Initially, its as easy as hitting the gas mowing down the horde and going as far as you can before you run out of gas. None of the cars start with a very large tank, so mileage and payouts will vary. Thankfully you can flip the truck off some of the bigger hills and running over zombies in quick succession builds a multiplier to increase your score. As you progress, obstacles will block the way to slow you down and damage the car. Gaps also require the use of nitro to cross otherwise its an instant game over. The actual terrain is as much of an issue as the zombies though so you need to make sure you’ve plenty of fuel and nitro to see you to the end. With large hills littering each track, finding the balance between No2 and fuel usage to reach the top and then letting gravity take you down is almost always the best option.

The zombies do a decent job of slowing progress as well. The simple shamblers are exploded with ease, but the larger ones slow you down. Then there’s the barrel guys who either throw one at you to damage the car, or slam it on your hood at close range and insta-kill you. That’s where the upgrades come in.

The plow will deal with most of the enemies with ease but its recommended to get a weapon as soon as possible to clear the large zombie variants that impede progress. One shot kills everything except the largest chap, however there is still a need to ration ammo as its the best way to clear explosives. And that’s it – drive, do tricks and kill zombies. Get all three of the objectives and you get a three star rating.

After the turotial is cleared you are shown a simple map that unlocks new tracks and behicles with 8 of each available in the standard campaign, as well as 8 Halloween themed levels, 8 extreme levels and a delivery mini game. There are also two areas which provde randomly generared tracks and a survival mode rounds out the selection. Although the tracks feature similar layouts consisting of undulating hills which sap fuel and nitro, each has a different theme. You’ll traverse desert roads, a destroyed city and snowy mountain tops among others.

There’s also a decent selection vehicles ranging from a tank, to a Delorean and my favourite – the combine harvester. Each has different speeds and ability to absorb damage and cone tooled out either machine guns and lasers to thin the horde. Still, it’s damn fun running over a line of zombies and getting the overkill bonus which splashes the screen with blood!

Presentation

It’s mobile origins are apparent from the off with the graphics seeing the most basic of overhauls and an exceptionally repetitive sound track. So repetitive in fact I had it turn it off. Menus still have the same touch layout so the UI is simple to navigate and a few presses of the “starts button sees you right in the thick of the action. Levels contain a decent amount of detail and the backgrounds are packed with scenery. Burnt out buildings and collapsing civilisation is the order of the day here. The cars are a bit sharper though. Each design is unique and has a lot more detail than the backgrounds and roads.

The zombies on the other hand are just shambling polygons. There is variety in the clothing but detail is low. The variants see a bit more attention but overall they are fine for purpose. Exploding into gibs.

I can’t say much about the music because I’ve now forgotten what it sounds like. I remember it being annoying enough I didn’t want to hear it any more that i turned it off. Sound effects are basic but do the job – reving engines, squelching zombies and the occasional explosion.

Conclusion

This is a short game and the main campaign can be cleared in about 90 mins but the extra content included adds life to what would have been an otherwise lightweight package. And for those interested in such things, 1000 achievements is easily done inside those 90 mins.

The standard gameplay is fun to a degree, and I did find myself getting hooked in by the “just one more go” approach afforded by the upgrade system. So much so, I usually cleared a level or went back to clear up objectives and lost 20-30 mins. This is aactually a great, quick, pick up and play for 10-15 mins when you’re bored. Sometimes we just need something to turn off our brains and this was fun enough it doesn’t need to be memorable.