With a suitably anarchic disregard for context, Zombie Driver plunges you immediately into the chaotic heart of a zombie apocalypse. You are trapped in a city that is close to being overwhelmed, in such a dangerous situation that the army can’t risk coming in to rescue you.
Luckily, you have a radio with which you can communicate and a taxi that you can accessorise. The soldiers on the other end of the radio are kind enough to provide you with intel so you can find everyone else who has managed to stay alive so far and keep them as safe as possible. You do this by mowing down zombies in your car, which you can upgrade as you complete missions and pimp out with an abundance of weapons you can find along the way.
Zombie Driver makes pretty good use of the Switch controls by giving you options to use different buttons for different functions depending on your preferred play style. It’s a fairly simple game to pick up. You accelerate, you reverse, you steer your car, and you fire whatever weapons you have collected.
The simplicity doesn’t mean it’s not challenging. It’s not exactly easy to take down zombies in just a clunky old taxi, especially when there are only a few left and they’re small enough to hide in the narrow gaps that your car can’t smash through. It gets easier as you get more powerful and more responsive cars and weapons, but there is always an encouraging level of challenge to the game.
You also get bonus points for kill combos which translate into cash rewards from a wealthy man you rescue from the horde. You can then use this money to upgrade your car and weapons at the end of each mission.
After each level you are shown a score comprised of how many zombies you’ve killed, how long it took you to reach the goal of the mission, and your best kill combos. You have the option of replaying the level to beat your score or moving on with the narrative.
If you’re the kind of gamer who likes gore and explosions, then Zombie Driver is incredibly satisfying. It’s tempting to stop and explore the world, smash all the zombies apart, and see what power-ups are dotted around. It won’t do any favours for your time, but you always have the option of going back and doing it again. You’re also welcome to take your time a little bit with the story mode because there are also the arcade options of Slaughter and Blood Race modes you can use to really challenge yourself.
Zombie Driver is a simple game. The plot is a fairly standard zombie apocalypse story. The driving is familiar enough, but combined with the gore it makes for an addictively murderous experience.
Review: Zombie Driver: Immortal Edition (Nintendo Switch)
Good
Zombie Driver is everything you’d expect from a game called Zombie Driver – zombies and driving and guts splattered all over your screen. Its great.