Believe it or not, movie tie-ins are still a thing for video games. With Zombieland: Double Tap now in theatres, Maximum Games and High Voltage Software have teamed up to release Zombieland: Double Tap – Road Trip. You and a few buddies can take on the role of either of the film’s four main characters – Tallahassee, Columbus, Wichita and Little Rock – plowing your way through loads of zombies. While Zombieland: Double Tap – Road Trip has the potential to be a fun party title, its lack of depth holds it back from being as enjoyable as it could be.
As a top-down shoot ‘em up, Zombieland: Double Tap – Road Trip offers a range of weaponry to go up against a range of zombies. Each character has a pistol with unlimited ammo, but can also pick up machine guns, shotguns, swords, grenades, and more. There are various zombie types players can engage with; you have the “Ninja” who can move fast, the vomit spewing “Vombie”, a clown zombie who has projectile weapons, and others. The gameplay itself is simple; in regards to console controls, one joystick moves the avatar, the other aims the weapon, and then you have your trigger, reload, and weapon pick up buttons.
Along with a health bar, each character also has a bar that represents a special ability; the more enemies one takes out, the more the bar fills. For Tallahassee, he has the ability to spin around like a top, mowing down any foes who get in his way. For Wichita, she can leave behind a clone that zombies may gather around, with said clone exploding after a certain time. You accumulate points throughout each level, allowing you to build upon different stats at the end; these stats include extending your health bar, how much damage you can deal, and other ability traits.
The game offers two modes; one is a horde mode, the other a story mode. Horde mode plays out almost as you would imagine, but offers a fun twist. While you do have to survive waves of zombies, waves are broken up into objectives; during one wave you may have to kill a certain number of zombies; during the next wave, you may have to just last a certain amount of time. These goals update with each wave, providing a fresh take in each encounter.
Story mode is where things get a little grisly for Zombieland: Double Tap – Road Trip. For starters, the voice acting is terrible. It’s comical to hear how badly these actors are trying to emulate the tone of the actors from the Zombieland films; the attempted dorkiness of Jesse Eisenberg’s Columbus is cringe-inducing. I get that the idea behind this voice acting is to recreate the vibe of the films, but it primarily comes across as boring and corny.
The missions that make up the story mode are also lackluster; for the most part, each mission follows the group on random misadventures. The second level sees you guiding the group to find… a bathroom; Columbus needs to go to the bathroom, so you need to find a bathroom. Then there’s the following level that has you guide an older woman to and from objectives. Certainly there is an element of fun cheese to be found from time to time, but the execution in attempting to recreate the Zombieland film world mostly fails. Given its delivery of action and the ability to play with others, the game would make for a joy to play with friends – if only it weren’t for the price tag.
While there is the story mode, horde mode, and the ability to download additional playable characters, there is not enough content or depth to justify a $39.99 price tag. For anyone who can remember that top-down version of Call Of Duty: Black Ops’ zombies, this Zombieland game is essentially a repurposed version of that. The gameplay feels more centered on that party atmosphere where friends jam out for 20 to 30 minutes; the game doesn’t offer itself to longevity since there is no depth to it. Maybe you could argue a $20 price tag for this kind of content, but for $39.99, you really ought to find a game that provides a hell of a lot more content.
It’s a shame because Zombieland: Double Tap – Road Trip does have the feel of a good party game. Its variety of enemies and weapons, as well as the flow of combat, all lend itself to a consistent ride of adrenaline. But even if you ignore the sometimes cringy elements of its voice acting, there’s just not enough content for such a basic experience to justify the price of Zombieland: Double Tap – Road Trip.
Zombieland: Double Tap – Road Trip review code for PS4 provided by the publisher.
Zombieland: Double Tap – Road Trip is out now on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.