Z-Run (PSV) – Review

With the zombie craze showing no signs of losing steam it feels like there is a new zombie game releasing every week. Z-Run is an endless runner game in the vein of Temple Run except with the added obstacles of zombies. You may be aware that there is a certain niche of people who actually hope for a zombie apocalypse. If you are ever in a conversation with such a person they may be willing to share their survival plan which they have thought out extensively after watching every episode of The Walking Dead and reading The Zombie Survival Guide cover to cover. I would be willing to bet that no one’s zombie survival plan consists of solely running forward, alone, on foot, through zombie infested city streets, but that is exactly what you do in Z-Run… if you choose to play it, against all good reason.

Z-Run takes place in the abandoned streets of what I assume to be Tokyo. You take control of a generic male character named Alex or a generic female character named Claire. Since it’s a runner game, your character runs forward automatically whether you want him to or not. Holding down the R button will make you sprint faster. You can slide forward by pressing and holding the X button to slip under obstacles such as trucks or police barricades. The slide move also doubles as an offensive attack that can take out zombies in front of you. The O button performs a flying jump kick to the face that will neutralize the threat of a zombie. Triangle jumps over debris and other obstacles in your way. Square is used to attack with your projectile or melee weapon. You can navigate through the stream of the undead and clutter of urban decay with the left analog stick and can perform a dodge roll by flicking the right stick. The controls take some getting used to and are not as responsive as they could be – simply avoiding immobile obstacles in your way can be a real chore. If there is a derpier way to die in a video game than by running head-first repeatedly into a brick wall, I haven’t experienced it yet. Thanks, Z-Run.

There’s a good variety of weapons to pick up, including katanas, shotguns, and even bass guitars. The melee weapons all have a limited durability value that depletes each time it comes in contact with undead flesh. The guns are, of course, restricted by how many bullets you have left, with ammo pick-ups generally few and far between. The only genuine moment of enjoyment I got from the whole game was barrelling down the street blasting away at zombies with an Uzi. You have to conserve your ammo for when it is most needed because if you die and restart the level whatever you have used will be gone.

One nice aesthetic touch is that when you kill a zombie their blood splatters all over the screen, obscuring your view. You then have to wipe the blood away by swiping your finger across the Vita’s touchscreen. Unfortunately, while this initially strikes the player as a clever gimmick it soon devolves into a major annoyance. When trying to nimbly navigate between zombie hordes your two hands will be too busy to wipe the screen constantly, making you wish you had an extra hand to spare.

This is an excerpt from the full story which was originally featured on gamrReview, read the full version here – Z-Run (PSV) – Review

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