Zombie Run review

If you've been wanting to experience what the zombie apocalypse would be like first hand without the risk of having your brains eaten, Zombie Run gives you that chance. The game available through the Android marketplace (for the price of free) drops you into a zombie apocalypse using the phone's google maps functionality and GPS features.

Chose from 4 levels of infestation from controlled outbreak to total pandemic, the speed of your flesh craving enemies (rated from Night of the Living Dead to 28 Days Later), and finally a destination on your map. The game will show your location and populate zombies around you for you to avoid as you try to reach the destination you've set. Red zombies know where you are and will continue to chase after you. Green zombies are not yet aware of your location, but will join in the hunt if alerted to some ripe brains being in their vicinity. The object of the game is to reach the destination you've set for yourself before they do.

This is a great game to play if you've got an errand to run or just want a bit of exercise. The maps feature is great for putting your destination marker in the exact location you want to go. There's a great Vietnamese restaurant about 9 blocks from my house so I set it to a late local infestation with zombies moving at 5mph and made my way. As I began my trek the phone began to vibrate letting me know where the zombies were and I'll tell you my pace picked up quite a bit and I even found myself jogging through a couple stretches along the way. If you chose 28 Days Later (which are my favorite zombies) speed setting, you had better be prepared to RUN because just like in the movie, they are fast.

Zombie Run is surprisingly fun and you'll have a great time with it provided you aren't opposed to looking slightly crazy in public sometimes. There are some drawbacks though. You can't set a destination by entering an address so if you want to go someplace in particular you have to drag the map around and zoom in and out until you find where you want to go. You can play while driving, but stop lights can be instant death and pulling out your phone to pause and un-pause the game every time you come to a stop isn't recommended when you live in a state where you can't talk/text and drive. I wish the game used the phone's camera system to place the zombies into the environment when viewing in camera mode, or something else cool like this, but it's a free app so I can't complain. Other than that, get ready to smile a stupid grin while running from imaginary zombies.

Grade B
Meta Grade 83