Redneck Revenge: A Zombie Roadtrip Review

With their “take no prisoners” attitude and their love of big cars, not to mention their constant surplus of firearms, rednecks are basically the natural predator of the living dead. Redneck Revenge: A Zombie Roadtrip puts players in the boots of one such redneck hero to face the apocalypse head-on. The results are low on class and high on gory good times.

When zombies start feasting on human brains like zombies tend to do, our star, Red, grabs his guns and sets off on a quest to put them back in the ground where they belong. This horizontal scrolling shooter takes players from Red’s bar to desert roadsides to wherever else rednecks might find a few zombies to shoot. Players control Red’s movement with one thumb while changing his aim with the other. Remembering to both move and shoot is crucial because Red has a limited range and shooting angle. Some stages give him a protective wall but in others once the zombies get in too close players will have to tap them off before it’s too late. The four worlds and handful of levels within them have a steady difficulty curve but the smooth controls make things about as manageable as a zombie nightmare could possibly be.

At first it seems that Redneck Revenge’s basic shooting and survival gameplay is as brain dead as its villains. However, the game does have a few intricacies that reveal themselves over time. Using money earned in-game players can fully customize Red with different weapons like a trusty shotgun or a more unconventional homemade spud launcher. They can also change his hat, shirt, and pants to give him extra protection and style. Finally, the game’s plethora of power-ups adds a great amount of variety to the otherwise standard shoot-outs. Summoning a trigger-happy geezer ally or zombie-crushing whale is as entertaining as it sounds.

If all that weren’t enough though, Redneck Revenge has a fantastic presentation that makes the backwater carnage just a joy to experience. There are plenty of different zombie types and they all get more and more deformed as they take damage before exploding into a puddle of blood that remains throughout the level. The game’s overall style is great too featuring a stylized rustic aesthetic with lots of strong colors and fun, blocky character designs. Of course, the game’s soundtrack is heavy on country and the guitars and stomping boots add lots of fun atmosphere. However, it’s the game’s house music selections, which are actually the cause of the zombie outbreak, which really steal the show.

Redneck Revenge: A Zombie Roadtrip is a raucous little shooter with lots of spirit. It also has a lot of spirits, particularly the whiskey in the bar.

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