Zombie Rollerz: The Last Ship Review

When you think of a game full of zombies to battle against, the first thing that comes to mind is a dark and gritty title with groaning, slow-walking creatures trying to attack. Sure, Zombie Rollerz: The Last Ship has waves of attacking undead, but they are anything but scary. Instead, they have a cute, cartoony look in a world full of bright colours. Zombie Rollerz was developed by Zing Games Inc. and published by Wandering Wizard, and it has you commanding the last remaining ship in this destroyed world that is teeming with zombies.

Zombie Rollerz: The Last Ship blends together the tower defence, roguelike, and bullet hell genres to create an addictive and chaotic experience. You will gather resources, build powerful turrets, and collect upgradable weapons to take down the waves of procedurally generated zombies. However, guns aren’t the only way to wipe out the enemy; you also have The Ark (your ship), which can be used in attacks. A horde of zombies in your way? No problem! Just run them over, as the ship’s bumper and side wheels can damage anything they hit. Though keep in mind this will also slightly damage the ship, so try not to go crazy smashing into everything in your path.

Zombie Rollerz can be played using a controller or with a keyboard and mouse if you prefer. Driving around the stage is quite simple. Using a controller, you move forward by holding the right trigger and reverse with the left one; you also have the option to play Zombie Rollerz with a keyboard if you prefer. 

There are different types of turrets that you can place on the ship, and you will have six spaces free to install them. Once placed, they will shoot automatically at any target in their path. These guns can be moved around whenever you want, so you can figure out the types and configurations that work best for you. Each of the turrets has an indicator toggle that you can turn on and off that shows you its attack zone. When you move your ship around, any target in the green area will automatically be attacked by that turret.

As you progress, you are able to upgrade seven different components of The Ark: the Rear Wheel, which helps with making turns; the Standard Hull, the main body of the ship; the Side Wheels (one left, one right), which help protect against zombie attacks and in turn deal damage to them; the Bomber Figurehead, which increases your crew from four to 16; and the Bumper, which does exactly what its name suggests, bumping zombies away.

The ship moves quite slowly, but it does have a Sprint Ability that you can use for a boost. This ability is limited, as it has a small duration measured on a bar. Once it runs out, the ship slows down, but the bar replenishes itself, so you can use it again. There is another way to speed up: upgrading your engine to improve overall speed, increase the amount of sprint energy available, and shorten regeneration time. You will need to collect screws and gears dropped from destroying buildings and enemies, using these to purchase upgrades.

Your first mission is to survive against the zombies for five minutes. You will have to fight waves of enemies coming at you, but by destroying them, you will gain items, and there are treasure chests to pick up. These boxes usually have larger items like an extra turret or a Magical Conductor Gadget that forces nearby zombies to dance for five seconds. The cooldown period is 45 seconds before you can use it again, but it’s worth waiting for; who doesn’t want to see a group of zombies stop attacking and break out into a dance?

Each crew member on The Ark has their own stats and job to do. Transporters take ammo to the turrets, mechanics can repair damaged components on the ship, and medics heal and “rez” injured crew members. However, you can change their jobs if you feel they would be more helpful in a different position, such as captain, gunner, or helmsman. There are six available, so you can swap things up on the fly. All the crewmates have 300 HP and an XP bar that fills to level up and improve their stats.

While on a run, the game will warn you when zombie hordes are approaching. As you defeat enemies, pick up items like screws, gears, coins, and anything else they drop. Once you collect enough metal pieces, you will be able to upgrade a turret, improving its health, damage, range, and fire rate, making your ship more deadly. As you destroy enemies and their camps, you will also get to pick a trinket between two options. For mine, I could select between Plated Wood, which replenishes 150 ship body health, or Packed Ammo, which increases turret range and scale. The Ark is able to carry six trinkets at once, so you can have a variety of ship upgrades.

As you progress through the stages, each new one is trickier than the last. At first, you have to survive for five minutes, then 10, then 15. During all this time, your ship and turrets are upgraded, making them stronger and helping you survive longer. If you end up being overwhelmed and your ship is destroyed, you are shown the Battle Stats.  These detail your performance: how long you lasted, the distance travelled, how many zombies you defeated, how many trinkets you picked up, and how many crew members were recruited. 

You then get your Total Score and awards, such as “Damage Sponge” when you take 25,000 damage and “Punching Bag” for 100,000. On the Unlock Road, you will see everything you acquired from your run. There are nine trinkets and gadgets to earn here that can improve your ship and make your next attempt easier. That’s not all, as you can also track progress towards completing challenges that unlock things like +15% reload speed or +1 crew limit.

Zombie Rollerz: The Last Ship has a fun, cartoon-like look to it with bright colours and fun weapons and items to pick up. It is light-hearted, which makes killing hordes of enemies silly, with a variety of dance attacks or “bumping” by your huge ship. The music follows suit with the visuals; it is catchy, upbeat, and never felt repetitive, no matter how many times I replayed an area.

I am addicted to playing Zombie Rollerz: The Last Ship. There are so many things to unlock and upgrade on your ship, it’s going to take a very long time before you run out of things to do. The blend of multiple genres and the procedurally generated zombie hordes make this game feel fresh and unique every time you play. My favourite acquisition was the Spike Roller, which replaces the normal bumper. This new part knocks down zombies and grinds them, which sounds quite brutal, but it is very efficient!

If you are a fan of tower defence, roguelike, or bullet hell games, or a combination of all three, Zombie Rollerz: The Last Ship is a title I can’t recommend to get more. It is full of fun characters and a great sense of humour. With so many upgrades for your ship, turrets, characters, and awards to unlock, you’re sure to be busy for a while.