Type: Game

Platform: iPhone, iPod Touch

Cost: 99 cents

At the Apple App Store, under the ‘New and Noteworthy’ section, lies the latest app to capitalize on the undead’s resurrected popularity.  In the game, you are the driver of an SUV going down an endless highway in the middle of nowhere. As you continue down the road, zombies appear and leap onto the sides of your car. To get them off, you can either shoot at them with one of three available guns (you can accumulate up to eight if you survive long enough), or smash them off via passing vehicles. As the game goes on, the zombies get stronger and harder to remove. The game ends when your car tips over and you can no longer drive.

Sadly, there is no way to actually win a game on ‘Zombie Highway.’ This is because the object of the game is to see how far you can last without being taken down and eaten alive. Hence the tagline in the app’s description: ‘The goal is to survive … but you won’t. How long can you last?’

 

The controls are incredibly simple. Simply tilting the iPod to the left or right steers your SUV. Once the zombies hop aboard for the ride, tapping the edge of the screen fires your gun. Each zombie has an individual health meter, alerting players on how much firepower it will take to knock the zombie off. Once they die — again — they fall off and you live for a few seconds longer. 

 

Visually, the game is very smooth. The graphics are in 3-D and will look stunning on newer iPhone models with their crystal-clear retina display. Even with a regular iPod Touch, the game still looks very crisp. However, there isn’t much detail in the zombies themselves. They are simply dark-colored figures in the vague shape of a human. This can either be a setback or a bonus, depending on your tolerance to blood and guts. 

 

Speaking of grisly imagery, this game is perfect for any iPhone user who doesn’t like too much violence. The only real gore comes from shooting the zombies and watching them splatter on the road. Blood does spray into the air when the undead spiral to the asphalt, but the game is clean besides that.

The app has also embraced the social media scene by allowing easy connectivity to Facebook and Twitter. A couple of screen taps can log you in to either website to compare scores to anyone playing anywhere in the world. Check your friends’ high scores or use your status to brag about how long you lasted before the blood-thirsty creatures took you down.  

 

In the end, the game is simple, smooth and fun to play. With no way to win and no limit on how long you can last, the app has a strong replay value. Anyone can pick it up and spend time ridding the world of zombies. And the best part: It only costs 99 cents. Cheap, time-consuming, and fun; neither the living nor dead can ask for much more out of an iPod app.