The zombie outbreak happened, it just did, but you, and maybe a buddy, heard that in Canada everyone is safe, so you set out for Canada. And that's the gist of it. Before starting the game you can create a simple, but charming, playable avatar for yourself as well as a buddy, although a buddy is not required to start the game. But you should. You'll be playing as a team of up to four different characters, while you start out with up to two survivors you may meet others along the way. Some characters are generic, randomized avatars while others are parodies of other, well known characters and people. Truth be told, not everyone will survive, but as long as one character makes it to the end you'll win the game. Easier said than done, I don't think I ever made it out to the end with my main character which has now become a personal challenge of mine. Each 'run' lasts about an hour, maybe less if you die early, but once you finish the game you can pick a shorter or a longer run.
There are two 'segments' the game is made out of: Travelling and Surviving. Driving is done automatically, and while this happens some flavor text your characters spew will play out, as well as healing, if there are enough supplies. It won't be long before an 'event' triggers, most of this require you to select which action to use. For instance, a Bee may get in the way, and you can either ignore it, try to kill it or, maybe, if one of your characters has a special trait, do something else. In one instance, I had only one survivor left and I tried to squash the bee.... only for my character to get stung and die. There's no real gameplay when it comes to this choices, just text-based outcomes. Which sounds boring, but most of these events are played out for laughs and you'll never know just which outcome you'll get!
After going through a few events your characters will come across a new setting: Maybe an abandoned factory, an abandoned clinic or something else. Sometimes you'll even get to choose between places! Once you choose your destination, or are forced upon it, you'll set out on foot to explore. You take direct control of one member(But can swap on the pause menus) while the AI does an acceptable choice of controlling your other members. Zombies spawn pretty much endlessly, although how vicious they are depends on the time of the day, so it's better not to linger for long and just explore as best as you can, in order to collect new weapons or supplies, such as food, fuel and supplies. There are a ton of objects you can interact with, besides tons of weapons(Such as hammers, knives, guns or even chainsaws) you can also pick up smaller objects such as chairs in order to aid your fight. The game is very simple: One button attacks, one picks up objects/opens objects and another one swaps between your three equippable items.
The game is great fun, and its extreme simplicity aids immensely in that. Travelling is never boring, even if the result of your choices feel random at times(They are not ALL that random, they depend on the stats, personality and/or traits of which character performs which action). As a matter of fact, that 'randomness' is probably what makes it so much fun, and tense, whenever you have to act. The playable parts of the game are fantastic too, and getting better equipment and supplies makes it very rewarding to scavenge around, at the risk of the day growing darker and the enemies nastier.
The game is pretty tough, especially as you get used to it, so expect to end your first couple of runs in tragedy. That said, the game is meant to be replayed multiple times, so dying and having to start from scratch doesn't feel all that bad, you'll want to start your next run ASAP. Death Road to Canada was one of the neatest surprised I played this year.
8.0 out of 10
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