Death Road To Canada Nintendo Switch Review: Prepare To Die, Eh?

Most zombie games these days have an emphasis on survival, which makes sense. You often feel compelled to keep your character alive no matter the odds, right? Well, what would happen if you took that story and turned it on its head with a sense of humor that might leave you scratching your head in some cases?

That’s how Death Road To Canada plays out, a game that combines exploration with driving as you fight off a zombie horde on your way to the Great White North in the hopes of starting a new life. But some bizarre scenarios can get in the way of your journey, be it a run-in with a horde or, worse yet, some armored lunatic with a grudge.

Some might see this style of storytelling as a breath of fresh air from the usual, bleak territory that these survival games take. But Death Road To Canada sometimes runs into confusion as a result. One minute, you’re guffawing over a certain scenario with your party. The next, you’re cringing as you manage to lose one of them to a surprise zombie attack. It’s like Ukiyo Publishing couldn’t really make up its mind in terms of which way it wanted the story to go. But there are some people this will likely appeal to, especially if horror/comedy (horromedy?) is your thing.

Ups and Downs With Combat

Storytelling aside, Death Road To Canada divides up its gameplay into two halves. The first is about driving to your destination and making sure things are up to snuff on your journey, such as having enough gas or making sure you don’t run into too many enemies. This leads to the second part of the game, exploration. Here, you have to look around buildings for supplies and occasionally fend off a few of the undead.

On the one hand, the combat is serviceable and there are some interesting things that mix it up. For instance, launching a couch at a horde of zombies is surprisingly effective. But on the other, it gets repetitive. There’s no stylish combos to unlock or that many awesome weapons to speak of so you’re killing most of them the same way. Even as you build up Zombo points and unlock new things, most of it feels like you’re running through the wringer, save for some awesome (and not-often-occurring) special attacks. A zombie survival game isn’t really doing its job if monotony sets in.

Fortunately there are some things that perk up Death Road To Canada. The first is a character creation system, in which you can level up your characters and make them into the badass you want them to be. Despite the fact that combat never really picks up, feeling like you’re doing some good with your zombie slayer of choice isn’t half bad. Plus, you may actually feel like letting out a battle yell as you throw furniture around. Hey, why not, things are already weird enough as it is.

Some Charm and Originality, But Is It Enough?

Aside from the gameplay, Death Road also has pretty good presentation going for it. The old-school style visuals and music really provide the game with more style than it deserves; and the character designs are pretty cool, instead of your usual run-of-the-mill zombie fodder design. Plus it’s entertaining to watch some fall on the ground in different ways, even though getting to that point can take a little while.

Death Road To Canada isn’t a game for everyone. It does have a fair share of positives going for it, including that robust character system, a humorous tone and an inventive visual style. But its combat never really picks up as much as I was hoping it was; and the aforementioned tone isn’t going to suit everyone. It does step away from the norm, but it also settles in to some bad habits that keep it from joining the elite survivors of the genre.

If curiosity and strange humor are your thing, Death Road To Canada may just be up your alley. Otherwise, you might consider another route to travel upon.

WWG’s Score: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclaimer: A review code was provided by the publisher.