It’s contextually relevant to tell you that I’ve been fecking miserable lately. I won’t weigh you down with the specifics, but I’ve been in one of those places, you know?! That being the case, I wanted to play something that was going to cheer me up.
At moments like this, I prefer to play more relaxed games so as to try and distract my overwhelmed brain and soothe my frayed nerves. Naturally, then, I gravitated towards a zombie-themed, survival-centric bullet heaven full of violence and outrageous guns. I’ll explain…
What is Deadly Days: Roadtrip?
Deadly Days: Roadtrip is a sequel by Pixelsplit, and it evolves the formula by taking players on a road trip across North America to stop the zombie apocalypse, one headshot at a time.
I’ve been dipping in and out of DDR since it first arrived in Early Access, and now that it’s finished – and released on PS5 and Xbox – I’ve been sinking some serious time into the 1.0 version. Lots has been added in the latest update, which adds a playable vampire, fresh locations, and tons of new in-game items to play around with.
Deadly Days: Roadtrip skirts the line between bullet heaven and action-roguelite quite expertly. While I can’t comment on the co-op as I’ve only played solo, but in my experience, the action is well balanced. Just as importantly, the meta-progression systems do a fine job of layering in new features for you to engage with on subsequent attempts.
I think my favourite part of the game might be the inventory management, which borrows a few ideas from the likes of God of Weapons and Brotato. Item merging and placement is a core part of the game, and there is a surprising amount of depth to explore here.
It also looks fantastic, with cute-but-violent pixel art and tons of really lovely details baked into the world design. There are so many different zombie types, which I really appreciated, as it creates a more pleasing scene on the eye thanks to the added diversity they bring.
A systems-driven zombie shooter
While you’re not really required to line up the headshots yourself, you still have to play smart throughout. Deadly Days: Roadtrip is a cleverly connected series of gameplay systems that link well with one another, so there’s always direct feedback to your decisions.
At the core is the inventory management, because if you make poor choices here, you’re just not going to deal out the damage you need to beat the bosses. That means you need to think carefully about what items you pick up, and where you place them in your inventory.
Your weapons are the main consideration, and the variety is genuinely quite good, with both viable options to explore across ranged and melee weapons. You can even roll with a mixture of both if you’re feeling spicy.
You can imbue your gun, sword, or whatever, with a variety of different powers, such as poison damage or electricity. However, the upgrades go much further than that, and as you progress into the game, you can unlock themed item packs that are then introduced into the rotation, broadening your build options substantially.
You find items in a number of ways, but most of the time it’s done via good ol’ scavenging. The heavy emphasis on looting and player agency (over survival horror and resource scarcity) had me recalling one of my favourite board games, Zombicide. In both games, you spend a lot of time rummaging for better loot, and then using it to dispatch a huge number of undead shufflers in an ever-escalating power fantasy built around in-game player progression.
Finding your path
As I played further into the campaign, I discovered new characters, upgraded weapons, boosted stats, and unlocked new in-game items via the game’s robust meta-progression hub, which doubles as your base. There is a lot to do, and the steady rate of unlocks keeps you ticking over while you work towards your main objective: stopping the zombies for good.
All things considered, Deadly Days: Roadtrip is one of the best new bullet heavens of the year. I think it’s got depth in all the right places, and I love the overall aesthetic. The inventory system is super engaging and feeds directly into the gunplay. Then, once you’ve started putting together a good build, it’s so satisfying to watch it melt the zombie horde before you with eye-sizzling attacks that are always backed up by your own clever decision-making.
It might be a zombie shooter, but this survivors-like isn’t a horror game. Instead, it’s a clever mix of inventory management and bullet heaven gameplay, infused with a vibe that’s more Zombicide and Dead Rising than Resident Evil. I’ve been having fun as I worked through it, and at a time when I needed something light and entertaining to get me through a tough week, this was just the ticket.
Deadly Days: Roadtrip is out now on PC (Win), PS5, and Xbox Series. I played the game via access kindly provided by Sidekick Publishing.
