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Right before the pandemic lockdowns, I played all the way through Zombieland: Double Tap — Road Trip during an Xbox free play weekend, regretting it pretty much the whole time. And then I wrote this review of it. It was one of the most soulless, boring, bland movie game tie-ins I had experienced since the bygone days of the PlayStation 2.
At the time, I stated that the movie actors collected paychecks for their likenesses but didn’t contribute their voices, with the performances instead delivered by soundalikes who seemed like they only got one session in the booth. Turns out that was a little bit wrong. Abigail Breslin did in fact reprise her role of “Little Rock” in the game — and she also stars in the newer and much better Zombieland VR: Headshot Fever.
That’s right, turns out they produced not one but two different full size video games based on the Zombieland movie sequel. Headshot Fever came out on every VR platform under the sun, from new contenders like the PSVR2 to more established headset ecosystems like SteamVR and Quest. I picked it up myself from the Meta Quest store and played it on a Quest 2 headset — and it’s so much more fun than the dual joystick slogfest I endured four years ago.
Rather than attempt to retell either of the movies with its cast of somewhat-okay-looking characters, Headshot Fever is an original tale centered around a weird game show contest about shooting zombies. You’re “the new guy,” a character who gets thrown in with the rest of the dysfunctional Zombieland family after some unfortunate mishaps in their own life. The main character’s story is weirdly functional and fleshed out. Most of the nine levels you’ll visit during the game are in some way tied to this new original character. You’ll visit his home, his office, and other fixtures in his life in a quest to take out zombified versions of his loved ones, before you take on the larger challenge of the titular game show contest.
Gameplay consists of arcade-inspired shooting action, but with several hardcore mechanical enhancements in play. You’ll move from…
