Coffin Dodgers (PlayStation 4) Review

By William Lowery 06.05.2016

Review for Coffin Dodgers on PlayStation 4

When a person gets old, he or she has to consider many factors, such as staying in top shape, altering their diet, and hoping that the day they kick the bucket doesn't come too soon. In the case of the senior citizens of Coffin Dodgers, that time is now, as Death has invaded their small town to come and claim their souls; fortunately, the grandpas and grandmas have a plan - one that involves a racing tournament.

Despite the name, Coffin Dodgers is a cartoonish racing game featuring wacky characters and an equally silly concept. The story sees a group of senior citizens banding together to stop the Grim Reaper, who is trying to take their souls, since he believes that the time has come for them to leave this world. In the tournament, players pick one of seven people, with Death being an unlockable eighth driver, in order to participate in a series of races set in different parts of the old folks' town. At the end of each circuit, Death will take the lowest-ranked members and turn them into zombies that are under his control. Therefore, gamers must ensure their selected character makes it to the end in order to stop the Grim Reaper.

Regardless of which character is chosen, he or she rides their own moto-scooter, which can be upgraded by collecting coins. These are acquired by earning XP through completing races, attacking opponent drivers, or by destroying various objects scattered about a race track. Additionally, the higher a person places increases the chance of earning a large amount of coins. Said money can then be used to upgrade their moto-scooter in different areas, such as top speed, acceleration, or weapon capacity.

Screenshot for Coffin Dodgers on PlayStation 4

Racing is fine, although the steering is loose and somewhat sensitive. There are two methods of inflicting harm on opponent racers: either by a driver's melee weapon or through an acquired power-up. The selection of weapons is small, but varied, featuring submachine guns, shock pads, heat-seeking rockets, and oil slick - yet, while these mechanics and the ones mentioned prior would suggest that the game should be a sure-fire hit, it's when the hood of Coffin Dodgers is popped up that multiple problems are revealed in regards to balancing, logic, and technical performance.

As stated earlier, two of the areas that a racer's scooter can be upgraded in are top speed and rate of acceleration, but the problem is that if one focuses primarily on these aspects, then their vehicle will become an unstoppable speedster, making the act of completing races a chore due to the lack of difficulty. While there is an option to clear all purchased upgrades in the options menu, such a choice seems pointless considering how much money the player spent to upgrade their scooter.

Another issue - although not as major as the one mentioned prior - has to do with holes within the logic of this game. During certain races, zombies will show up walking around the track, which seems strange, but with the presence of the Grim Reaper, it's implied that the shambling undead are his work. However, what doesn't make sense is that, occasionally, UFOs will appear, trying to throw racers off course with their death rays. Additionally, there are many strange design problems, such as the lack of an ability to restart races in the tournament, or that even after the game has finished loading and the player is prompted to press X to continue, there's a major delay between the button press and the race beginning.

Screenshot for Coffin Dodgers on PlayStation 4

Cubed3 Rating

3/10
Rated 3 out of 10

Bad

In spite of having a quirky premise, Coffin Dodgers doesn't have much else to offer. The racing and vehicular combat work, but the overall product lacks refinement and polish. With unbalanced upgrades, a small selection of modes, with the open world option being a disposable choice, and graphics that are more in lieu with a mobile phone game than a PS4 title, this is a game that had strong potential to be good, but the end result, however, is a game riding with flat tyres and a jittery engine.

Developer

Milky Tea

Publisher

Wales

Genre

Driving

Players

4

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  3/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  0 (0 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date None   Australian release date Out now   

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