Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Traaaaaiiiiins: Railworks 3 Trains vs Zombies

By Adam Smith on October 27th, 2011 at 6:41 pm.

I recognise that train's logo from my real life and that makes the imminence of a poorly animated zombie invasion seem all the more real!

Full scream ahead! Ahem. Actually, I think they’re mostly diesels, but that should not distract from the fact that Trains Vs Zombies has just been released as DLC for Railworks 3. My mind is still boggling because I only just discovered that this is a thing that now exists. But it is true and to prove I am not deluded, observe the visual evidence below! You could also just follow the link above, but stick with me AND ENJOY THE RIDE BECAUSE THERE IS ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY THAT IT COULD BE YOUR LAST RIDE!

With a zombie plague in full swing, you find yourself in Oxford amongst a group of survivors, one of whom is The Professor. He has the entry code to a secret bunker beneath Paddington Station, and will lead you all to safety as long as you can drive everybody there! Starting out from Oxford Station, unexpected happenings along the way mean you will be in for a bumpy ride – and a few train changes! You need to get away quickly, as the zombies are hard at work ripping up the tracks, though with a little Halloween magic, a few missing pieces of track won’t stop you getting away…

Argh! I used to live in Oxford! It’s incredibly picturesque, except for almost every part of it that’s not owned by the university. What a horrible thing to happen in such a magical place. Who will think of the Young and Privileged?

It's clear what she wants us to do!

Maybe this lady can help. No, wait. She “clearly wants us to derail somehow”. And she’s green! Oh, lummy! Out of the train! Across the station! We must find another train that is not similarly plagued by evil!

Malevolent fruits!

Noooo! This train is surrounded by hollowed-out pumpkins, the most evil of previously edible-emblems. Is there no escape?

They don't even have a shambling animation - so well disguised!

Gah! Terror! Malignity! This train is aflame and surrounded by two of the casually strolling dead! Back to the other train, which I can identify by neither its engine nor its chassis being ignorant of such things if those are indeed things that it has. We’ll just have to step over the pumpkins, fiendishly carved as they are, and hop into the cabin. Then it’s drive-time.

Pull the lever, push the button, tap the dial, wear an engineer's hat...CHECK

OK, this is what we’re here for. Trains vs zombies. I’ve spent years in preparation for this moment, knowing that one day only my ability to maneuver a train along a rail could prevent the annihilation of Oxford (and possibly Paddington Station). Let’s just focus on the job at hand, out of the station, onto the track…

Halloween magic is dangerous

Oh, for crying out loud…

Flying trains, pumpkins and people with green skin. Do you want it? Do you? You can buy it here. Or check out the full Halloween Steam sale here.

__________________

« | »

, , , , , .

75 Comments »

  1. OJSlaughter says:
    10/27/2011 at 18:46

    this… is…INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    report

  2. applecup says:
    10/27/2011 at 18:48

    ……what did I just read

    report

  3. Lambchops says:
    10/27/2011 at 18:52

    Wait . . . what . . . I’m in Oxford! Clearly I must prepare.

    There, that should throw them off the scent, they’ll never know I’m testing the zombification chemical i’ve spent the last week brewing up in the lab.

    Also if there’s a zombie outbreak I’m sure as hell not heading to Paddington where it’s really, really busy. Even if the flying train experience is oh so sorely tempting!

    report

    • MiniMatt says:
      10/27/2011 at 20:23

      Oooh, I used to be Oxford too. At least Jude the Obscure pub is far from the train station.

      report

    • Gap Gen says:
      10/28/2011 at 00:54

      I too have done that route several times. Although the Jude is only about 10 minutes walk from the station?

      And yes, stellar marketing. Wonder how many people bought it just for this, with no interest in the original game.

      report

  4. Enzo says:
    10/27/2011 at 18:53

    Told you it was real!

    Now somebody has to play it and post a Wot I Think.

    report

  5. Dozer says:
    10/27/2011 at 18:55

    Crap. I’m travelling to Paddington by train on Saturday. First time since 2008. I don’t relish the thought of needing to change to a replacement bus at Didcot Parkway due to zombies walking into trees and shaking the leaves onto the tracks.

    report

  6. johnpeat says:
    10/27/2011 at 19:12

    Got to be the smartest bit of game marketting this year, surely??

    report

  7. Mephisto says:
    10/27/2011 at 19:20

    Will make announcements more interesting.

    “The 07:20 service to King’s Cross is delayed due to entrails on the line”

    report

    • Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
      10/27/2011 at 20:37

      The 08:20 service from Oxford Central is delayed indefinitely due to one Adam Smith flying away with the last workable train left

      report

  8. Lukasz says:
    10/27/2011 at 19:22

    last picture reminds me of ET

    and weird idea is weird but people who like train games are weird (except railroad tycoon. that was awesome)

    report

  9. Deltadisco says:
    10/27/2011 at 19:24

    Even taking into consideration the proximity to Halloween AND the never ending flood of zombie-based-entertainment – could anyone have actually predicted this?

    This is so batshit insane that I’m not sure it could be anything other than awesome.

    report

  10. Khann says:
    10/27/2011 at 19:28

    Lie: I am scared.

    report

  11. Rao Dao Zao says:
    10/27/2011 at 19:28

    Sounds dead exciting, looks railly good.

    report

  12. tootoid says:
    10/27/2011 at 21:33

    I often play simulators to practice for situations just like this. This DLC is going to improve the accuracy of my test results no end!

    Incidentally, if the zombie apocalypse does come and you see me in a sweaty panic in the cab of a train, my current data suggests that you have approximately 3 minutes to find a way onto the train before I leave. You then have a leisurely 7-8 minutes to get to the cab and take over before I derail the train and kill us all.

    report

  13. slick_101 says:
    10/27/2011 at 21:38

    mmmmmmmmmmmm green peoples

    report

  14. Zepp says:
    10/27/2011 at 22:45

    now waiting for ships vs zombies

    report

  15. BathroomCitizen says:
    10/27/2011 at 23:38

    Green is the color of envy!

    report

  16. dejoh says:
    10/27/2011 at 23:50

    Not to get off track, but….Try the latest version of RailWorks 3. Stunning graphics ,shadows and
    great renditions of rolling stock.

    report

    • Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
      10/27/2011 at 23:58

      Good point, your conducting skills are great (I lost my ticket, though)

      report

  17. Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
    10/27/2011 at 23:56

    “This train is aflame and surrounded by two of the casually strolling dead!”
    - Traintastic, I laughed so hard my dinner wagon got disconnected

    report

  18. .backslash says:
    10/28/2011 at 00:23

    First I discover the existence of deep-fried Mars bars earlier today, now this… Clearly the Universe has decided to end whatever vestiges there are left of my sanity.

    report

  19. pupsikaso says:
    10/28/2011 at 03:22

    Everyone is commenting how awesome it is, but how many have actually bought the DLC? Or even the game itself yet?

    report

  20. neolith says:
    10/28/2011 at 10:08

    Best. Headline. Ever.

    report

  21. Bodylotion says:
    10/28/2011 at 18:12

    the question is who actually owns “Railworks” ?

    report

Comment on this story

XHTML: Allowed code: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Search

Read our finest words

Respond to our gibber

Play indie, mods, demos

Browse the archive