Google Glassware review: Zombies, Run!

When you’re going to outrun zombies, my philosophy is you should pick an atmospheric location like this.

If you’re lightly active and are looking to get back into a fitness routine, what you really need is to get chased by zombies a few times a week. At least that’s what I’ve been doing with the Zombies, Run! Glassware for Google Glass, and it’s been pretty awesome.

Why Zombies, Run! rocks.

• It works with or without music playing in the background (using Google Play or Pandora Glassware).
• Novelist Naomi Alderman has helped game developers Six to Start create scripts for each mission that give your brain riddles to puzzle through while you run.
• As you’re outrunning zombies, you don’t really feel pressure to move faster than a “slow shamble,” but if you do, the app tracks your speed and mileage.

In the first mission, you’re shot out of the sky while on military transport and must run past a herd of zombies to Abel Township.

At first I was afraid that I’d soon tire of the three missions and abandon the app, but I haven’t yet. I think it’s because of the narrative. Every time I go on a mission, I hear something that I missed before or pick up on another clue that gets my inner gears turning about who my character (Runner 5) really is and what my true mission might be.

You receive alerts in between transmissions that there are zombies nearby. If you choose to extend your workout, you’ll continue to encounter special items to collect and zombies.

The Glassware is a slimmed-down version of Six to Start’s more dynamic mobile phone apps, which let you custom-create missions and see where all the random items you pick up on your missions go. I contacted them to see if more missions  for Glassware are forthcoming, and they said no.

So, that’s the worst thing about getting into Zombies, Run! for Glass: It will tempt you to go back to your phone so you can run with the full versions.

For now, at least, I think I’ll resist and just review more running Glassware. After all, running without wires is a real revelation.

The verdict

If you could customize missions for Google Glass like you can on the mobile versions, this would be a 5-star review, no question. But options with Glassware are limited. Plus, if you experience GPS disruption, the mileage isn’t counted accurately and the zombie encounters go away.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 stars

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What do you think? Sound off below! (And let me know if you have suggestions for something else you’d like me to test.)