Review: Dead Nation

The first thing people might say when they see Dead Nation is “ugh, another zombie game,” and completely dismiss it. Don’t be one of those people! In a time where a zombie television show is one of the most popular series on TV, Dead Nation couldn’t have been released at a better time. Coming from the makers of Super Stardust HD, Housemarque, this zombie shooter employs some of the same gameplay mechanics that made Stardust a big hit. But what really sets Dead Nation apart from all the other top-down twin stick shooters is a combination of intense action, an excellent horror atmosphere, and a weapon upgrade system that adds plenty of replay value.

In Dead Nation you’ll take control of one of two characters, Jack McReady and Scarlett Blake. Both are survivors of a deadly virus that turns everyone into zombies and has infected almost the entire human race. Jack and Scarlett are immune to the virus and are now trying to discover a cure to save humanity. The story is told through cinematic stills in between each level.

Housemarque uses some of the gameplay features from their previous twin stick shooter and it works just as well in Dead Nation, where you use the mechanic to maneuver and shoot your way through the zombies.  However, you can also charge through the zombie mob, and you’ll also have a few items at your disposal like flares, grenades and land mines. The game is designed to send an enormous amount of zombies at you and the twin stick controls react nicely to the frantic pace of the game. I felt like I always had precise control when I shot, very close to the tight controls found in Alien Swarm.

While this type of top-down arcade style shooter has been done many times before, Housemarque has done a lot to make Dead Nation stand out. One of the best things about the game is the level design and the atmosphere. The environments in Dead Nation are all very dark, as it should be; it’s a zombie apocalypse. You only have a flashlight at the end of your gun and a few working street lamps to light your way through each level. The lighting in the game is superb, especially for a downloadable title. You’ll see undead shadows throughout the levels, some coming from behind you and some who are above you. The dimly lit environment adds to the tension and excitement of the game. Every so often a zombie or a horde of zombies will pop out from the darkness, so I spent a lot of time moving slowly and shining my light at every dark spot on the map. Housemarque decided to be even more evil by having moments when all the lights will go off, forcing you to fight in complete darkness; usually when this happens you have to kill all the undead to progress.

Adding to the excellent lighting and the horror environment is the great level design.  Most levels will have sections that are wide open and areas that are more confining. Housemarque balanced this well throughout the game; I never felt that I died because of the level design. Although it can be difficult to maneuver around the abandoned cars/trucks and the rest of the debris on the map, that’s part of the challenge, and it makes Dead Nation that much more exciting. At times you can get stuck on lamp posts or a fence that you can’t really see is there because of the camera angle, but that doesn’t happen too often.

Housemarque also has a great way to trigger enemies that works well with the level design. Zombies are scattered throughout the map, and they can also come in from above. As you progress through the level, you’ll hit a certain area that will trigger more enemies, but it’s not always from in front of you. Zombies will come from all different directions, especially in the later levels. They might even pop out of a semi-truck sitting on the side of the road. The developer did a great job mixing up the ways zombies come at you with the level design. It was so well done that each level played differently, and at times I had to change my play style from level to level, which was a great way to keep things from getting stale.

With every kill, you’ll earn points, and these can be exchanged for weapons, ammo, items like flares, and you can also use them to upgrade each weapon. The upgrades range from fire rate to extra power to clip size. This part of the game brings everything together. You can really pick and choose which weapon you are more comfortable with and allocate your points accordingly. On Normal, the zombies are relatively weak, so you can spend more money on increasing ammo size or fire rate before you upgrade power. However, as you move up in difficulty, zombies get tough real quick and you might want to go with more power off the bat. There are eight different kinds of weapons you can purchase: assault rifle, SMG, shotgun, flamethrower, rocket launcher, blade gun, and an electric rifle. Each weapon has its strengths and weaknesses. To go along with the weapons there are items you can purchase: flare, grenades, land mines, Molotov cocktails, and dynamite. The items can be used as crowd control; they attract the zombies much like a pipe bomb in Left 4 Dead does. Though flares don’t do any damage, you can use them (for example) to draw them in front of an exploding car, and you got yourself a nice little bomb. The other items can do a good amount of damage on their own.

Each weapon has their strengths and weaknesses and you’ll need to upgrade them if you want them to be effective. On Normal I was able to upgrade each weapon; however I methodically went through each level searching for boxes that contain points. There are many secret pathways that lead to these boxes but almost every time you’ll be attacked by a swarm of zombies trying to get them. If you choose to run through each level killing the least amount of zombies possible, you’ll probably have a very hard time half-way through the game as enemies get tougher and tougher. Having the upgrade system integrated in the game makes you want to kill every zombie in your path. As I unlocked more and more weapons, I was able to combine the effect of each weapon, but this is what makes the game so much fun: you don’t have to play the game a certain way since you can upgrade based on your play style.  There are also different armor sets to find throughout the game, each with different abilities. Some give you more health, some give you more strength to melee zombies, and some will allow you to move faster. Again, this is another example of how you can play Dead Nation how you want to.

Keeping the game dynamic, the game features several zombie types. There the fast moving zombies, some that like hiding in the dark, slow moving zombies, zombies that take more bullets to kill and the special zombies: these consist of spitters; Mouth, that call in swarms of undead; Jumper that attacks from above; and Bombie, a bloated self-destructing zombie. There are a few other ones, but those are best left unspoiled. These special zombies come in with the hoard of other undead and provide a big challenge because of their strength.

Housemarque claims to have the most zombies on screen at one time than any other game, and it definitely feels that way. Thank God they decided to use checkpoints. Occasionally I would walk out to an area with only a few zombies, only to be attacked by hundreds more. If you die, you can start again at the last check point. Check points can be few and far between, but at least you won’t have to start the level over again. Some levels can take up to a half hour to complete, but they can even longer depending on your skill, how many times you die, and if you want to explore the map or not. It took me six hours to complete the ten levels in the game on Normal. As you move up in difficulty, that game time will definitely increase. The biggest complaint I have with Dead Nation is the fact that you can’t quit in the middle of a level and start from that check point. If you quit at any time in the middle of the level, you’ll lose all your points and have to start from the beginning of the level. This poses a big problem in some of the longer levels, especially late in the game when the difficulty ramps up. It’s also a problem when playing co-op, because when one person leaves the other cannot progress.

Dead Nation, unlike Super Stardust HD, comes complete with online and offline co-op. Too many games these days hit the downloadable market without either, so it’s good to see that Housemarque was able to implement both into the game. In co-op the difficulty and zombie count goes up substantially. The best part is that there is little lag, even with the screen is filled with undead. Much like all downloadable games, finding a match might prove difficult, but the game saves your progress so you’ll never have to replay levels. Before playing in co-op I was afraid that the extra flashlight would ruin the atmosphere, but it doesn’t at all, and it’s because of the increased difficulty. Even on Grim (Hard), I found it quite difficult to get past the second level. A few times we had to make a run for the checkpoint, leaving hundreds of zombies clawing at the fence. The increased difficulty makes the co-op experience completely different from single player, which is a good thing. Similar games would simply toss a few more enemies at you, but in Dead Nation you’ll have tougher zombies and more special zombies come at you compared to the single-player campaign.

The one drawback to co-op is the fact that you have to stay within a certain radius; I assume this was done because of the camera angle. At times this can cause some problems because you have one person running one way and another person running the opposite way. When this happens it will pull one person towards a certain direction and that can be right into a swarm of zombies. The camera is pretty solid aside from the co-op issue and a few awkward angles; I never felt that the camera caused me to die or lose health. Any issues that I came across in Dead Nation are really minor; nothing that would prevent me from playing the game over and over again. With so many variables, Housemarque created a very smooth game that runs amazing well.

Visually Dead Nation is no slouch. The amount of detail throughout the title is amazing, especially the gruesome kills. When you can see the splatter of blood or zombie body parts flying across the screen when a bomb goes off, you know you have good looking game on your hands. The sound is just as good, with minimal music you can hear every grown and scream form the undead.

Dead Nation is a title that can be enjoyed by everyone. Obviously those who love to mow down undead will love this game, but even those who aren’t really into zombie games will enjoy this title. It has all the scoring and leaderboard stats for all those score junkies out there. Housemarque even tracks the total amount of zombies killed throughout the world: currently the U.S has the most zombies killed. Dead Nation is an exciting and intense shooter. Few titles are able to capture the horror and tension of a zombie title like this game has done. With a weapon upgrade system, numerous armors to unlock, online co-op and five difficulty levels, Dead Nation will have you mowing down zombies even after you are done watching the entire season of The Walking Dead.

Dead Nation
PlayStation 3
	Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Developer: Housemarque Genre: Third-Person Shooter Release Date: November 30, 2010 MSRP: $14.99 ESRB Rating: M (for Mature)

Doin’ It RIGHT: - Intense zombie killing action. - Excellent horror environment. - Amazing visuals and attention to detail. - Great lasting appeal.	Doin’ It RONG: - Camera angles can be an issue. - Can’t quit mid-game without having to start over. - Can’t keep upgraded weapons for second playthrough.
FINAL SCORE: 9 / 10

Having trouble with Dead Nation? We’ve got some Tips and Tricks to help you get through the Zombie Apocalypse!