Dead Nation (PlayStation 3)
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Published by

Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc.

Developed by

Housemarque Ltd.

Released

Nov 30, 2010

Official Site

Dead Nation

Also For

PS Vita | Combined View

Genre

Action

Perspective

Top-Down

Theme

Post-Apocalyptic, Shooter

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MobyRank

100 point score based on reviews from various critics.

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MobyScore

5 point score based on user ratings.

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Description

Dead Nation is a top-down shooter set in a fictional environment after a zombie apocalypse. It can be played alone of cooperatively with a second player, both offline and online. Players choose between Jack McReady and Scarlett Blake (or both in co-op) who are about to leave their shelter in search for food and supplies. It takes place one year after a large virus outbreak that has turned most humans into zombies. Both characters are immune to the strain of the virus. In the campaign mode a series of events gets them into contact with a Doctor Morton from the Egogate Pharmacy company who is working on a cure but needs their help. The characters need to collect certain items for him and travel through different locations such as a police station, an infested street, a hospital, a graveyard, a trainyard and harbor docks with ten levels in total.

The characters can be moved around freely and they can aim in any direction. While exploring they discover chests with different types of colours. Red ones provide a score multiplier and yellow one contain gold. The colours alternate so it is possible to wait to get specific content. The multiplier is kept going as long as the character is not hit and high scores are tracked on global leaderboards. There is also a larger online metagame where players are grouped per country and work together to eliminate their country's infection. When complete, a new cycle starts. The money collected during missions, from chests or killing zombies, is used to buy and upgrade weapons in shops found on the maps. The weapons include a rifle, mines, grenades, a submachine gun, a flare, a flamethrower, a blade cannon etc. Weapons upgrades include the rate of fire, power, clip size and max inventory. The character armor is determined through strength, endurance and agility. For each aspect different types of armor upgrades are available and these can be swapped.

Zombies usually appear in large swarms and often the characters have to fight off large waves until a certain condition in the environment is met. There are various types of zombies and new ones are introduced gradually. It is possible to interact with the environment, for instance by shooting a car to make the alarm go off to attract zombies. Vending machines provide a health pack, but the machines can also be shot to lure zombies along with other actions that cause sound. There is a melee attack and additional money is provided when a zombie is killed up close. Money can also be earned by stomping on health packs instead of using them or by melee attacking the trunks of cars.

Next to the main campaign it is possible to play single missions. A free March 2011 update for the game added voice chat, laser sight upgrades and visual indications for when the rush meter fills (to escape quickly) or when the characters suffer damage.

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