Dead Nation
Encyclopedia
Dead Nation is a shoot 'em up
video game for PlayStation 3
developed by a Finnish video game company Housemarque
. It was released on November 30, 2010 in North America, and December 1 in Europe, on PlayStation Network. Dead Nation takes place in a fictional world afflicted by a zombie apocalypse
. The player can play as a male or female character and fight different types of zombies. Dead Nation was one of the games given by Sony as part of their 'Welcome Back' package because of the PlayStation intrusion.
s are killed. Money is used to purchase and upgrade weapons and multipliers grant better scores. Each time players are hit, they lose multipliers and health. Players fight their way through ten levels, using weapon shops that allow weapon upgrading and armor swapping. During the levels, players can find chests that hold ammunition, multipliers, money, or armor pieces. At times the players are trapped in areas where they must survive until they have accomplished a certain goal. Armor sets influence strength, endurance and agility.
Zombies are attracted by flares
, car alarms, grenades, mines
, and vending machines as well as explosions or bright lights such as an exploding car or gunshots. Zombies can be killed by environmental hazards which the player can use to their advantage. Players will encounter a variety of zombies. Players can use a melee and rush attack against zombies, as well as a variety of weaponry.
The metagame allows players to follow their country's progress in relation to other countries, as well as local leaderboard
s. Using the PlayStation Network, players are grouped with other players from their country. When a country is rid of zombies, a new infection cycle begins. Multiplayer can be done locally or online for two players.
, Dead Nation is rated 78% and 77/100, respectively.
A DLC expansion called 'Road of Devastation' has been announced and was released on September 27, 2011. The pack continues from the ending of the original game.
The DLC expansion for Dead Nation called Road of Devastation is priced at $3.99.
Road of devastation does NOT continue the story of Dead Nation in a chapter-like format. Road of Devastation is predicated entirely on continuous survival. Sure, that could be said about most games (especially Dead Nation itself), but in Road of Devastation, there are no checkpoints or second chances. Gamers are unleashed upon a path with several forks in the road, and choices must be made in order to circle back to the laboratory where the DLC begins in order to start a fresh round.
Getting from round to round is what it's all about, but those forks in the road are crucial because they'll lead you to various upgrades that will help you repel endless onslaughts of zombies. Do you want to take the path that will lead you to a grenade or weapon upgrade? Will you take the path rife with money and health? Or will you try to maximize your score or raise your statistics by going down the path that offers multipliers and armor? Once down any of those three roads, you'll then have to choose another path to focus on only one of those upgrades, which will eventually wrap you around to the laboratory.
Once back at the laboratory, the round is completed. You'll get prizes for keeping your kills-per-minute meter up (something unique to Road of Devastation), while the game will retain money earned, your multiplier and your score (something found in the standard Dead Nation experience). When you begin the next round, you'll have to choose from the same forks in the road as your enemies are upgraded. Zombies will become stronger, faster and appear in greater numbers the more rounds you survive, and more difficult zombies will also begin to make appearances. And if you die, it's game over. There are no second chances. You'll have to start from the beginning if you want to play again.
Shoot 'em up
Shoot 'em up is a subgenre of shooter video games. In a shoot 'em up, the player controls a lone character, often in a spacecraft or aircraft, shooting large numbers of enemies while dodging their attacks. The genre in turn encompasses various types or subgenres and critics differ on exactly what...
video game for PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
developed by a Finnish video game company Housemarque
Housemarque
Housemarque is a Finnish video game company founded in 1995. With Remedy Entertainment, it is the oldest game company still operating in Finland. They were a fusion of two smaller companies, Terramarque and Bloodhouse. The rise of the PC game market prompted these two companies with a background in...
. It was released on November 30, 2010 in North America, and December 1 in Europe, on PlayStation Network. Dead Nation takes place in a fictional world afflicted by a zombie apocalypse
Zombie apocalypse
A zombie apocalypse is a particular scenario of apocalyptic literature that customarily has a science fiction/horror rationale. In a zombie apocalypse, a widespread rise of zombies hostile to human life engages in a general assault on civilization....
. The player can play as a male or female character and fight different types of zombies. Dead Nation was one of the games given by Sony as part of their 'Welcome Back' package because of the PlayStation intrusion.
Gameplay
Players are awarded score multipliers and money when zombieZombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
s are killed. Money is used to purchase and upgrade weapons and multipliers grant better scores. Each time players are hit, they lose multipliers and health. Players fight their way through ten levels, using weapon shops that allow weapon upgrading and armor swapping. During the levels, players can find chests that hold ammunition, multipliers, money, or armor pieces. At times the players are trapped in areas where they must survive until they have accomplished a certain goal. Armor sets influence strength, endurance and agility.
Zombies are attracted by flares
Flare (pyrotechnic)
A flare, also sometimes called a fusee, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a brilliant light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for signalling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications...
, car alarms, grenades, mines
Land mine
A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....
, and vending machines as well as explosions or bright lights such as an exploding car or gunshots. Zombies can be killed by environmental hazards which the player can use to their advantage. Players will encounter a variety of zombies. Players can use a melee and rush attack against zombies, as well as a variety of weaponry.
The metagame allows players to follow their country's progress in relation to other countries, as well as local leaderboard
Leaderboard
Leaderboard is a series of golf simulation video games that was developed by Bruce and Roger Carver, and published by Access Software.-Summary:thumb|left|Teeing off on the first hole ....
s. Using the PlayStation Network, players are grouped with other players from their country. When a country is rid of zombies, a new infection cycle begins. Multiplayer can be done locally or online for two players.
Development
The game engine has been noted for supporting large numbers of zombies on screen as well as impressive lighting effects.Reception
Dead Nation received mostly positive reviews. On review aggregator sites GameRankings and MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, Dead Nation is rated 78% and 77/100, respectively.
Updates
Dead Nation lacked online voice chat upon release, but an update released on March 10, 2011 added this feature. The update also included laser sight upgrades for guns and display improvements including visual indications when the rush meter fills and when players take damage.A DLC expansion called 'Road of Devastation' has been announced and was released on September 27, 2011. The pack continues from the ending of the original game.
The DLC expansion for Dead Nation called Road of Devastation is priced at $3.99.
Road of devastation does NOT continue the story of Dead Nation in a chapter-like format. Road of Devastation is predicated entirely on continuous survival. Sure, that could be said about most games (especially Dead Nation itself), but in Road of Devastation, there are no checkpoints or second chances. Gamers are unleashed upon a path with several forks in the road, and choices must be made in order to circle back to the laboratory where the DLC begins in order to start a fresh round.
Getting from round to round is what it's all about, but those forks in the road are crucial because they'll lead you to various upgrades that will help you repel endless onslaughts of zombies. Do you want to take the path that will lead you to a grenade or weapon upgrade? Will you take the path rife with money and health? Or will you try to maximize your score or raise your statistics by going down the path that offers multipliers and armor? Once down any of those three roads, you'll then have to choose another path to focus on only one of those upgrades, which will eventually wrap you around to the laboratory.
Once back at the laboratory, the round is completed. You'll get prizes for keeping your kills-per-minute meter up (something unique to Road of Devastation), while the game will retain money earned, your multiplier and your score (something found in the standard Dead Nation experience). When you begin the next round, you'll have to choose from the same forks in the road as your enemies are upgraded. Zombies will become stronger, faster and appear in greater numbers the more rounds you survive, and more difficult zombies will also begin to make appearances. And if you die, it's game over. There are no second chances. You'll have to start from the beginning if you want to play again.