Dead Nation

Dead Nation is a top-down shoot 'em up video game for the PlayStation 3 developed by video game developer Housemarque. It was released on November 30, 2010 in North America, and December 1 in the PAL region, on PlayStation Network.[4] Dead Nation takes place in a 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 Network outage.[5] In February 2014 a PlayStation 4 version of the game titled the Apocalypse Edition was announced along with the PlayStation Vita version. The original Road of Devastation downloadable content was included for the PS3 and Vita versions, and the PS4 version was free for PlayStation Plus subscribers in March 2014.[6] The PS4 and Vita versions were ported to Japan for release on May 29, 2014.[7]

Dead Nation
Developer(s)Housemarque
Climax Studios (PS4 and PS Vita)
Publisher(s)Sony Computer Entertainment
Platform(s)PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4
ReleasePlayStation 3
Road of Devastation
  • NA: September 27, 2011 (PS3)
  • PAL: September 28, 2011 (PS3)
  • NA: April 15, 2014 (Vita)
PlayStation 4
  • NA: March 4, 2014
  • PAL: March 5, 2014
PlayStation Vita
  • NA: April 15, 2014[3]
  • PAL: April 16, 2014
Genre(s)Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

Players are awarded score multipliers and money when zombies are killed. Money is used to purchase and upgrade weapons at checkpoints, and multipliers to grant better scores. Each time players are hit, they lose multipliers and health.[8] Players fight their way through ten levels, using weapon shops that allow weapon upgrading and armor swapping. Throughout the levels, players can find boxes that hold ammunition, multipliers, money, or armor pieces, and also loot cars and trunks for money. If a car is blown up before being looted, though, the loot is lost. At times the players are trapped in areas where they must survive until they have accomplished a certain goal (e.g. wait for an elevator while fighting zombies or kill all zombies in the area). Armor sets influence strength, endurance and agility.

Zombies are attracted by flares, car alarms, grenades, mines, and vending machines. Zombies can be killed by environmental hazards which the player can use to their advantage. Players can encounter a variety of zombies.[9] Players can use a melee and rush attack against zombies,[10] 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 leaderboards. Using the PlayStation Network, players are grouped with other players from their country.[11] When a country is rid of zombies, a new infection cycle begins. Multiplayer can be done locally or online for two players.

Plot

Society has collapsed and most of the world's population have become zombies due to a virus outbreak. A year later, the protagonists (either Jack McReady, Scarlett Blake or both when played in co-op mode) are preparing to leave their shelter in search of food and water. They are immune to the current strain of the virus. After reaching a gas station, they pick up a radio transmission, but it is just static. They head to a police station, in search for a means to strengthen the radio signal, but find out they need to get to higher ground to do so.

After picking up the transmission, they are contacted by a Doctor Morton, who tells them he works for Egogate Pharmacy company, and that he is developing a cure, but need two things: a sample of their DNA and a tissue sample from Patient Zero, named Douglas Bane, the first human being to be infected; he then directs them to Marrow hospital, through the edge of the city.

They fight their way through infested streets and, at the hospital, they find out that the body was buried in a nearby graveyard. It is revealed that the body was moved to the harbor docks via train. However, the body was moved again to Raven's Field Airport, north of the harbor, so they head there and, after collecting Bane's head, they fly using an abandoned helicopter to the underground facility, where they are welcomed by the doctor and told that they will be injected with a serum to be synthesized by their bodies and they will be living sources of the cure. However, they are to be turned into biological weapons, controlled by the company to do their bidding.

Realizing that they have nothing to lose, and there is no way out, they bite a cyanide capsule they have implanted inside their molar, in case they are overwhelmed by zombies, to prevent enduring the pain of being eaten alive. As the doctor notes that they are dying, he rushes to see what is happening, but the zombie virus has mutated and they have been infected, turning into zombies right after the capsule is opened. Their first kill is the doctor.

Assuming the first person nature of the narrative, it is implied that they have become sentient zombies.

Reception
Dead Nation
Review scores
PublicationScore
PS VitaPS3PS4
DestructoidN/A6/10[12]N/A
EdgeN/A5/10[13]N/A
EurogamerN/A6/10[14]N/A
GameProN/A[15]N/A
GameSpotN/A7.5/10[16]N/A
GameZoneN/A8.5/10[17]7/10[18]
Giant BombN/A[19]N/A
IGN7.5/10[20]7.5/10[21]8/10[22]
JoystiqN/A[23]N/A
PSMN/A9/10[24]N/A
PSM3N/A82%[25]N/A
The Digital Fix6/10[26]N/AN/A
MetroN/A6/10[27]5/10[28]
Aggregate score
Metacritic68/100[29]77/100[30]74/100[31]

The PlayStation 3 version of Dead Nation received "generally favorable reviews", while the PlayStation 4 and Vita versions received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[30][31][29] The game engine was noted for supporting large numbers of zombies on screen as well as impressive lighting effects.[11]

In 2013, the PS3 version was included in IGN's Top 25 PlayStation Network Games, at position 12.

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.

Road of Devastation

A DLC expansion called Road of Devastation was released in September 2011 for the PS3,[32] and in April 2014 for the PlayStation Vita. The pack focuses on continuous survival, and presents players with upgrade paths instead of stages. Each round ends by returning to a laboratory, where the player receives prizes for their achievements before starting the next round. There are three main paths, each of which splits into two sub-paths. Once a round is completed, the player cannot re-enter the same path in the following round.

Gameplay has been altered slightly compared to the main game. When a player in co-op mode opens a box with money, the amount acquired is only given to the player that opened the box. Zombie strength, health and speed increase with each round. The game ends when the player dies, forcing them to restart from the beginning.[32] A patch added an arcade mode to the DLC, where progress can be saved between rounds, but players are limited to play until Round 6, and the original mode now is called "Endless".

Reception
Dead Nation: Road of Devastation
Aggregate score
AggregatorScore
Metacritic75/100[33]
Review scores
PublicationScore
GamePro[33]
PSM38/10[34]
411Mania6/10[35]

The PS3 version of the Road of Devastation DLC received "generally favorable reviews" according to Metacritic.[33]

gollark: I do not think *anyone* should have a monopoly on particular ideas/beliefs.
gollark: Yes, gatekeeping religious concepts is vaguely weird.
gollark: He was quite clearly a lich.
gollark: Make it seem extremely boring and irrelevant.
gollark: Besides, we don't know how to make AIs with complex long term goals much right now.

References
  1. Daimion Pinnock (November 15, 2010). "At Death's Door: Dead Nation Hits PSN November 30th". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  2. Cristina Giuliano (November 15, 2010). "The Zombie Apocalypse Is 1 December". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. Retrieved September 11, 2016.
  3. Sal Romano (April 14, 2014). "Dead Nation coming to PS Vita this week". Gematsu.
  4. Ilari Kuittinen (October 7, 2010). "Dead Nation Online Co-op Confirmed". PlayStation Blog. Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  5. Scott Nichols (May 17, 2011). "PSN's free 'Welcome Back' titles revealed". Digital Spy. Hearst Communications. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  6. Colin Moriarty (February 27, 2014). "Tomb Raider, Dead Nation, More Free for PlayStation Plus in March". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved February 27, 2014.
  7. "PS4『デッドネーション：黙示録エディション』＆PS Vita『デッドネーション』が本日5月29日発売　ゾンビを愛するすべての人へ！" [PS4's "Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition" and PS Vita's "Dead Nation", for all those who love zombies, released today on May 29!]. Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. May 29, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  8. Jeremy M. Zoss (October 18, 2010). "Dead Nation is Perfect For Zombie Fans". Joystick Division. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  9. GamerSpawn (November 25, 2010). "Dead Nation - Know Your Enemy". YouTube. Alphabet Inc. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  10. Eric Layman (October 15, 2010). "Preview: Dead Nation". Digital Chumps. Gloomy Tree Productions. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  11. Ryan Clements (August 19, 2009). "GC 2009: Dead Nation Hands-on". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  12. Conrad Zimmerman (November 29, 2010). "Review: Dead Nation (PS3)". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  13. Edge staff (January 2011). "Dead Nation (PS3)". Edge. No. 223. Future plc. p. 100.
  14. Dan Whitehead (December 1, 2010). "Dead Nation (PlayStation 3)". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  15. Steve Haske (December 7, 2010). "Dead Nation (PS3)". GamePro. GamePro Media. Archived from the original on June 16, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  16. Chris Watters (December 1, 2010). "Dead Nation Review (PS3)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  17. Robert Workman (November 24, 2010). "Dead Nation Review (PS3)". GameZone. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  18. Joe Donato (March 16, 2014). "Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition review: Lost in the shadows". GameZone. Archived from the original on April 30, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  19. Brad Shoemaker (December 3, 2010). "Dead Nation Review (PS3N)". Giant Bomb. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  20. Colin Moriarty (April 21, 2014). "Dead Nation Vita Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  21. Greg Miller (November 30, 2010). "Dead Nation Review (PS3)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  22. Colin Moriarty (April 3, 2014). "Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  23. Andrew Yoon (November 30, 2010). "Dead Nation review: It's dangerous to go alone (PS3)". Engadget (Joystiq). Oath Inc. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  24. "Review: Dead Nation (PS3)". PlayStation: The Official Magazine. No. 41. Future plc. January 2011. p. 81.
  25. "PS3 Review: Dead Nation". PSM3. Future plc. January 2011. p. 96.
  26. Lewis Brown (May 13, 2014). "Dead Nation Review (Vita)". The Digital Fix. Poisonous Monkey. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  27. David Jenkins (December 2, 2010). "Games review - Dead Nation goes a zombie too far (PS3)". Metro. DMG Media. Archived from the original on December 5, 2010. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  28. David Jenkins (March 5, 2014). "Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition review - zombie free". Metro. DMG Media. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  29. "Dead Nation for PlayStation Vita Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  30. "Dead Nation for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  31. "Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  32. Colin Moriarty (October 1, 2011). "Dead Nation: Road of Devastation DLC Impressions". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  33. "Dead Nation: Road of Devastation Critic Reviews for PlayStation 3". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  34. "Review: Dead Nation: Road of Devastation". PSM3. Future plc. December 2011. p. 110.
  35. Mark Salmela (October 6, 2011). "Dead Nation: Road of Devastation (PSN) Review". 411Mania. Archived from the original on December 9, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
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