Sometimes I wonder “What would it be like to encounter a zombie apocalypse that I didn’t have to shoot/burn/kill my way out of?” Then a game like Dead Nation comes along and reminds me that is a stupid question and I should never have thought of it in the first place, because zombies are made for shooting.
Developer Housemarque Games, known best for Super Stardust HD, have created a wonderful vision of the near future. It’s one where a virus has spread across the globe, turning countless billions into a starving horde of undead ghouls. Jack McReady and Scarlett Black are two survivors trapped in a city who are immune to the virus. So rather than starve to death or wait around to be torn apart, they strap on some head-lamps, don makeshift armor, and take it to the streets to shoot their way out of town.
The game’s action takes place in an isometric viewpoint as you blast your way through ten levels brimming with animated corpses. Dead Nation immediately reminded me of some of my favorite “dual analog” shooters from back in the day such as Smash TV and Robotron, and those totally kickass top-down levels from Super Contra on SNES. The controls are simple, incredibly tight, and easy to pick up. In addition to the basic “move and shoot” mainstays, you also have a dash function tied to a stamina bar that can be used for quick escapes when you get overwhelmed. Oh, and you’re GOING to be overwhelmed.
Zombies come from everywhere. They crowd the streets, they fall from rooftops, they explode from doorways, and even crawl out from under manhole covers like a Michael Jackson video. The games engine handles this impressively, even with upwards of one hundred enemies on screen there is never any slowdown and the finer details always shine through. Even in a giant mob there are still distinct, varied models and animations for all the shamblers, and when you toss a grenade or blow up a car you’ll be treated to a spectacular shower of gore and body parts all over the screen. In fact, everything is ridiculously detailed right down to trash in the streets. You’ll hear cans clatter and newspaper rustle under your feet, and light from your lamp will bend off every car, zombie, and chain link fence. It’s rare to see a downloadable title pay this kind of attention to minutiae.
On the topic of shooting and looting, the typical fare is available for taking on the undead menace. You begin with a semi-automatic rifle that has unlimited ammo and a chargeable “power shot” capable of putting down stronger enemies. Other selections include an SMG, shotgun, grenades, Molotov cocktails, and landmines. There’s also a cannon that shoots lawnmower blades for when you absolutely, positively, need to decapitate every last zombie in the room. The checkpoints scattered across each stage provide small safe havens and allow you, or you and a partner in local/online co-op, to purchase upgrades and ammunition.
I’m a big fan of developers implementing leaderboards in interesting ways, so I’d be remiss in not mentioning how well Housemarque nailed it in Dead Nation. Moving you beyond the games basic narrative told through stylized storyboards; upon completing a level you’ll see your zombie kills added into a pool that, in real time, reflects what percentage of the virus has been eradicated by your country. This simultaneously adds a feeling of working towards a greater goal with players from your region, while creating a nationalistic meta-game where countries are competing on a global scale.
Dead Nation is a worthwhile addition to the already bloated zombie game genre. It eschews the “realism” of Left4Dead for arcade style action, and buries Burn, Zombie, Burn! and Zombie Apocalypse with a shovel load of polish. If you want a deep experience, move along. However, if you want crazy, zombie blasting fun you can easily jump into with a friend I cannot recommend this game enough at fifteen dollars.
The Good
- Visuals are outstanding, especially for a downloadable title.
- High amounts of replay value.
- Brilliant leaderboard implementation.
- Story might as well be non-existent.
- The action gets repetitive, and some people consider that bad.
- According to those leaderboards, Malaysia is in serious trouble.
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