Dead Nation – Hands On Zombie Killin’ Preview
The PlayStation Network is no stranger to Zombie Games. With Burn, Zombie, Burn and Zombie Apocalypse available one might assume Dead Nation to be just another game in the crowd - one which might gain interest only because of the Zombie niche genre, but one would probably be wrong. Dead Nation is not your average Zombie game, rather it’s an action packed well polished gem with lots of promise. I was lucky enough to demo Dead Nation at a MLG event a few weeks ago.
It’s important to note Dead Nation is being developed by Housemarque, creators of the popular PSN game Super Stardust HD, and the quality of this game does reflect it. Like Stardust, this game is visually stunning and pushes the PS3 with it’s graphical detail.
Personally, I had been looking forward to playing this game. Smash TV has long been a favorite of mine and the first video clips and screenshots more then reminded me of the game show classic. Smash TV, with it’s double control stick format, co-op gameplay combined with killing hordes of Zombies in highly detailed environments is a sure winner and that’s largely the experience that Dead Nation provides.
The first thing I noticed were the controls are tight. The left analog stick guides your character through the detailed environments while the right stick is used for aiming. R1 opens fire while R3 reloads. Pressing R2 executes a close range melee and L1 uses the secondary weapon which are displayed at the bottom of the screen. Face buttons select which weapon to be used and L2 provides players with a short speed boost.
The visuals are impressive and the longer you play the game the more you appreciate the graphics. Every little detail of every object looks great and every object casts a shadow. Aiming your weapon aims your flashlight and the effects as it reflects off of some surfaces while dissipating through fog and smoke can be breathtaking. The brightness in certain areas actually subtracts from your accuracy as your laser site can be difficult to see. It’s an interesting take as often you’ll prefer darkness.
The sound is pretty sharp as you will hear every shot, every footstep and even smaller more subtle noises. When you couple that with loud explosions and undead moaning hordes, you come away with a fully immersive experience. The accompanying score is equally impressive in capturing the pace of the game.
Weapons in Dead Nation include a rifle, an SMG, grenades, mines, a flame thrower, a shotgun and more. Each weapon has it’s own strength and weakness. New weapons and upgrades can be purchased each level at a weapon store. Other effective weapons include molitov cocktails, hand grenades and flares. While a flare may not be a conventional weapon, it works well to distract all nearby Zombies who will surround and stare until it burns out – making them a perfect target for the molitov cocktail, grenade or other combustible thrown weapons.
Cars also present an interesting strategic element. When encountering a large group of zombies near certain cars, simply shoot the car to trigger an alarm creating a horde of distracted, vulnerable Zombies. You can then destroy the car, blasting Zombie carcasses/remains and creating a moment of total carnage…I love it!
My time with Dead Nation was short but I came away impressed. The game looks good, sounds great and looks to be a sure fire hit. One of the game’s best features, the 2 player co-op was not available to demo. Dead Nation will not only provide co-op on the same PS3, but it has been recently announced to support online co-op as well. Boasting 8 hours of gameplay for $15 sounds like a steal. I’ve already contacted one of my old Smash TV buddies and we’re both looking forward to downloading Dead Nation when it becomes available in December 2010.
Video taken of me playing the demo. Sorry about the quality.
