By Louis Edwards Tuesday November 16, 2010 Share 17 Deadnation has been announced for release on November 30th for the US and
December 1st for Europe. We
have ran it through its paces,
and gave it our best shot. Does
it live up to the hype, or is it
just lamely walking dead? Read our review after the
jump. Housemarque games, the
makers of Stardust HD, adds
another quality game to their
list. Deadnation is an addictive
top down, dual stick shooter
that can be played alone, or with others either online or
side-by-side. Sometimes Killing zombies is Better with Friends If you are playing alone,
you ’ll either play as Jack McReady or Scarlett Blake.
Both are highly skilled in the
art of zombie killing, so you
can’t go wrong with either choice. The story is told with
graphic novel style cut scenes
and voice actors (think
inFamous), and there are three
different sets of scenes
depending on how you are playing. Jack has a set, Scarlett
has a set, and the third set is
for playing co-op mode which
includes both characters in the
cut scenes. The cut scenes look
great and the voice acting was much better than anticipated. The story centers around who
you choose to play as (the
story is the same regardless
and it’s just a matter of who is in the scenes). You are in a
city that has been infected and
infested with hordes of
zombies. You have a built in
immunity to this virus, so it ’s up to you to help find a cure,
and a solution, to the on going
zombification of the world.
The story is well thought out
and entertaining. No need to
skip cut scenes here. They are worth the time to watch
them. The gameplay consists of you
trying to get from one place
to another, and killing
anything that moves. As a
general rule, if it moves, it ’s a zombie. Shoot first, ask
questions later. The game is
played in a top-down view
(also known as an isometric
view). It uses both analog
sticks, left moves and right aims, and shooting is done by
pressing R1. The controls are
simple and effective. As you
acquire more weapons, the d-
pad will allow you to switch
primary weapons, as well as secondary throwable
weapons. As you move through each
level, be on the lookout for
boxes that contain cash and
some that contain armor. The
cash will be used at the
weapon shop (see next paragraph) but the armor
may save your life. There are
different classes for the armor
and each set has its own pros
and cons. Strength, endurance,
and agility are all determined by which armor pieces you
are wearing, so mix and
match to find the style that
suits you best. As you progress through the
story, you ’ll come across checkpoints with a weapon
shop. This is where you can
purchase new weapons, or
upgrade ones you already
own, and also mix and match
the armor you have found. A fully upgraded SMG is a must
in later missions, but a fully
upgraded rifle should be your
first goal. It ’s just a semi-auto rifle, but fully upgraded it can
do some serious damage to
zombies. There are more and
more weapons made available
as you progress along, so
always try to rack up as much cash as possible in each level.
These other weapons are
worth their weight in gold. The zombies are really the
stars of this show. At first,
they are just your normal,
everyday, run of the mill
zombies. Just dead people
walking around looking for their next meal. As you
progress along, they become
bigger, badder, and tougher to
kill. They vary in size, shape,
and speed. Apparently the
government thought it would be a great idea to create some
sort of exosuit with blades on
the hands. Did they not realize
that the people wearing the
suit would become infected
and make them even harder to kill? Really? Thank you so
much! Who ever said
technology is great never had
to face a zombie in that thing. The number of zombies you ’ll have to face starts out
relatively low, but eventually
your entire screen will be
filled with a moving mass of
putrid bodies, and killing them
is a chore, albeit a fun one. This is where the game can be
really addictive. The game
keeps track of your kill count
and adds that number to the
total for your entire country.
There’s a global leaderboard pitting your country against
50+ other countries, and all of
those kills add up. There ’s also a stat for percentage of
zombies cleared in your
country and a race to see who
hits 100% first (Lets Go U.S.A.!)
This blisteringly fast racer has more in common with developer Criterion Game.This blisteringly fast racer has more in common with developer Criterion Game. than it does with any previous Need for Speed offering, despite lacking a number of features that are commonly associated with Burnout game.
But it is a game that encourages you to drive dangerously and to take down your opponents by any means necessary. The option to play both as illegal racers and as the cops that are chasing them brings some much-needed variety to the action, road blocks, while spike strips.other satisfying countermeasures ensure that Hot Pursuit doesn't feel quite like any racer that you've played before. Regardless of whether your interest in Hot Pursuit stems from a love of Need for Speed, Burnout, or neither, you won't be disappoint.
