If you have played the PlayStation 3 version of Dead Nation, then the first thing you will notice about the Apocalypse Edition on PS4 is just how gloriously shiny and smooth the globe is on the menu screen. There must be a mind numbingly huge amount of polygons on screen to create such a perfect rotating sphere.
Delving in to the menus shows a couple of enhancements for this new generation, including a refined controller layout and a very welcome “Braindead” difficulty level for those who found the original game a challenge.
The cutscenes, which consist of hand drawn images with small animations are less impressive on PS4, perhaps because we are used to crisp, clear graphics, and here they’re slightly blurred. The character model on the armour screen also looks suspiciously low res and blocky and although the textures have been been upgraded, you’re going to need a keen eye to spot them at times. However, the higher resolution does bring out the goregeous (pun intended) animations when you kill a zombie; heads pop off, entrails explode and limbs detach from torsos. The game does not look bad, far from it, but you can tell it is a PS3 title with a makeover.
The most notable change to the game are the effects: the fog is now pea soup thick, the lighting is better and the firey death that spouts from the flamethrower, and indeed the newly toasted zombies, is vivid and realistic. Well, as vivid and realistic as burning decayed flash can get.
Whilst most of the sound effects come through the television speakers as expected, the default Housemarque lady will announce your weapons and health pickups through the speaker on the controller, which is a nice touch. Apart from that, once again it’s very much like the PS3 version which does seem a shame, there must be plenty of free memory for extra music or effects.
Housemarque have also included some hilarious ‘memento’ pickups with witty and amusing text along with what I can only assume is pictures of the development team. You should read the previous sentence with a very large dollop of sarcasm, as they seem massively out of place and jarring alongside the serious tone of the story.
Another new edition is the Challenge mode which, after completing a level, lets you challenge a friend to beat you score and time. The Road To Devastation DLC also brings Arcade and Endless modes. The first lets you choose a path through the devastated landscape whilst the second contains the same choices but, as you might have guess, endless waves of zombies.
Now, I have to mention something but I must stress that at the moment the problem seems to be limited to just my copy of the game: it crashed after every single level. Every one, without fail. Even though people in the US now have the game, a quick search on Twitter at the time of writing shows that no one else has reported the fault.
Of course, the big selling point of Dead Nation on PS4 is interactive TwitchTV broadcast, which annoyingly vanished for a good from the menu at first, but it did eventually return. When activated the game displays two options on the screen, one good and one bad, and the the Twitch viewers can vote for the outcome by typing either #A or #B. Â There are over 30 options including removing the rush ability, increasing or decreasing the difficulty level, spawning a wave of zombies or launching an attack with runners.
Can you guess which option my TwitchTV viewers went for 99% of the time? Yes, they made the game as difficult as possible, launching wave after wave of zombies and crippling my player. You can extract your revenge on your viewers as they appear as named zombies in game so I had the pleasure of giving our esteemed editor Blair a firey death on a number of occasions.
If you do get a bunch of these types on your Twitch feed then they can make the game very hard, I could barely finish the first set of levels when playing the interactive game. Housemarque may need to tweak the settings after launch, else most players will be put off from using the feature. Having said that, the hour or so I played with Broadcast+ running was probably most fun I have had on the PlayStation 4 so far. I had nearly 150 people interacting with my game and there was plenty of banter coming through the TwitchTV text, which I could hurl abuse comment on by using the PlayStation Camera.
The Broadcast+ option only seems to be available when you start a brand new game which is a bit of a pain, especially when my copy crashes at the end of each level meaning I could only play the first level interactively. As there is only one save slot for the game, you will have to overwrite your single player data to use the feature, something Housemarque should sort out as soon as possible.
If you have a PlayStation 4, it’s likely you’ll be subscribed PS+ so the game is certainly worth a download just to experience the future of gaming using Broadcast+. We gave the original PS3 version of the game an 8/10 – let’s just hope the game crashes are limited to my copy.
Update: Unfortunately it seems not, a number of people are saying the game is crashing, including IGN Senior Editor Colin Moriarty.
The funny thing about Dead Nation being broken upon release is that the same friggin' thing happened when it came out on PS3.
— Colin Moriarty (@notaxation) March 5, 2014
There also appears to be a bug when streaming Broadcast+ which means no sound is broadcast apart from the mic.
@brozklair88 we are aware of the issue and in talks with the Climax guys.
— Housemarque (@Housemarque) March 5, 2014
Youles
Nice article – and those mementos do look pony and very out of place.
I loved the original, but I’m just not sure there is enough to make me play it again (perhaps only co-op) as the game was pretty tough, and I’ve got so many games I haven’t played for a first time. Whilst I think the Twitch thing is a great idea, it’s unlikely I’d get any viewers and it just doesn’t really interest me that much. For those who haven’t played it on PS3, they should definitely try it, and especially as it’s free for PS+ers.
Taylor Made
So is it still a 8/10?
Nice read by the way, I never got round to playing this game, I think I have it for free on ps3 or something but will deffo give it a go.
Is the co op online or local?
Youles
It’s online co-op, which hopefully is improved as it had awful connection problems on PS3.
Tuffcub
Co-op is both local and online i think. I’d say it’s still an 8ish.
double-o-dave
8ish out of 10 still sounds good but I wouldn’t mark an 8 as a delicious Cream Horn. Is it more of a Vanilla Slice?
Taylor Made
Cheers guys, I really hope it has local co op as all my online friends are rarely gamers but cod/FIFA only gamers
Tuffcub
Im almost certain it has, sadly my date for the night cacelled so I did not try it out.
blackredyellow
100% it has local (on PS3). One of my favourite gaming experiences with my brother was playing this locally!
Bilbo_bobbins
sounds quality, thanks for the write up on it.
TSBonyman
Dammit, i spotted “Tuffcub from TSA” but when i clicked you had already finished.
I noticed one other person mention that the game was crashing after each level while broadcasting so it sounds like it needs a patch.
Also, in none of the streams i checked could you hear the game sound – just the mic.
Looking forward to trying it out myself tonight.
Ole_Gunner
Nice write up! Looking forward to this one today.
If anyone is interested in playing Co-op since I just have mainly FIFA/CoD mates online, my PSN is funky_ole.
double-o-dave
Anyone know what time the PS Plus update goes live? I want to start downloading this so it’s ready for when I get home later.
double-o-dave
Hi Dave, it me (yourself). The PS Plus update is now live.
double-o-dave
Oh cool, cheers Dave (me). I’ve just logged on to the store on my phone and started the download so it should be ready for when you/me/we get home. x
TSBonyman
Thanks Dave! :)
Amphlett
TC,
how did you get your copy of DN? Are you using a USA account? I’ve checked the PS Store last night, this morning and a few minutes ago but Outlast is still hogging the limelight.
Blair Inglis
Review code, provided by Sony.
Amphlett
D’oh. Of course. What a narna I am! I reckon I must win a prize for most obvious question of the day.
Tuffcub
No its live on both stores I’ve found some quite a few people saying it is crashing all the time, not just me.