Earlier this week, Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition arrived on the PS4. It’s a tweaked, graphically enhanced version of the already-good 2010 PS3 game; a relentless, arcade-y zombie shooter made by Housemarque, the same people who made Super Stardust and Resogun.
Just like the original, the PS4 version is a fun game, and often a difficult one. You’ve got to keep your wits about you or you’ll quickly be overwhelmed. In honour of the Apocalypse Edition‘s launch, the PlayStation blog bumped up this article of tips for the original. There are some pretty good pointers in there, so it’s worth checking out. I played a bunch of the game this week and I’ve got a couple of other quick tips to share that are more specific to the PS4 version of the game.
Without further ado:
1. Remap the controls.
The default controls for Dead Nation: Apocalypse are mapped the same as the PS3 version of the game, and they’re a little weird on the PS4’s DualShock 4 controller. Fortunately, you can remap them. I’ve found this layout works best:
In other words, get the “shoot” command off of R1 and put it on R2, put the melee command on L2, and move dash up to R1. You’ll have a much easier time of doing everything.
2. Assign and use your quick-select buttons.
It took me a little while to figure out how to map the new quick-select hotkeys in the game, but once I did, I found them to be a godsend. The four face buttons can now be assigned to quick-select any weapon or throwable item, which can mean the difference between life and death when you’re staring down an onrushing horde of zombies.
You can’t map the keys mid-level or in any of the menus, you can only do it in the shop at each checkpoint. It’s easy, once you know where to look — just select the weapon in question, press the square button, and assign it a hotkey.
3. Play with a friend.
Dead Nation would make an excellent addition to our list of the best games to play with a friend ; it’s great in co-op, and is a lot more fun if you play it with a friend. It will take some communication — things will deteriorate quickly if the two of you get split up or both waste a grenade on the same enemy — but if you work together, you’ll quickly be making mincemeat out of the undead. Nothing brings two people together like standing back to back, holding off waves of zombies.
Hope those tips are helpful! For other, more general tips, check out that PlayStation blog post. And if you’ve got any tips of your own, I hope you’ll share them in the comments below.
Comments
4 responses to “Three Tips For Playing Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition”
~ Whenever you start a new mission/level/map with a mate(co-op), have 1 person stand behind the fence/gate and the other ventures out as far as possible to loot and shoot any zombies. This way, the weapons shop gate is always open if you need to re-stock on ammo,flares,mines etc. This tactic works really well in missions/maps where you have to take out a tonne of zombies as soon as you open the gate.
~ whenever you run into a massive horde of zombies, 1 person should pull out the flame thrower and set them alight as fire slows them down and gives you the time to decide which weapon/explosive to quickly take’em out.
~ make sure your shottie is fully upgraded when you encounter the “cutter”(has blades for arms). 3-4 shots from a shottie should take it out. It’s an effective weapon against the bigger beasts.
I found the original game to be kind of mediocre, and not much different the second time. The assault rifle (your main weapon) is incredibly slow and dull.
I was a big fan of Zombie Apocalypse on XBLA. This game feels like a 2014 version of that, which is great!
I’d say a Diablo 3/stick shooter/Left 4 Dead ?
Played it co-op with a mate last night for a couple of levels, pretty fun except that the online menu seems to be broken and it doesn’t recognise “private” games as a thing. Randoms will keep dropping into your open lobby so your friend can’t accept the invitation to join (because it’s “full”). Took about 10 minutes of doing this over and over before he could join ffs. God I miss Xbox 360’s party system + Halo, where it Just Worked…