Zombies are dull. They are. I realised a while back that zombies as a concept hold no interest for me. By extension, since I'm an angry man that fears what he doesn't understand, the obsession that nerd/geek/whatever culture has with zombies really irritates me. I'm sick of hearing about zombie apocalypse scenarios, the associated survival plans and all of that general bullshit. The end of civilization and a never ending hoard of mindless, shambling husks of flesh? The way some people bang on about zombies, I feel like we're already there.
Its on that sunny note that we come to Nation Red. A zombie themed top-down arena shooter. A zombie themed top-down shooter that happens to really rather good. The core premise is simple: survive as long as possible, to kill as many zombies as possible, to get the highest score possible. There are other modes that put a spin on this basic concept, but nothing that messes with the formula. It may sound basic and that's because it is. It's also amazing fun. In an age of games aping film, it's great to be able to jump into a game, play for a few minutes and feel some gratification. All without sitting through any cutscenes, ham-fisted symbolism or horrific, pretentious, stilted dialogue.
That's a good thing too, because Nation Red is not a game that you want to play for long periods of time. I found myself playing it like an Android game, jumping in for some quick fun in between doing other things. This isn't because it's in any way bad, far from it. It's just that the action is so frantic and so immediate, that it can actually get a little mentally tiring. There's as much action in 10 minutes of Nation Red as there is in hours of more... deliberately, paced games.
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| This is what it looks like. All the time. |
As a game with so much emphasis on its action i.e. it's the entire game, NR lives or dies on how that action feels to the player. The glut of games on Steam alone with this basic premise shows just how easy they can be to pump out, so NR really needs to ply its craft well to stand out in the sea of similar titles. Thankfully, it does. Basic control consists of shooting, obviously, running and a diving roll to get out of trouble when things get too hairy. Simple controls, but well applied, and that's the key. No death ever feels as though it's the fault of the controls. They're precise and consistent, so any ill advised attempts to chest bump with a zombie will always be player error and not control quirk.
Running and rolling are all well and good, but the real draw to a game like this is the weapons. Just how many ways are there for one to convert Zombies into stains!? Thankfully, there are loads. The player always starts with a Glock 19 and a Machete. There are only ever these two weapon slots, though they can be locked so that the equipped weapon isn't replaced. Re-equipping is just a matter of walking over a new weapon, which are in turn randomly dropped by dead zombies. The range of weapons is good and broad, ranging from basic pistols shotguns and submachine guns to a machine grenade launcher and a minigun. The weapon selection is largely played straight, the only real 'gag' weapons being the nail gun and steam hammer, and these aren't so much zany as unconventional. Don't expect any Dead Rising style weirdness here.
Nation Red does also have a range of melee weapons, the usual stuff: machete, crowbar, fire axe, but these never seem to be the right tool for the job. They're insanely powerful, and can make short work of "boss" zombies if you're crafty, but they're also slow and wide the swings just open things up for one of the innumerable other zombies not being hit to come in and attack. So unlike Modern Warfare, it's usually a better idea to use your gun rather than a knife... who'd a thunk it!?
Into this mix of zombies and lead comes a surprisingly nuanced mechanic in the form of perks. Perks are granted every level (its the usual system: killing grants XP which grants a level up when enough is accrued) and they work in a few core ways, they either modify the effect of power ups dropped by Zombies, increase the frequency of certain powerups appearing, or give the player an auto attack that supplements, but doesn't greatly increase, the carnage they can create. However, you can pick one of a randomly generated list of seven at each level. Added to this, comes the fact that certain "trees" exist wherein multiple perks act on the same powerup. For instance, the Fire Team perk improves the Ghost powerup by equipping your 'Ghost' with a shotgun. Once you have that perk, it can be further upgraded by the Strike Team perk. This raises an interesting question in play: with powerups being random, is it worth using up multiple perk choices to upgrade a powerup you may not even get in this match? Or would it be better spec in a more all-round fashion? Though there is the option to switch to 'Random Perk Mode' or 'Auto Perk Mode' if selecting perks is too 'not killing zombies' for some tastes.
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| See, exactly the same. Great ain't it! |
The perks add an extra element of depth to the gameplay without overly complicating the simple formula and all the random chance helps to keep each round from getting monotonous.
A special mention has to be made for the music. None of the early Resident Evil style atmospheric crap here. Its all heavy, sludgy, guitars and exaggerated metal. Perfect for getting into the mood for killing a few hundered shambling corpses.
Where Nation Red really shines is in its attention to detail. All the little things are executed so well that when they slot together, they make a game that just works. Since no individual part lets the side down, it's strong across the board. The huge number of similar games may show how easy it can be to make a game like this. But Nation Red shows how it should be done. It may not be the deepest game in the world, but it is incredibly fun, perfect for a 10 minute blast to blow the cobwebs out. Since you can never play long enough to burn out, you'll keep coming back for those quick blasts of carnage again and again. For its amazing execution and the sheer amount of fun it offers, I hugely recommend it to anyone that even vaguely enjoys action games. Even if they don't like zombies!
9/10
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