14 DAY TRIAL // Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition was finally revealed to the world via the PlayStation Plus March update for Europe yesterday, and now developer Housemarque has confirmed the many improvements made to the game, not to mention some of its unique features.
Dead Nation was originally released for the PS3 way back in 2010, and developer Housemarque promised that a PS Vita version would eventually be launched in the future.
Now, however, it seems that the studio decided to focus on another version for Dead Nation, as it will soon bring the zombie-slaying experience onto the PlayStation 4 next week, in the form of the Apocalypse Edition.
In a special post on the PS blog, the Scandinavian developer confirmed that the game has received a lot of different upgrades ahead of its debut on the PS4, meaning it's not just a simple port from the PS3.
First up, the quality of the game has been drastically upgraded, boasting better textures, improved rendering, and smoother visual effects, not to mention a native full HD resolution of 1080p.
In case you forgot, Dead Nation is a top-down twin-stick shooter that can be played alone or cooperatively through local or online co-op.
Housemarque added in the Apocalypse Edition the Road to Devastation DLC, which included extra game modes like Arcade and Endless, so that players can try out their skills in other experiences besides the story campaign. Better controls have also been added, not to mention a quick weapon select function.
As with quite a few games nowadays, Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition has support for the PlayStation app, meaning it can act as a second screen and display a player's stats as they go through the missions.
Besides these upgrades, Housemarque added some new mechanics as well, starting with the Challenge option. After completing a level, you can send your score to a friend and challenge them to beat it. You can also choose to make your runs viewable by others on the global leaderboards.
By far the most innovative option, however, is the Broadcast+ mode, which is activated when a player streams his gameplay session on Twitch. Viewers will be periodically asked to participate in polls and vote on what should happen in the game next.
"There are a total of 30 different voting effects that can occur, ranging from spawning zombie packs to giving the player ammo, or even disabling the player’s ability to sprint. But don’t worry; as a player you can get back at the masses, because voters will appear in your game as named zombies for you to exact your revenge on," the studio said.
Expect to hear more about Dead Nation: Apocalypse Edition next week, when it launches for PS4 worldwide.