Dead Nation is a top-down shoot 'em up developed by Finnish studio Housemarque, released in 2010 for PlayStation 3 and later PlayStation Vita. Players fight through hordes of zombies from an overhead perspective, earning money and score multipliers with each kill. Money collected throughout levels can be spent at checkpoints to purchase and upgrade weapons, while multipliers contribute to higher overall scores. Taking damage has a dual penalty — it depletes health and resets accumulated multipliers, encouraging careful, evasive play. The game blends the arcade-style scoring systems typical of the shoot 'em up genre with light progression mechanics drawn from hack-and-slash conventions, rewarding skilled players who can sustain kill streaks without absorbing hits. Housemarque, known for its expertise in score-driven arcade games, brings that sensibility to a dark, zombie-themed setting.
Dead Nation takes place in a fictional world afflicted by a zombie apocalypse. The player can play as a male or female character and fight different types of zombies. Players fight their way through ten levels, using weapon shops that allow weapon upgrading and armor swapping. During the levels, players can find boxes that hold ammunition, multipliers, money, or armor pieces, and also loot cars trunks for money. If a car is blown up before being looted, though, the loot is lost. At times the players are trapped in areas where they must survive until they have accomplished a certain goal (i.e.: wait for an elevator while fighting zombies or kill all zombies in the area).
