nred

Nation Red has been a fairly low key release this year, without much media attention, which can both be a curse and also a gift to an independently produced game. Coming from the studios of Diezel Power Studios, Nation Red has been described as an “ultrafast infinite play arena-based shooter” and true to it’s name, it’s fast gameplay. The basics of the game are simple, survive as long as you can against an unlimited amount of zombie infestation. While it may seem an overused storyline, Nation Red decides to give it a bit of a twist, with some of the zombies being given weapons. Also, following the blockbuster Left 4 Dead, the zombies are no longer limited to the stereotypical shuffle, instead being able to sprint towards the player, making claustraphobic encounters far too often for comfort.

The campaign mode for the game follows a simple story line, of scenarios in which the play has to survive through, with bosses being brought in through the game, such as the “Axe Man”, a zombie slightly bigger than the others, and obviously, armed with an axe.  But the game begins to get extremely repetative after only the first couple of scenario’s, with nothing really “new” appearing in the gameplay, even with you progressing along the campaign. It pretty much completely lacks a storyline, and is a simple down to earth action game.

In the graphics department, the game isn’t half bad considering it is a relatively low budget indie game. A lot of indie games have substandard graphics because of the low production values, and the lack of staff to produce quality models and such for the games, but considering this is a top down/third person game, the graphics are nice enough to keep you visually pleased, but they aren’t something that makes you go “Wow!” when you see them.

There are a large variety of different weapons available through the game, such as uzi’s, pistols, machine guns, and Steam purchasers will get the exclusive Steam Hammer. The developers have also implemented a pickup system with a variety of pickups, such as sentry guns, health, “ghost”, and others, yet even this huge variety of toys to play with against an infinite horde of zombies fails to save the game.

Another low note for the game is the lack of a multiplayer or a co-op gameplay option, for a survival game, multiplayer is almost a necessity these days if it wants to survive in the market, allowing players to take on the hordes together.

The light at the end of the tunnel however, has not totally gone out as the game itself  is a very solid third person action game, and competing with your friends is always a good way to waste time. Overall Nation Red is a game that I would really only ever pick up on a rainy day, or if my internet was down as it is a good little time-waster of a game, but not something that I would go out specifically to buy.

Rating

Gameplay – 7
Graphics – 8
Replayability – 6
Overall –  7