Dead Nation: Platinum Trophy Guide Version 1.0 PSN ID: NeoEvolution Author: Karne-Michael Martin Contact: neo.evolution@bigpond.com ====================================================================== ------------------------- Table of Contents -------------------------- ====================================================================== - Version History [HIST] - Introduction [INTR] - Platinum Trophy [PLAT] - Bronze Trophies [BRON] - Silver Trophies [SILV] - Gold Trophies [GOLD] - Requests [REQS] - Questions [FAQS] - Contacting Me [CONT] - Copyright Information [COPY] ====================================================================== ----------------------- Version History [HIST] ----------------------- ====================================================================== 22/06/2011 - Version 1.0 submitted. ====================================================================== ------------------------ Introduction [INTR] ------------------------- ====================================================================== Well, here I am again writing my second Platinum Trophy / 100% Achievement Guide, this time for a game by the name of Dead Nation. Dead Nation is a top / pseudo isometric view zombie shooter, with a few RPG elements thrown in for good measure. I wouldn't say this game is difficult to Platinum by any means, but it sure can be fun. As an added note, I'd like to say that I probably never would have looked twice at this game if it weren't for Sony's generosity. Which is a shame, as this is one game that has provided dozens of hours of good ol' fashioned, zombie blasting entertainment. With that out of the way, let's move on. ====================================================================== ---------------------- Platinum Trophy [PLAT] ------------------------ ====================================================================== - Platinum Trophy: There is a total of 1 Platinum Trophy to unlock, the trophy name, requirements, and strategies to obtain them are listed below. - Romero Would Be Proud [PL01] [PL01] - Romero Would Be Proud Requirements: Unlock all other trophies in the game. See rest of guide. ====================================================================== ----------------------- Bronze Trophies [BRON] ----------------------- ====================================================================== - Bronze Trophies: There are a total of 21 Bronze Trophies to unlock, the trophy name, requirements, and strategies to obtain them are listed below. - Easy Does It [BR01] - And So It Begins... [BR02] - A Trip Downtown [BR03] - Walk in the Park [BR04] - On top of the World [BR05] - Out of the City [BR06] - Hospital Bill Through the Roof [BR07] - Gravedigger [BR08] - Train to Nowhere [BR09] - Sleeping with the Fishes [BR10] - Took the Highway [BR11] - Teamwork [BR12] - Survivor [BR13] - Zombie Killer [BR14] - Up Close & Personal [BR15] - Blown to Bits [BR16] - Pyromaniac [BR17] - Car Killer [BR18] - Upgrader [BR19] - Suit Up [BR20] - Contributor [BR21] [BR01] - Easy Does It requirements: Complete Campaign mode on Braindead difficulty. See requirements for Tough Enough [SL02] [BR02] - And So It Begins... requirements: Complete Mission 1 on any difficulty. See requirements for Tough Enough - [SL02] [BR03] - A Trip Downtown requirements: Complete Mission 2 on any difficulty. See requirements for Tough Enough - [SL02] [BR04] - Walk in the Park requirements: Complete Mission 3 on any difficulty. See requirements for Tough Enough - [SL02] [BR05] - On top of the World requirements: Complete Mission 4 on any difficulty. See requirements for Tough Enough - [SL02] [BR06] - Out of the City requirements: Complete Mission 5 on any difficulty. See requirements for Tough Enough - [SL02] [BR07] - Hospital Bill Through the Roof requirements: Complete Mission 6 on any difficulty. See requirements for Tough Enough - [SL02] [BR08] - Gravedigger requirements: Complete Mission 7 on any difficulty. See requirements for Tough Enough - [SL02] [BR09] - Train to Nowhere requirements: Complete Mission 8 on any difficulty. See requirements for Tough Enough - [SL02] [BR10] - Sleeping with the Fishes requirements: Complete Mission 9 on any difficulty. See requirements for Tough Enough - [SL02] [BR11] - Took the Highway requirements: Complete Mission 10 on any difficulty. See requirements for Tough Enough - [SL02] [BR12] - Teamwork requirements: Complete a mission on co-op on any difficulty. There's two ways of going about getting this trophy, one of them is to go online to complete a co-op mission, the other is to have a second controller. If it weren't for such poor quality servers I'd recommend doing this online with a friend, or even just with a stranger online, but because that isn't the case, I have to recommend the latter of the two strategies. Simply connect a second controller, and as the second player, run ahead into any group of zombies to get yourself killed before advancing as the first player. Player 2 will respawn at any checkpoints of course, but this is still a much easier and quicker method of obtaining this trophy than attempting it online. If you choose to go with the former method, then pray to your lucky stars you get a good quality connection that doesn't drop out or disconnect after taking five steps into the game. [BR13] - Survivor requirements: Complete a mission without dying. This one is extremely easy, and I'd go as far as to say it would be nigh impossible to miss just playing through the game normally, but if you really need me to point the way here, so be it. Start a new single player campaign, and select Braindead as the difficulty. Oh, and make sure you don't die, I'm pretty sure that's got something to do with this trophy. [BR14] - Zombie Killer requirements: Kill 1,000 Zombies. Very straight-forward and easy, you should have this trophy by the end of the second mission. [BR15] - Up Close & Personal requirements: Perform 500 melee kills. Ah, yet another easy trophy. Just kill 500 zombies using a melee attack, which is performed by pressing R2. This one I would recommend setting the difficulty to Braindead and ploughing through every enemy you can find, or, in any other difficulty, target the skinny pink and black zombies that appear in large groups with melee attacks. They always die in one hit regardless of the difficulty chosen, so it's completely up to you how you would rather go about doing this. [BR16] - Blown to Bits requirements: Blow up 1,000 zombies. Although this is an easy trophy, it does take a little bit of time to achieve if you target this, and this trophy alone. It's best just to play through campaign normally, as I will go into detail in [GD01], so don't make it your number one priority. It will come in time. [BR17] - Pyromaniac requirements: Burn 1,000 Zombies. Unlike the other kill "X" amount of zombies with "Y" weapon, this one does require you to focus on using a couple of certain weapons. I've found the best way is to use both Molotovs and the Flamethrower against the skinny pink and black zombies that only require one shot to kill. Focus using these weapons on as many zombies as possible, especially the weak ones, and you should have this trophy by the end of your second playthrough. [BR18] - Car Killer requirements: Destroy 500 Vehicles. This one is really quite simple, all you have to do is blow up a total of 500 vehicles. I'd recommend going for this trophy as you're working towards the King of Looters [GD05] trophy. Might as well kill two birds with one stone, so focus on [GD05] as you rack up the vehicle kills. [BR19] - Upgrader requirements: Fully Upgrade A Single Slot Of Any Weapon In Campaign Mode. For this, you have to fully upgrade one stat of any weapon, so during the first mission, concentrate on the Rate of Fire for the Rifle. This trophy is so easy, it makes taking candy from a baby look hard. [BR20] - Suit Up requirements: Collect An Armour Piece. Another easy trophy. All you have to do is collect one piece of armour from the rectangular yellow chests that are scattered throughout the missions. This one is also tied in with Top Gear [GD04], and King of Looters [GD05], so you can skip this and go straight to them if you prefer. If you want to focus on this before getting the two mentioned above, you can find the first armour piece south of the third checkpoint on mission 1. When you see the third checkpoint, start making your way down towards the bottom of the screen which will eventually lead you to a gate. Past this gate there should be three cars, a treasure box, and some zombies. To the far left against the wall in this area, will be the the armour container, just open the container and this trophy is all yours. Easy. [BR21] - Contributor requirements: Help Your Country To Clear The Virus Infection. To unlock this trophy, all you have to do is complete any mission on any difficulty while signed into PSN, and allow your scores to be submitted at the end of the mission. That's all there is to it. ====================================================================== ----------------------- Silver Trophies [SILV] ----------------------- ====================================================================== - Silver Trophies: There are a total of 8 Silver Trophies to unlock, all trophy names, requirements and strategies to obtain them are listed below. - Mediocrity [SL01] - Tough Enough [SL02] - Very Dead [SL03] - Skilled [SL04] - Zombie Hunter [SL05] - Aim For The Head [SL06] - Weapons Specialist [SL07] - Looter [SL08] [SL01] - Mediocrity requirements: Complete Campaign Mode On Normal. See requirements for Tough Enough - [SL02] [SL02] Tough Enough requirements: Complete Campaign Mode On Grim. Before we get started on this, I recommend you play through the game at least once to get yourself accustomed to the layout of the levels, and the enemies contained in each. I am not yet in the business of making video walkthroughs, but when I am, I'll be sure to update this guide with some video footage. For this trophy, I'll be outlining some key points such as how to upgrade your weapons, which combinations of weapons work well against certain enemies, and the like. What I will not be doing, is holding your hand throughout each of the missions, but don't worry, follow these strategies and you won't need me to. Onward. When it comes to weapons, you need to know what works and what doesn't, what is efficient, and what isn't. For example, using a Launcher against single enemies, or the skinny pink and black zombies is wasteful, so a lot of this comes down to common sense. There are some other enemies, however, where the choice of weapon isn't very obvious, so I'll be covering this too. You also need to be aware that each weapon has certain attributes to be upgraded, I'll also be covering which of these to upgrade, and which to leave alone and why. When it comes to Grim and Morbid difficulties, a lot more care should be taken early on to maximise your zombie killing efficiency. Below is a short guide for which weapons, which attributes to upgrade, in which order, and a short description as to why to upgrade the weapons like this: Rifle: Rate of Fire - Fully Upgraded Power - 1 Star Clip Size - Fully Upgraded The Rifle's primary and best use is for headshots, by holding R1 until the laser sight glows brighter, and releasing R1, the Rifle fires a power shot that is capable of penetrating multiple zombie heads. This is a one hit kill, hence why upgrading the power of the Rifle is not necessary. Mines: Mine Charges - Fully Upgraded Inventory Size - Fully Upgraded The Mine is an excellent weapon for setting traps, but even more importantly, it prevents any sneaky zombies from flanking you. There are many points in the game where you will need these to save your arse, so upgrade them as soon as you can. You will always want a liberal supply, and having the number of charges upgraded to maximum will mean they last longer before disappearing. Flares: Duration - Fully Upgraded Inventory Size - Fully Upgraded One of my favourites, although not really a weapon, it is a superb combination item. Use this to distract zombies for while blasting away at the crowd with a shotgun makes short work of most enemies. Grenades: Blast Radius - Fully Upgraded Inventory Size - Fully Upgraded Another of my favourite weapons, combined with the Flares it makes a very lethal combination against most zombies. Get used to using a Flare & Grenade combo, it will save you from a lot of tight spots quite often. Throw a flare, take two steps back, throw the grenade and their world goes black! Shotgun: Rate of Fire - 6 Stars Power - Fully Upgraded Clip Size - Fully Upgraded Inventory Size - Fully Upgraded Ah, the trusty boomstick, one of the essentials of a zombie outbreak. Works well against large hordes at close range, and even better against tougher enemies such as soldier zombies and Leapers. This is going to be one of your go-to weapons before bringing out the bigger guns, get used to it. This is also one of the better weapons to use with Flares, so be sure to lure those big groups in before painting the town with a mushy, bloody mess. As a final note for the Shotgun, the reason the Rate of Fire is 6 stars instead of 10, is because firing any faster will waste precious ammunition. 6 stars fires fast enough to clear out the big crowds with ease, but doesn't fire fast enough that a second shot will be sent hurtling towards a crowd of empty space. Blade Cannon: Blade Size - Fully Upgraded Clip Size - Fully Upgraded Inventory Size - Fully Upgraded The first of the two big guns to become available, once you have this tucked away in your weapon inventory and ready for action, you'll wonder how you went without it. The Blade Cannon launches spinning blade projectiles that slice through anything in its path, in fact, there are only a few enemies this won't kill in one hit. See those big Bombies, the things that look like they grew up in a world without Jenny Craig? Well the Blade Cannon slices right through those big boys causing them to spontaneously explode on impact. What's better is that the blades keep going! Pull this out when the going gets really tough, or when you just want to lay enemy hordes flat before they can even get close. The enemies it doesn't kill in one shot, are Leapers, Cutters and Mouths. With these enemies the blade also gets lodged in them, so for these three enemies (Cutters in paricular), pull out the Launcher or the Flare and Shotgun combo. Launcher: Blast Radius - Fully Upgraded Clip Size - Fully Upgraded Inventory Size - Fully Upgraded Oh yeah, the second of the big guns, and arguably the better of the two. The Launcher not only deals massive damage, but unlike the Blade Cannon, the splash damage isn't affected by Leapers, Mouths or even the Cutters. This is one weapon you will always, ALWAYS want to keep ammo handy for. SMG: Rate of Fire - 6-10 Stars Power - 1 Star Clip Size - Fully Upgraded Inventory Size - Fully Upgraded The SMG, although lacking in power, has an excellent rate of fire, handy for mowing down crowds of zombies. Unfortunately there are only two circumstances in which the SMG is useful. One is for the skinny pink and black zombies that require one shot to kill, the other is to hold enemies back until you can switch out for another weapon. Due to the limited usefulness, I'd recommend against upgrading the Rate of Fire to 10 stars. 6 will be more than enough, but if you feel you need the additional speed, feel free to, just make sure you give priority to your big guns and explosives first. Dynamite: Inventory Size - Fully Upgraded Unfortunately it is only possible to carry a maximum of two sticks of this handy explosive, not to mention it isn't unlocked until much later in the game than the other explosives. However, when you do finally have this available, always keep two on hand, and only use them when you're in a tight spot. The radius and power of these things will attract and blow most enemies to kingdom come, so when you let one fly, get well out of the way while the enemies are distracted and prepare for your next assault. Flamethrower: Power - 1 Star Range - Fully Upgraded Clip Size - Fully Upgraded Inventory Size - Fully Upgraded The Flamethrower isn't so much a damage dealing weapon, than it is a support weapon. The flames slow zombie movement down, and having the longer range means you can stay at a safe distance while doing so. It works well with big crowds, especially when the only path they have is a bottleneck, which essentially funnels them in one direction, and constantly spreading the fire among the other zombies. Now, assuming you know how the basics work, the above information should be more than enough to get you through the entire campaign. If you find that you're still having trouble, try mixing your combos up a little, and remember the following: - Flare and Grenade combos are excellent for general crowd control. - Flares and the Shotgun can be used in place of the Blade Cannon or Launcher for some enemies. - Mines make excellent traps, and cover your flanks from most of the enemies. - Rifle powershots can penetrate several zombie heads in a straight line. - Dynamite has a massive radius and massive damage output, use them when you need to. Better to be liberal with your ammo usage than it is to get killed. - The Launcher works better on Cutters, Leapers and Mouths than the Blade Cannon. - ALWAYS carry ammunition for your big guns. - Don't be afraid to use your Launcher at close range to get you out of a tight situation, that little damage is going to be less than what most zombies will do to you. - Don't shoot the vending machines, that free health boost could be the difference between dying or surviving. - Don't give up. If the first attempt doesn't work, try again, move forward slowly, and be prepared. Good luck! [SL03] - Very Dead requirements: Complete A Mission On Undead. Before you tackle this trophy, you will need to complete the game on Morbid first to unlock Undead difficulty. Once Undead is available start a new campaign on that difficulty. A few strategies to get you through the first mission with relative ease are as follows: - Move slowly, and use Rifle powershots as often as possible. - Upgrade the Flare and Grenade as much as possible and use these to lure enemies in. - Use your surroundings to your advantage, any bottlenecks or points where zombies can only attack from one side are preferred to tackle the onslaught. - Set off the car alarms to lure zombies away, it works just as well as a grenade and it's free. - Spend all of your money at the Weapon Shop, you won't need any for the end of this mission, so why keep it? - If at first you don't succeed, try again. [SL04] - Skilled requirements: Complete A Mission Without Receiving Any Damage. This one can be a little trickier, but using the right tricks and strategies, it can be an absolute breeze. Just start a new campaign on Braindead difficulty, and use the strategies outlined in [SL03]. After completing the first mission without receiving any damage, this trophy will be yours. One thing to keep in mind - it always helps knowing the layout of the level, where the enemies attack from, and how many are there. So try to familiarise yourself well with the first campaign mission before attempting this trophy. [SLo5] - Zombie Hunter requirements: Kill 10,000 Zombies. This trophy will come from normal play, a couple of missions past the halfway mark. You'll need to complete campaign mode at least twice anyway, so don't focus too much on this. [SL06] - Aim For The Head requirements: Perform 500 Headshots. Another trophy that should be coming naturally. By holding R1 with the Rifle, it charges up and the laser sight eventually glows a little brighter. This indicates that your powershot is ready to perform. Just blow off 500 zombie heads and this trophy is all yours. Easy. [SL07] - Weapons Specialist requirements: Fully Upgrade All Slots Of Any Weapon In Campaign Mode. As the description reads, just fully upgrade one attribute of any weapon in campaign mode. By the end of the first mission you should have the Rate of Fire maxed out for the Rifle, and if you don't, then don't worry too much, you'll have it done by the end of the second mission. [SL08] - Looter requirements: Collect All The Loot In Any Mission. See requirements for King of Looters - [GD05]. ====================================================================== ---------------------- Gold Trophies [GOLD] -------------------------- ====================================================================== - Gold Trophies: There are a total of 5 Gold Trophies to unlock, all trophy names, requirements and strategies to obtain them are listed below. Morbid Curiosity - [GD01] Double the Action - [GD02] Genocidiary - [GD03] Top Gear - [GD04] King of Looters - [GD05] [GD01] - Morbid Curiosity requirements: Complete Campaign Mode On Morbid. Same as Tough Enough, except the difficulty is a little harder. The strategies and weapon progression outlined in [SL02] is the same I used on Morbid difficulty, so just look back to [SL02] for tips on how to beat Morbid. [GD02] - Double the Action requirements: Complete Campaign Mode in Co-Op Mode. This one works exactly the same as Teamwork - [BR12]. Just connect a second controller, start a new campaign on Braindead and make sure player 2 runs ahead and dies at every checkpoint. Do this for the entire campaign, and this trophy is all yours. A very easy Gold Trophy I might add. [GD03] - Genocidiary requirements: Kill 53,596 Zombies. This can be quite time consuming if you try to unlock this trophy right off the bat. Instead, just aim for Morbid Curiosity, which requires you to complete the campaign twice, and you should have at least half of the kills needed by then. For any extra kills you need, just play Mission 10, and kill absolutely everything. Another tip is to not kill the Mouths, as they summon more zombies to go towards your total kill count. The Graveyard mission is a good one for lots of Mouths, as the end sequence has several that summon more zombies. [GD04] - Top Gear requirements: Collect All Armour Pieces. This one falls under the King of Looters requirements [GD05], so just focus on that one and this trophy will be achieved along the way. [GD05] - King of Looters requirements: Collect All The Loot In Every Mission. Now this is by far the most time consuming trophy to unlock. You have to collect every piece of loot, in every single stage, which includes loot from cars, treasure boxes, armour containers, and drink machines. Miss even one of these and you have to replay the entire mission again to try and get all of the loot. Now as I mentioned before, I'm not yet into the business of video guides, but when I am, I might consider making a video with all the locations of every bit of loot. In the meantime, the following links to videos of the locations of every bit of loot will have to suffice. - Mission 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3VoC8NuxsQ - Mission 2, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW_cBUzzh3c&feature=related - Mission 2, Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOr_gDtAwGg&feature=related - Mission 3, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCHdPf1ejdA&feature=related - Mission 3, Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJhX6L_9nkk&feature=related - Mission 4, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlRuihqlLW8&feature=related - Mission 4, Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5jmPjxxepc&feature=related - Mission 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAZjFG__FeM&feature=related - Mission 6, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkHdM0n3yUQ&feature=related - Mission 6, Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpCUl4Vbu5U&feature=related - Mission 7, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX1swYI7gXM&feature=related - Mission 7, Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm0PG-Vgz8k&feature=related - Mission 8, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGYC8Z0_lwE&feature=related - Mission 8, Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3TX6ZDjpGk&feature=related - Mission 9, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km_jAwl7lpQ&feature=related - Mission 9, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epKx9RnSeQE&feature=related - Mission 10, Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUlBt4L3nk4&feature=related - Mission 10, Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX1eHIWNXNo&feature=related And that's all she wrote. By this point you should have unlocked all other trophies and achieved the Platinum, if not, then at least the tedious part is out of the way. ====================================================================== -------------------------- Requests [REQS] --------------------------- ====================================================================== Well, if it weren't for the poor quality servers, I'd be more than happy to help anyone out where needed, but if the online servers don't improve, I'm afraid I won't be helping anybody. Regardless, my PSN ID is listed at the top of the page, so just scroll up to get my details. ====================================================================== -------------------------- Questions [FAQS] -------------------------- ====================================================================== I haven't received any yet, but should I get any questions I'll update this guide. ====================================================================== ------------------------ Contacting Me [CONT] ------------------------ ====================================================================== If you have a question to ask, or information to contribute please contact me using my email address listed at the top of this guide. Any strategies, tips or tricks you contribute will be added in the next update of this Guide, and you WILL be credited for it. When sending an email, put DN, Dead Nation, Dead Nation / DN Plat or a variation of these in the title. This lets me know it isn't spam and pretty much guarantees a response. Failure to do this simple task will result in your email being deleted without a second thought. If you can't take 2 seconds to type DN Plat in the title, why should I take 5 minutes to read and respond to your email? ====================================================================== -------------------- Copyright Information [COPY] -------------------- ====================================================================== This guide may not be reproduced in part or its entirety for profit or monetary gain. If you wish to use this guide on your website, please contact me to ask permission first. It is highly unlikely I will refuse if asked politely, but a little courtesy goes a long way. My email address is at the top of this guide, so scroll up to get my details. Below is a list of websites that have permission to host this guide: - www.neoseeker.com Copyright 2011 - Karne-Michael Martin. All rights reserved.