Loot

Loot is a collectible found in Dead Nation.

Description
Loot is a vital collectible in Dead Nation as it is used to purchase ammo, weapons and upgrades to help progress through the story. Loot is gained by killing Zombies (gold orbs and ammo or health pack drops), open yellow glowing crates or chests, or by opening the trunks of cars (using melee/interact, R2).

Enemies
When killed, enemies release gold orbs which float toward the player. When they contact the player, the player receives gold loot (money). If the orbs only travel a short distance, the reward is doubled. Though being closer to the enemies when killing them is more dangerous. Stronger enemies such as the Special Infected award more orbs when they are killed.

Enemies will also sometimes drop supplies - ammo for Weapons, or a replacement for an expendable Item.

Vehicles
Opening the trunks of undamaged cars using melee/interact, R2, near the rear of the car produces loot. In the regular game this is gold orbs (money). As with loot from enemies, the orbs will flow toward the player so there is no need to wait (particularly if the tactical situation is tricky). In the Road to Devastation a car can produce supplies instead, or a mixture of supplies and gold. Loot in vehicles will be lost if that vehicle is destroyed before the player obtains the loot inside. Cars that are already destroyed at the start of the mission contain no loot and cannot be interacted with. Vehicles other than cars do not have trunks and do not contain orbs. Sometimes they may contain Health Packs. Very commonly they contain concealed hordes waiting to ambush the player.

Crates and Chests
Crates and chests are usually hidden in the corners of the map, through non-obvious passageways, or obscured by scenery.

Yellow and Red Crates
Crates will glow alternately yellow and red. If a crate is opened while yellow the player will receive cash loot. However if the crate is opened while the crate is red then a score Multiplier increase will be gained instead.

Blue Crates
Blue crates contain only supplies - ammo and replacement Items. Max Inventory for the relevant Weapon or Item cannot be exceeded, so it can be wise to delay opening blue crates until ammo and items have been expended first, (or if forced to move on to a new stage where it will be impossible to backtrack). Resupply during a mission can be very helpful, and also avoids the need to buy supplies later at a Weapon Shop, so in that sense the blue crates also provide money.

Large Chests (Armor Chests)
Large chests (with yellow glowing corners) contain Armor but also gold orbs. Even if the Armor type contained in the chest has already been collected in a previous run (and so is no longer available), the chest will still contain gold orbs.

Health Packs
If the player finds a health pack from any source and has full health then the health pack can be "stomped on" (using R2) for loot (gold). It may be best to delay doing this until the stage has been cleared of enemies and it is time to move on to the next stage.