While critics gave the game high marks for its music and comedic premise, they expressed disappointment in the lack of online multiplayer.

Dead Block is set during the 1950s where a zombie outbreak coincides with the emergence of the rock and roll genre of music during that time period.

[2] The three playable characters are Jack Foster, a tall and slovenly dressed construction worker, Mike Bacon, a courageous boyscout, and Foxy Jones, an armed city traffic warden in uniform.

During gameplay players can also scavenge the building for additional powerups, items and things that can assist in keeping the zombies at bay.

Elements like the cars, milk bars, chrome, juke boxes, fashion and hairstyles are all instantly recognisable as coming from the 50s.

[26] Johnson pointed out that the game "put a fresh face on the shop-worn corpse-killer" with its tower defense gameplay.

[26] RipTen's Chris Carlson praised the game's "awesome selection of tools and weapons" and overall replay value.

[22] Watters felt that "the campy B-movie vibe and cartoon aesthetic aren't good enough to add much appeal".

[19][20] Again Johnson disagreed and cited the game's "rockabilly music [and] amusing characters" as high points.

[31] A sales analysis of PlayStation Network titles sold in August 2011 showed that Dead Block moved 7,778 units in the first month of its release on the service.