Dead Island

[Fiach]

Yes, there is a city area too, I'm not a big fan of zombie games, although I have played the resi series, it was more for atmosphere than gameplay, DI is a definately more enjoyable experience for me.

I have DS1 and DS2, but never got the courage up to play them LOL :)

[Binnatics]

I played RE5. It was more like a surrealistic shooter than a zombiegame. The only zombiegame I really enjoyed so far was the online zombie massacre CoD: Black Ops offered. Damn I've had some fun in these mansions. And it were just mansions, small areas where you start in a single room, zombies just coming in through different gates / doors.
I think it was the coop + massive adrenaline that made it that great to me. And of course the scaryness of the mansion, sounds and zombie noises all around.

I didn't really like RE2. It had the abillity to play the entire campaign in coop mode. But still it lost it's shine after the first playthrough. And far too many collectables :D

[Fiach]

I think I preferred 5 to the others, I dont know why, maybe it was the marriage of zombies and shooter and not a total survival game, I think nearly everyone else hated it though. I even went for the collectibles in it, which I normally never bother with, but I thought the unlockables were worth it, I even bought the DLC, but it was pretty disappointing, due to the fact that you couldnt save your game while playing it  :D

[Binnatics]

I did enjoy RE5, to be honest. It was a great playthrough, and indeed the unlockables were worth it! That made it possible to even survive in the hardest settings. I liked the game because of the shooting, and the graphics. Sheila is, just like all other gems, too shiny to be true 8)
The biggest downside of the game imho is the fact that you had to get through these cutscene-like action moments in which you had to press certain buttons to pass an area, dodge something or make a jump etc. I was completely fingertwisted after performing one, which I hated. Maybe it turned out to be doable on console, but on a keyboard it was really annoying. >:((

By the way, you could play the entire game in coop, which could have been great if it wasn't that I allready had completed 3 playthroughs when I first tried it.

[Fiach]

I played it on the 360, so I guess because of that, I had no problems with those events.

I bought a 360 controller for my PC and I have to say it has made some games (which I found unplayable) much more accessible to me. I think DI would be awkward to control with a keyboard as I dont think you can customise the controls (I could be wrong) to your liking, eg. I use the arrows instead of WASD in other games, I couldnt do that with DI.

[Binnatics]

Not being able to customize controls can be a pain in the a$$ indeed. I use the WSAD config, so no worries for that, but it can be hard when they choose keys like the 'h', 'j', 'b' or even '[' or something to do certain moves. Some game developers really have weird ideas about the shape of a left hand :-D

I'll have to check out some vids for the game I guess. See what the overall mood is in the game. In fact, I'm longing for a doom3 kind of game. With fear and shiver around any corner. Or maybe more like Manhunt. Don't know what game to pick for that. Maybe F3ar? Heared it can get pretty intense...

[Fiach]

I liked F3ar, it has a very interesting mechanic, it has co-op based on the two characters that have different playstyles, but in SP, when you complete a level as standard FPS, you can replay it as the other character, with his special powers.

It was pretty short as just FPS, but of course that doubled when replaying as the other character. It didnt get great reviews, mostly 7/8 out of 10 here.

[Fiach]

Cool video showing a more combat focused side of play.

Dead Island: Got to love Molotov's

[Binnatics]

Great, desolate landscape. Which just made me think: Hundreds, if not thousands of people are working every day on designing landscapes for games. The current trend seems to be: "Make a realistic looking disaster-environment." Games are filled up with dust, dirt, rubbish and broken things. Not that I don't like it, and it sure hasn't anything to do with the way I look at this game: It just suddenly got my attention.  ;)

Another trend seems to use pop-up menues for collectables and weaponry. This circle used to show which weapon to choose out of your inventory looks familiar.

Enough off-topic musing; The game looks interesting. It's great that these zombies are able to shoot at you, and that you can shoot back. That makes the game more diverse then DR2. There, the main way of killing zombies was close combat.
I saw the player aim at the zombies in the streets and a MP-playername-like avatar popped up, indicating a lvl as well. The lvl of the zombies involved was 23. What does that mean?

[Fiach]

Well as you gain levels, its handy to see the level of the zombie enemies, so you know if you stand a chance against them, no point wasting bullets molotovs on an enemy that will not be harmed by them.

The circular inv wheel, yes I remember it as far back as Turok on the N64, its been around awhile, Deus Ex uses it too.

My comparison with DS would be that both games have their "OH s#!t!!!!" moments, like DS is... "OH s#!t what was that noise"... As the game plays on tension and ramping up the atmosphere. DI isnt quite like that, you can usually hear zombies before you see them, but there are times that you will hear a couple and see them, so you are not too concerned, but then bodies on the ground start to rise and focus on  you too, then you have the DI moment .... "OH s#!t, I AM FUCKED!" :)

Anyway, one thing about DI is that death is no great inconvenience, you lose 10% of your cash, which is immaterial if you keep spending it on upgrades, gear and medikits, so you havent much left to lose :) You respawn in 5 seconds nearby to where you died, I dont know what happens in DS, I think you have to reload a save.

I had a good quest today, a guy asked me to get gasoline for him so he could burn dead bodies, the quest itself was good, very immersive etc. But now that he has gasoline, he will make me molotov cocktails whenever I bring him 5 bottles of alcohol, which is nice as I had a bunch of them, because I found "rags" as well, so I thought I would have to make my own, guess the rags are for something else, or maybe I will get a blueprint for molotovs later. :)

[Fiach]

Well I did get that Molotov Blueprint in the end :)

Firstly I want to say I will definately buy this game, its a keeper, on saying that, I dont think everyone will like it .

My biggest gripe would be the save system, It is a fault I find with all open world games, you are never truely sure what has been saved, I'll give an example.

Last night I was playing a mission that seemed pretty straightforward, go to a hotel and get a truck from the underground parking lot, I did NOT think I would have to fight my way through a whole hotel, Bar, Kitchens, Swimming Pool, Outdoor parking lot, indoor parking lot, toilets etc.!

Anyway, I got to the hotel and when I got in, the game "saved" after the hotel loaded. I played until 3 AfeckinM and still no end in sight, so I left the game paused all night, started again and had a brain fart, I clicked on Load Last Checkpoint in error, no problem, I will still be in the hotel, so its not too bad ....WRONG! I was about 5 miles away.

Now normally I would have a hissy fit and say the hell with the game, but tbh, I am really enjoying it, so I went back to base, got tooled up with medikits and repaired all weapons and got some extra in case of degrades. Went back to the hotel, I kicked a$$ in there ! I had got well in tune with the game and had the advantage of knowing where to go, I had recovered my lost time in maybe a half hour or so, it probably initially took me an hour and a half the night before, I also didnt have to use any medikits and had very few degrades.

In the end, I finished a pretty awesome mission in a very competent and satisfying way, this mission was a kind of bridge to a little siege mission, which led me to the next area, the city, in the video above.

[Fiach]

Sorry for a second post, but this site does somethng to my PC, when I write a certain amount, the reply box goes a bit bonkers on me.

So, the game is open world, it also opens in a similar way to Borderlands, you clear an area of quests and then you gain access to the next area, I dont think its going to be as big as Borderlands or Just Cause, probably about The Saboteur size.

I like bombing around in the pickup playing bowling with any zombies on the road, Ive grown accustomed to constant melee combat, it does keep the game on an edgy feel, I had access to two guys that made Molotovs, dunno what will happen in the new area, but I can make my own if I can get the ingredients, alcohol is easy, rags are more difficult to find as loot is random, But they are a handy "Get out of Jail Free card"also, Traders Stock is random, I have seen orange, Blue and Purple weapons at times, but I tend to spend what I have to save paying on death penalties, but now I have access to storage, I will have plenty of spare weapons available and stuff to sell, if I see any more stuff like that and tbh, money is VERY easy to accumulate..... if you dont die :), but I think I'm getting better at the game now.

But anyway, I am really having a blast, but I wouldnt recommend the game to everybody.

Fiach : Enjoying games that you may or may not like.

[Binnatics]

But anyway, I am really having a blast, but I wouldnt recommend the game to everybody.

Fiach : Enjoying games that you may or may not like.

>:D Just tell me: Who wouldn't like the game?

I'm still in doubt. I guess I could have fun in it. It sounds half way like Fallout 3, halfway like DR2. And it looks like any wasteland shooter, which is good. The instant respawning sounds good. The fact that you pay 10% for that is indeed not such a problem. I can feel your enthousiasm when you talk about it.
Will it be a game where you spend months, including MP fun?

I got myself pretty convinced of buying Rage as the next game, together with Batman AC of course. I saw some vids and screenshots that made that game a must-have. Can't wait to start in that 'other wasteland'. ^-^

[Fiach]

Well, I dont play MP, so I cant comment on that, other than some people dont like the game, because they think its too difficult and feel that its difficulty is weighted towards Co-Op play.

There are a couple of reasons I dont mind this, due to tips I have read, people get swamped by enemies, fair comment I suppose, but, I would argue that they are not careful enough and blunder into a swamping situation, rather than pulling single enemies towards them at a time. Also, you can climb on a car bonnet, crouch and melee the enemies, with a certain degree of protection. So, the game does give you some tactics to use, anyway, even if you die, its no big deal, you respawn and kill the rest of the enemies, I have only had to respawn due to my stupidity, but thats not to say the game is easy.

People hate the weapons degrading, yup, its annoying in a HUGE way, what I used to do is carry a bunch of good weapons and as they degraded, I would switch to fresher weapons and then repair them at a workbench (one in most buildings).

I hated the lack of storage, but you get a storage after the starter area, so you can accumulate weapons and then sell them if you see something nice at a trader, so you can have nice gear.

The crafting isnt really liked as you are picking up stuff like phones, magnets, scrap metal, electronic parts, fuel....etc. But they never explain what they are for, you dont know until you get blue prints, as to what is useful, but on saying that, they dont take up unv space, so its no big deal.

Some people dont like having to constantly melee, not alot I can say about that, I dont really like melee alot either, but I like it fine in DI, it can be very satisfying when a zombie runner come running straight at you and you wait..and wait...and wait and BOSH!!!.... awesome Babe Ruth moment, when the bat collides perfectly with the head :)

Some quests can be a little vague, a giver can say, go and check out the plane at the nort of the island near the light house, you may do a ton of quests after that, then see that you have a quest in your log that just says "Find the Aeroplane" with no idea where to look unless you happen to remember what the quest giver said, I use Google if I encounter something like that :)

Bugs.... Well, I dunno, I havent had any problems, but I do always copy my savegame when I quit out, just in case, (I dont know what the other bugs are supposed to be, but there is a patch), The save bug was something that happened to people, after a patch, they couldnt load their old save game, a message said it was corrupted, the w@&k around was to start the game and instead of choosing Continue, instead choose chapter select and load your save from there.... not a particularly earth shattering bug :)

The game seems to be incredibly popular, but some people just really hate it for those reasons

[Binnatics]

Wow, thanx for the expanded answer :-X

Degrading weapons; that's something that could annoy me indeed. That happened to me in both FO and DR. If a game is tough that's usually an extra spirit :-()
I think I'll wait a little more and maybe later on I will buy it.  ;)

[Fiach]

Well, tbh if I hadnt had a chance to try it first, I wouldnt be rushing to buy it either mate :)

[spaceboy]

yeah, really helpful info Fiach.  I'm still interested, it's gnawing at me like a parasitic zombie I guess.  But I just downloaded From Dust last night and also picked up the God of War Origins collection...so I have new stuff.....but will I be able to resist the temptation...???

[Fiach]

Looking forward to your thoughts on From Dust, it reminds me of a game, Black and White, so I was kinda ambivalent about it, but it does look interesting. Not having the Molyneaux magic could be an advantage :)

[Fiach]

Heres something you may find annoying.

I thought it was a melee game and...well it is... But I picked a character because she had the most stamina, so, if I had to haul a$$ out of a situation, she would be able to do it. But she is a melee specialist with sharp weapons (swords machetes cleavers etc).

But, there is another character and she is apparently a gun character, now, that would be OK, but you dont get any guns (well you get one with one bullet) before chapter 5 and even then, initially they are hard to get.

So if you were thinking of playing as a shooter, I dont think it will w%&k very well at the start, you will have to melee (not a problem really, just a change of expectations at the start). You can buy ammo but not for a good while later apparently, but you can craft it once you get blueprints, but again, they dont appear until late in chapter 5, although you can farm some mercs for pistol ammo at the start of chapter 5.

There are two very tough enemies a Thug and a Ram, Pistols can shoot the legs off Thugs, so they cannot stand up to attack (shooting/cutting their arms off also stops them attacking), With Rams, they have a weak spot on their backs that you can shoot or stab , but ideally shoot it, as you do NOT want to get near those guys :).

[Fiach]

Well the MOD scene is starting up, had a LOL at this one :

Fist Of The Dead Star

[spaceboy]

what, I've punched someone so hard they start on fire... lol

nice vid. :)

[Binnatics]

Indeed, LOL! :-X

I guess jumping, running, punching and special punching is adjusted in the mod? Damn fast to come up with modding after only, what is it, 2 weeks after release?

[Fiach]

Yes, theres actually quite a few mods available. I dont want to go near them until I finish the vanilla version a couple of times, still kinda worried in case a save gets corrupted.

Some more inane ramblings on my soujourn in the city of the undead :)

I've been in the city a few hours now, it is noticibly more difficult than the sea side area, the zombies hit alot harder, one hit from a standard  zombie could take away a third of your HP, so if you get a couple on you, it could make for a nasty demise.

On saying that, if you play smart, you should be able to negotiate the city with very few problems.

I have a good few quests here and some back in the old place too, but what I'm currently doing is clearing the "fog of war" off the city map and getting familliar with the spawn points, as I go through the city it really reminds me of two movies, I am Legend and Omega Man, the atmosphere is fabulous.

I have a purple weapon, a Military Machete with a Shock Mod, so it does additional damage and when it crits it electrocutes the zombies in a very pleasing graphic animation. Its great that when you reload an area, all the gear comes back (respawns), so you can farm stuff really easily, I have about 50 Molotovs, about 50 of each type of medikit and a ton of weapons, so I can just potter around and explore and loot with out many problems, Theres lots of HP items kicking around to eat/drink anyway, so I dont have to rely on medikits, its kinda eerie, walking around amid all the desolation, drinking a cola or eating a snack bar, it does give afeeling of immersion :)

There are lots of ladders around, so you can circumvent some zombie packs, also there are huge breeze blocks on some scaffolding, so if some unfortunate zombie walks underneath, you can drop one on his head, doesnt do much damage, but its good for shits n giggles. :) Its nice to walk along a rooftop, see some mercs below, drop a couple of gas cylinders into their midst and shoot one, KABOOM!, then go and collect their guns n ammo. :)

I killed two rammers today, initially they are quite scary and virtually indestructible, I put 5 magnum bullets into their back to very little effect, so I tried it with my machete and about 4 strikes to the back and they were toast .... literally :) I guess because I'm not a gun specialist the magnum wasnt much use, its handy for throwing a gas cylinder at an enemy and shooting it as it approaches the target though, you can also throw a melee weapon at them to detonate them, which is nice.

I can only carry 50 ammo, apparently its because I'm not a gun specialist, but I like the melee fine anyway so its no great hardship :)

[Binnatics]

Great story, again!! :-X

You really give a lively look at the game. I can almost feel the atmosphere ;)

[mmosu]

The Bruce Lee punching in the video made me laugh!  ^+-+ :-X

You had to pay to respawn in Borderlands as well (actually, it was like Hyperion would "charge" your account for the service of reassembling your destroyed body from your stored DNA at the New-U stations).    It was a real bummer to have to do this early on in the game as money was tight, but later on I had become so obscenely wealthy that I didn't even miss the money anymore, even though the more you had, the more it cost to come back to life.  It ultimately wasn't that big of a deal.