Review: Dead Island

Developer(s) Techland

Publisher(s) Deep Silver

Platform(s) PS3, Xbox 360 & PC

Release date September, 2011

Genre(s)         Role Playing, First Person, Sandbox (Open World)

Mode(s)        Single Player, Multiplayer

Rating(s) ESRB: M, PEGI: 18

I don’t play much Zombie Apocalypse games, I don’t like the idea that it’s the trend of this generation so simply I don’t like it when a certain subject can become the “it” factor in the world society and be part of that. Simply it diminishes my real identity and individuality. But none the less, I play them enough to understand its purpose and how effects towards the fan of the genre.

The game is developed by a gaming company which I was not familiar with even though Nail’d & Call of Juarez games were scattered in several shops back here I did not gave my time to check them out.

“So, why the f*** are you reviewing this game then?” you may ask. Some may still question themselves whether to buy this game or wait for another epic game to come but my reason behind it is simply that I had set myself to play with a mutual friend as soon as it came out. The first time I heard about the game was in their trailer, the first it caught my attention and I included it among the most dramatic game trailer I've seen. Read about the game and it was expected to be an open world with a Left 4 Dead survival FPS game. Few weeks after the video footage of the gameplay, I found that quests were shown Experience Points. By that time I started to expect an RPG element will include, which convinced me that it will not look like just another “hack-your-way-through-zombies” game.

On release day, as I made my first run, my previous views of the game changed almost significantly. Although my very first try was unpleasant due to several technical disturbing events. Patches were quickly given and things got a lot better by diminishing some game breaking bugs.

So here I am and ready to give my thoughts about the game.

                                           Ugly and bloody sight but feels better to survive form the attack

Presentation:

The set up if located in a fictional paradise island (or so it was...) called Banoi. You can play as one of the four basic characters in the game and each of them has backgrounds and combat styles. As soon as you made your choice, you will wake up in a bed to find that things are in total chaos. And as one of the (immune) survivals, it’s your job to save some survivals by discovering the open world of Banoi and try to figure out what’s going on and what find its source as you hack your way through places with various infected (zombies).

                                           One of the bugs, no table 

Graphics:

There is no doubt that is has one impressive graphics I've seen in gaming. From open environments, narrow places, water effects and dark rooms, there’s so much to appreciate in terms of landscapes and lightings. The blood and chopped fleshes will leave you in horror especially when cutting zombie's limbs as you go in slow motion.

                                           Familiar? sure they are the family from the trailer

Gameplay:

This is where it shines the most. But I will try to mention all of them one at a time without losing my focus. The view is set on First Person mode, when you check the skills; you will find that it’s designed with kill trees and you need to earn points by leveling up; and to level up you need to kill zombies. Skill trees are distributed in three and they are set depending on the character class you chose and their classes are specialized in Firearms or Sharp Weapons or Throwing Sharp Weapons or Blunt Weapons. So the more killing and side questing the more experience you will gain to create a very effective class character. Since there’s a class who’s specialized in firearms, this game is more focused on using melee weapons and they work very well; weapons usually warn off so they needed maintenance by working on them on a workbench and they can also be upgraded to increase its effective use and durability, aside from maintaining a weapon, you can also create custom made weapons by acquiring manuals scattered in the island and it will instruct you for the items you will need to gather in order to make that particular weapon. The game can be played either solo which will take you long to finish a given quest and will have some difficulties to finish a mission or co-op whereas you will find quick questing and extra fun. Questing is designed traditionally like a fetching method taken from an RPG perspective, so you will be busy going to locations either on foot or via vehicle. When playing solo, the zombies will have a fair level close to yours unless if the host is higher from your level then you will have a rough time to kill one zombie at a time. My first play through wasn't pleasant due to several encounters of bugs and ultra-sensitive mouse handling which left me a bit dizzy. But in just a few days it got patched and most of the bugs were fixed. So the game got me hooked for more questing and level grinding which let me to forget about its glitches overtime.

                                          Beautiful but deadly place to stay

Audio:

Given that this is an adult game, you will expect gores, screams and voice acting where you find them struggle to survive from attacks. Not excellent but believable to say the least.

This is literally one horrifying zombie apocalypse games I've ever played in terms of sounds. The voices of the infected will alert you as you hear them in the area. Given the fact that will determine what type of infected you will encounter nearby but the trouble here is that it’s not clear to pin point their locations so expect to get many surprise attacks even though you’re in a sunny open world. An early tip is to proceed with caution.

Overall:

What can I say? like i said i'm no fan on the zombie apocalypse game. However, it’s another great pre-purchase for me via Steam. Dead Island gave a new flavored treat for those who love Left 4 Dead/Killing Floor games with a blend of RPG element which will charm gamers who played Fallout (3 & New Vegas) and Borderlands. It’s a First Person Melee that strongly relies on the RPG element in a survival horror setup. But for those who expect gun blazing, solo campaign then you might need to rethink that. Despite the bugs I have encountered in the game, it never fails to let me go back to grind and loot for more goods and explore the wonderful yet horrifying Island of Banoi.


Score 9


Pro(s)
Open world
Great weapon customization
Addicting level grinding & looting
Plays well with friends and will guarantee sheer fun
Will hook you on taking even side quests
Surprise elements
Nice car control

Con(s)
Buggy
Very sensitive mouse control
Long questing when playing solo
Hard at times when playing solo

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Augmented Edition Review

Developer:      Eidos Motreal
Publisher:        Square Enix
Platforms:       PS3, Xbox 360 and PC
Rating:            ESRB M, PEGI 15


I never asked for this, but I chose to make a review. The year is 2011, it’s the time where the Deus Ex makes its way to the market and relive the theme of what it has done 11 years ago. 
After a long wait of my pre-purchased Augmented Edition here I am ready to make a review. For more than 40+ hours of gaming completion, I finally drag myself out from playing to reviewing this game. 

                                          Poor Adam in human form


Presentation


The game sets itself in 2027, about 20 years before the event of the first game Deus Ex in 2052, Human Augmentation is widely used by consumers whereas to enhance their human abilities and take them to a higher level for their basic daily needs. Although the technology isn’t as widely welcomed form that time, it’s starting to shape a new era for humanity.


You play the role of Adam Jensen, a security officer in SERIF Industries, one of the leading human augmentation companies located in the state of Detroit. The facility was attacked by an unknown group leaving Adam almost dead and took away his girlfriend. Saved by augmenting his body, he seeks revenge for what happened. Six months later your quest begins, solving mysteries by visiting places and talk to certain persons for the main and side quests. It’s pretty straight forward; the guy had a traumatic event and seeks redemption. But things will start to pick up as you complete one quest to another involving secret organization with deep and scary intentions for the world. 

                                          Adam in Augmented form


Gameplay


Here are my thoughts on the game; it has the first person shooter view, a Metal Gear Solid cover and stealth gameplay, a conversational system that impacts the outcome of player’s game direct and indirect approach. Leveling up system is vast and limited; you can’t upgrade all of your augmentations so it’s best to choose wisely on what you should upgrade to better use based on your style. There are many ways to reach an objective from run-and-gun (but that doesn’t work well for me) style to stealth mode and walking through vents. Aside from enhancing your augmentations, you can also improve your weapons by combining upgrade kits found in the area and also can be bought from a dealer. So the game has more MGS feel in combat combined with RPG elements roaming in a semi open world. And seeing those take downs and augmented abilities will leave you amazed and feel like a badass killing machine…or human for that matter.

                                          Cover system, reminds me of MGS for sure.


Graphics


It’s gorgeous, the theme of a dark future brings to life, the element of gold and black are seen in the game and artistically well made. From the looks of it, it was well made in art and fashion.  

                                          See that Orange Dart? yeah i like taking them down silently


Audio


It has a catchy sound track of mixed electronic and organic feel. A gun shot delivers a feel that you are using an advanced weapon of the future. Although some voice acting was dramatically well made others may sound funny but acceptable. 

                                          Trivia, this is when you take an alcoholic drink. :)


Overall 


Personally, this was a good pre-purchased game I had since my Dungeon Siege 3. A satisfactory for my pocket and entertainment to add the Augmented Edition is good bonus if you like to watch the development of the game and its Original Sound Tracks. Although it may not charm most of those who expect it to be a full pledged FPS game, it will surely satisfy to the gamers who plays RPG and/or stealth cover games. 


Score 9/10


Pro(s)
Amazing and lively graphics 
Vast augmentation upgrades options
Hacking is cheap fun and rewarding
A Deep back story 
MGS feel
Multiple endings
Memorable Characters


Con(s)
Going stealth mode will take you a bit longer to accomplish a mission
Limited resources for upgrades 
Frustrating boss fights at times
No game+ as you finished the game

Battlefield 3 - Alpha Trail Preview

Last week I got an invitation from EA to try the Alpha Trail version of BF3’s multiplayer map & I took privilege to give it a try and see. I had only a few minutes to spare on the game but I ended up playing it for a couple of hours. It’s that good but since that this is an early version of the game, I encountered some points to name a few in details:

• By starting the game, it asked me to update my NVIDIA GeForce GT 240. Though I ignored the notification and still ran the game. 
• It only has one screen resolution as “windowed” but none the less major improvements of the graphical details are much appreciated and see things better for the eyes. 
• The classes are now segregated into four. The Assault is back but instead of carrying additional ammo, it carries a defibrillator to revive fallen allies. Secondly, the support has the ammo and uses light machine guns. The third class is the recon which is also back on duty and with the help of graphical improvements, sniping will be a lovable class for open field map area to add that it has the ability to call in artillery strikes. And finally we have the engineer. Lets face it, Battlefield won’t be complete without vehicles and a class to maintain them in battle.

The experience:

Just like the Rush mode in BC2, you start at what it seems to be a park in a city or in a subway station. Two maps has different approach in the game from fighting in an open area which are likely to be in favored for snipers or in an underground subway station which will be favorable mostly on Assault units.

The controls were top notch and to add the new things I discovered as follows:

• You can run over small obstacles and see how you maneuver them over like a “Mirror’s Edge” game. 
• In addition to duck from the previous game, you can now crawl down for better stealth approach and to avoid sniper detection.  
• A successful stab in the back will execute a deathblow however, 
• The control keys were a little hard for me to command (the duck and crawl keys were too close from each other for me) so I hope that they will allow us to customize them by the time it hits the shelf.

Combat system is pretty solid, it delivers the feel from BC2 but a lot better with improved controls and the new graphics Engine. As a personal tip, the game will be best played on a higher resolution screen weather its HDTV or HD monitor (I’m using HPs 21” HD Monitor) and a considerable stronger CPU (My current specs are Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, Intel Core 2 Quad 2.5 GHz, 4 gig of RAM, NVDA GeForce GT 240 of 1 gig graphics memory and a 1 TB hard drive).

So is it an MW3 killer?

Possible, but by playing both previous games it’s actually goes down to whatever the consumer feels like playing; they are two FPS game but has a different style of gameplay. COD is known to their fast phased interface while BF talks about semi realistic and team based approach.

Conclusion:

Currently, the alpha trial version is about showing us the idea of its online multiplayer, and I’m happy to report that I had fun and will play more of it.