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-   -   Dead Island - Review Trio (http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14719)

Dhruin September 5th, 2011 22:42
Dead Island - Review Trio
 
Here's are three more Dead Island reviews. The scores seem to have settled a little but "fun" is still a common term.
Jim Sterling at Destructoid, with 7/10:
Quote:
In stark contrast to the game's marketing, Dead Island isn't much for exposition. Although there's a somewhat basic story, punctuated with occasional cutscenes, the vast majority of time revolves around a single motivation — you're trapped on a resort island full of zombies, and you have to kill them all, while completing inane quests and looking for a way off the rock. Every now and then, Dead Island will try to tug at the heartstrings with an "emotional" moment, but the characters are so one-dimensional and the dialog so forced that these serious sequences are laughable at best. Those looking for a decent story will have to go elsewhere because Dead Island's writers make only the most token of efforts.
What we're left with is a game that is, essentially, Borderlands with zombies. The class-based leveling system, implementation of upgrades, mission structure and level exploration are ripped wholesale from Gearbox's critically acclaimed game. It's a strange experience that attempts to blend realism and roleplaying together. On the one hand, your characters have low defense and are forced to fight with weapons that easily break. On the other, you're ransacking treasure chests for loot and creating axes wreathed in flame or rifles that shoot toxic bullets.
More information.

Melvil September 5th, 2011 22:42
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/re…-island/720225

Gametrailers.com gives a good review, though they think the story was bland.

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011…es/#more-72717

RPS gives an account of bugs and day one patches…

human_male September 6th, 2011 02:36
Oh dear. I hated Borderlands.

human_male September 6th, 2011 02:56
Quote:
Later levels also spawn endless amounts of fast "runner" zombies that can demolish a player within seconds. If you're playing solo, expect to die a lot, because Dead Island is fond of spawning fast-moving enemies in groups of five, which are impossible odds for all but a four-man group. There's a reason why death in this game is punished only with a percentage of cash loss — it would be impossible if you had to restart at checkpoints.
Oh dear. I loath player respawn. I had intended to work around this by reloading when I died.

I don't think I'll be getting this game after all. I will rent it though and give it a chance but it's no longer on my "buy right away" list. Shame.

Nerevarine September 6th, 2011 03:19
Quote:
Originally Posted by human_male (Post 1061090886)
I don't think I'll be getting this game after all. I will rent it though and give it a chance but it's no longer on my "buy right away" list. Shame.
That's kind of where I'm at too, although this game was never a "day one" purchase for me (I've gotten "zombied out" over the years I guess :))

Here's my biggest gripe with this game based on the available info: (and also Borderlands and E.Y.E.): I understand that in this day and age, multiplayer and/or co-op is something that a lot of developers want to dabble in, but is it necessary to make a game like this that isn't as enjoyable in single-player only modes? It's either laziness, short-sighted design, or a conspiracy theory-like way to encourage co-op play by hampering the single-player experience.

Again, I don't have some sense of entitlement to believe that games need to be developed with my specific interests in mind, and I understand from a business perspective that co-op/multiplayer is the "in" trend right now, but it just seems silly to make a game of this nature that limits the quality of the single-player experience; it seems like a way to lose sales, if anything. After all, a lot of games of this nature that have survival elements are far more immersive as single-player experiences - just look at Dead Rising as an example.

Ford Taurus September 6th, 2011 03:43
Good points. I just sort of had this one in my peripheral vision, but $34 from Green Man Gaming was tempting so I pulled the trigger and now have it preloaded on Steam.

Playing (and enjoying) DEHR, which has also got me wanting something a little less cerebral for a change of pace. The play videos coming out now on this one make it look like it should fit the bill.

Maybe I'll re-read World War Z to get in the mood. :)

Santos September 6th, 2011 05:54
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nerevarine (Post 1061090891)
I understand that in this day and age, multiplayer and/or co-op is something that a lot of developers want to dabble in, but is it necessary to make a game like this that isn't as enjoyable in single-player only modes? It's either laziness, short-sided design, or a conspiracy theory-like way to encourage co-op play by hampering the single-player experience.
I think, for most companies, whether they admit it or not, it boils down to piracy prevention. Look at D3 not having an offline single player mode. All their defenses for this decision are complete bullshit, or, at least, secondary to the real cause. Now, I don't blame companies for not wanting to get ripped off, but I wish they could/would find a better way.

Nerevarine September 6th, 2011 06:12
Quote:
Originally Posted by Santos (Post 1061090899)
I think, for most companies, whether they admit it or not, it boils down to piracy prevention. Look at D3 not having an offline single player mode. All their defenses for this decision are complete bullshit, or, at least, secondary to the real cause. Now, I don't blame companies for not wanting to get ripped off, but I wish they could/would find a better way.
There might be some truth to that (especially in the case of D3), although I'm not sure if piracy concerns affected the development of Dead Island since it's not a PC exclusive (you know how paranoid publishers are when it comes to PC piracy). I think that in some cases, co-op gameplay becomes a major focus for a particular game, and the single-player gameplay is "forgotten" to some extent. I don't have a problem with the idea of co-op for a game like Dead Island or Borderlands - after all, it does seem like the core gameplay mechanics of these titles are very well-suited for such a thing - but I just don't think that these games need to be less enjoyable from a single-player perspective as a result. It's certainly not impossible to accomplish both in the same game; Demon's Souls featured solid online components, yet the offline single-player experience didn't suffer at all when played that way as opposed to being online.

Jaesun September 6th, 2011 07:57
Dead Island is a cRPG?

skavenhorde September 6th, 2011 09:56
It's close enough. Probably a little closer than Borderlands, but can't say for certain till I play it on Thursday.

human_male September 6th, 2011 10:15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nerevarine (Post 1061090891)
That's kind of where I'm at too, although this game was never a "day one" purchase for me (I've gotten "zombied out" over the years I guess :))

Here's my biggest gripe with this game based on the available info: (and also Borderlands and E.Y.E.): I understand that in this day and age, multiplayer and/or co-op is something that a lot of developers want to dabble in, but is it necessary to make a game like this that isn't as enjoyable in single-player only modes? It's either laziness, short-sighted design, or a conspiracy theory-like way to encourage co-op play by hampering the single-player experience.

Again, I don't have some sense of entitlement to believe that games need to be developed with my specific interests in mind, and I understand from a business perspective that co-op/multiplayer is the "in" trend right now, but it just seems silly to make a game of this nature that limits the quality of the single-player experience; it seems like a way to lose sales, if anything. After all, a lot of games of this nature that have survival elements are far more immersive as single-player experiences - just look at Dead Rising as an example.
I agree with you. I realise it's made with multi player in mind, but I think it could still be attractive to a single player. What would make me feel a lot better about it is if there were two distinct modes of play, single player and co-op. Co-op with checkpoint saves and player respawn and focussing on more zombies and more mayhem, and single player with manual saves and no player respawn (when you die reload) and perhaps fewer zombies and more focus on exploration, survival and missions.

Big thanks to Dhruin and Melvil for posting the reivews.

vurt September 6th, 2011 12:32
PC build is supposed to be terrible, reading some impressions right now.. i guess this could be a reason: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011…uild-released/ the day 1 patch didnt fix those issues either it seems.

Some more reviews:

Gamepot 7/10
Edge 3/10

rich ruffo September 6th, 2011 15:30
Give this game to SURE A.I., let them MOD the game to hell and back , then will have somthing interesting to talk about , Yes ?!

Kefka September 6th, 2011 18:47
Quote:
Originally Posted by rich ruffo (Post 1061090956)
Give this game to SURE A.I., let them MOD the game to hell and back , then will have somthing interesting to talk about , Yes ?!
Does the game have official mod support?

Majnun September 6th, 2011 20:16
From what I've been reading apparently they accidentally released the dev build on the steam version. I don't think this affects people who bought the boxed game. They've said the correct version will be put up on steam sometime today. Whether that's true or not who knows. The flippin UPS guy always delivers to my house near the end of the day so I can't confirm any of that first hand.

From the patch notes it does sound like at least a few instances of zombies infinitely respawning have been fixed. That tells me they're heading in the right direction as far as making it enjoyable single player as well as co-op.

Capt. Huggy Face September 6th, 2011 22:20
I was wondering why my Steam copy didn't seem to patch. It didn't seem likely the patch had been rolled into the initial Steam release, as I preloaded days before. I don't buy that story they're selling regarding some accident. Steam patches are routinely delayed by a day or two, as the developers apparently have to prepare a unique patch specific to Steam.

Anyway, my Steam copy is patching now. Didn't really have time to play yesterday. I hope I don't lose my save right before the first contact with zombies, during which I died horribly. :p

Edit: Dungeons of Dredmor patched today, too, for those who may be interested.

JDR13 September 7th, 2011 02:07
I was really looking forward to the is game, but I've decided at the last minute to hold off buying it after reading some of these reviews and comments.

@vurt- Both of your links lead to the Edge review.

skavenhorde September 7th, 2011 02:38
I was going to buy this on Steam, but now I think I'll wait till next week when it gets in the stores here.

BillSeurer September 7th, 2011 02:58
I too was interested early on but after reading the reviews I can wait a few months. Or years.

Majnun September 7th, 2011 12:11
Ever played the game Boiling Point?

If this games ends up (after massive patching or whatever) as good as Boiling Point with zombies…I will be happy. You have to aim low…but still.


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