Friday, September 9, 2011

Dead Island-First Impressions



Well, I've had a couple of days to play Dead Island on the PS3. I'm not quite at the point where I can write a full review of the game, but here are a few notes from the first few hours I spent with the game. I should note that with my wireless router on the blink, I haven't had a chance to download any of the patches or try out the co-op yet.

So here we go:


-The opening party cinema is kinda odd. "Who do you voodoo, bitch"? Really?

-Each of the four characters have very elaborate backstories they narrate to us, but in game this never comes up. Hell, they don't even talk outside of a few canned phrases. File these backstories under "P" for "Pointless", I guess.

-For some reason I can loot some suitcases but not others... Weird.

-The people falling off the balcony could be a really effective moment... If my character reacted to it at all.



-First encounter with zombies. I try to run past them but hit an invisible wall and die. On my second attempt I notice the goal marker on the HUD changes to a completely different place once the zombies appear. I suddenly channel Kurt Russell in "The Thing" and mutter "Cheating bitch..." at the game.

-I chose to play as the half Aborigine Australian lady, yet characters refer to her as "he". I wonder if this is something that'll be patched.

-Apparently I'm immune to the T-Virus or whatever it is because of my... um... main character powers? Seriously, the NPCs tell me I'm immune and they have no idea why.

-First couple of quests are "Meh", but things start to pick up once you secure the lifeguard station. Likewise, you only start getting decent weapons at this point.

-I find a guy in a swimming pool full of blood babbling about how he had to kill his family members who turned into zombies. Very effective moment.



-Much like the suitcases, only certain doors can be opened or broken down.

-A radio message is playing from a plane that's going down. Oceanic Flight... Wait. Hey! Keep your damn "Lost" references to yourself, game!

-For a game this focused on melee combat, the melee weapons don't seem to have the kind of impact and flow you'd expect.

-Driving controls are odd. Acceleration and reverse are set to the R2 and L2 buttons. Still, moving down zombies in a truck is every bit as fun as it sounds.

-Noticed a few graphical hitches. Pop-up is frequent in grassy areas and dead enemies sometimes fall partway into walls and get stuck.



-I was tempted to laugh at the lady who asked me to go find her teddy bear ("If you tell him I sent you, he should come with you. He's such a brave teddy bear."), but then if I were barricaded in a house with crazed flesheaters banging on the door looking to chew on my pancreas, I'd be whimpering and looking for my teddy bear too. Another surprisingly effective moment.

-I find the teddy bear in a room with a woman muttering about blood and some guy who just sits there. When I get close, he suddenly goes nuts and stabs me to death. Hey! What did I ever do to you, asshole? I respawn and then kick the stupid bastard in the face until he stops moving. No one gets between me and my teddy bear!



-I hate to be nitpicky, but does time pass at all on this island? I've been playing for hours and it still bright daylight.

-Kicking is strangely the easiest way to kill enemies. I've lost count of how many zombies I've killed just by curbstomping them into mush.

-Another nitpicky thought: Why does it cost money to repair and upgrade weapons? I'm the one fixing them at a workbench. Where is the money going?

-I may have stumbled onto a serious glitch. I need to talk to a guy named James (I think) at the top of the lighthouse to finish a quest. I've talked to him, finished a couple of quests for him and now I can't talk to him anymore. Yet I still haven't "talked to him" to complete the quest I was on. I hope I don't have to restart the whole damn game.

Overall:
So far, Dead Island is a good, but not great game. It still feels stuck in the shadows of games like Dead Rising and Left 4 Dead. It's worth a look, but it's not quite what we were promised.

Until next time, keep your machetes in good repair and may all your teddy bears be brave!