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Perspectives are strange and the mind a complicated thing, but there are certain things that are just factual as well, so as a mix of both I'll say this: Dead Island is nowhere near as bad as what people claim, period.
I've been gaming since I was a kid (I'm 38 now) in all genres, and heavily in FPS and RPGs for most of my adult life. I'm a self-proclaimed graphics whore and I've more than a firm grasp on mechanics, how a game feels and what makes a good game.
No, I'm not saying Dead Island is the lord of all games, but the fucking thing is fun, the mechanics are pretty damn streamlined for PC in terms of inventory and the skill tree system, it looks beautiful, and both combat mechanics and movement feel good, are pretty damn tight.
It wasn't just all the bugs that people have complained about, unless as usual, someone's negative perspectives on one aspect of a game, brings out the cyclops in them and they look at the entirety of something jaded.
It's the best damn zombie game I've played in recent years, and the most realistic.
L4D is not realistic nor fantastic, though it is fun. DayZ is nowhere near realistic in terms of zombie appearance or mechanics, just in every other way. WarZ... ha ha, we'll leave that alone.
Dead Island's zombies look excellent, the animations and movement are great (when you're actually in-game, you see how realistic the body movement actually is), very realistic, and the breaking-down of flesh, limbs, sinew, bone, dismemberment and hit detection etc are all excellent. The zombies themselves look excellent, and their different movement and attacks etc give it variation.
I only have two gripes: vsync is not working no matter what I try (even though they implemented it in the PC version now; also altered the files but it's not working, so I'm getting a little annoying tearing) and there is no nighttime, though I know there are times when it gets darker out in the cities later on in the game.
Yet, what's odd, is that the atmosphere is still there, it's still pretty solid, lonely, a little creepy, despite it always being daytime thus far. Also, surprisingly, the voice acting is damn decent. Another thing I didn't expect.
How they would not implement nighttime in this is just brainless on their part, but as for the game as a whole, I'd actually have to endorse it, no shit, and I never thought I'd say that, given I've avoided it like the plague since it was horrendously ported to PC.
So, there are factual things regarding the game, such as mentioned above, that actually make it great. It's becoming seriously addictive.
As for the personal perspective part, I'm finding it less tedious to do the countless fetch quests in Dead Island, compared to running around the island in Far Cry 3, which felt so god damned boring to me I couldn't even finish the game. Far Cry 3 looks gorgeous, though honestly only a couple of notches above Dead Island with the game maxed. But, it just felt empty and lifeless, even despite the wildlife running around, which didn't really make it feel more alive.
The lack of enemy AI in FC3, in terms of human enemies, made the entire world feel empty. So, while seeing some fire spread over a hundred yards is pretty, and the environment beautiful, just capturing radio towers and hunting relics, with occasionally running into some bandits along the way, bored the shit out of me, and I love open-world games, including the first Far Cry, and some aspects of the second.
I can honestly say that Dead Island is far more entertaining (especially the physics and deformations of bodies), a lot more entertainment value in general, including with the combat, and thus far it's been a damn blast.
Who'd have thunk it, eh?
Well, if anyone has gone with the negative "hype" over the game, I'd actually suggest you reconsider. I never thought I'd be saying this about Dead Island, but this is how you make a zombie game... minus the stupid absence of any day/night cycle, which is just stupid.
As for being swarmed by zombies, it's far more tense and feels like you're actually in danger, and you've got to have quick reactions. The combat is actually tight, and I'm seriously shocked. I've not felt really threatened in any zombie game. Yet, at the same time, if you're quick, use a kick here, followed by a swing there, go for an arm or a limb instead of just the head for the larger zombies that punch you (i.e. tactics) it's damn fun. It's also pretty damn visceral... the chopping, the bludgeoning, the gore...
I'm a little shocked at the rant here, but that's because I'm shocked by the game. It's actually pretty damn good!
Well, there's a different perspective for the seemingly countless many (myself included, to that I admit) who thought the game was just boring, annoying shit. It's actually quite the opposite.
Everyone is different, though, so I don't expect anyone who's played it and hated it to change their mind. Just like I don't expect I'll ever be returning to FC3, which bored me rather quickly, and I wasn't the only one, so everyone's different, of course. But, there's my take thus far, for anyone who's not really tried it and only been hit with the negative hype.
I've been gaming since I was a kid (I'm 38 now) in all genres, and heavily in FPS and RPGs for most of my adult life. I'm a self-proclaimed graphics whore and I've more than a firm grasp on mechanics, how a game feels and what makes a good game.
No, I'm not saying Dead Island is the lord of all games, but the fucking thing is fun, the mechanics are pretty damn streamlined for PC in terms of inventory and the skill tree system, it looks beautiful, and both combat mechanics and movement feel good, are pretty damn tight.
It wasn't just all the bugs that people have complained about, unless as usual, someone's negative perspectives on one aspect of a game, brings out the cyclops in them and they look at the entirety of something jaded.
It's the best damn zombie game I've played in recent years, and the most realistic.
L4D is not realistic nor fantastic, though it is fun. DayZ is nowhere near realistic in terms of zombie appearance or mechanics, just in every other way. WarZ... ha ha, we'll leave that alone.
Dead Island's zombies look excellent, the animations and movement are great (when you're actually in-game, you see how realistic the body movement actually is), very realistic, and the breaking-down of flesh, limbs, sinew, bone, dismemberment and hit detection etc are all excellent. The zombies themselves look excellent, and their different movement and attacks etc give it variation.
I only have two gripes: vsync is not working no matter what I try (even though they implemented it in the PC version now; also altered the files but it's not working, so I'm getting a little annoying tearing) and there is no nighttime, though I know there are times when it gets darker out in the cities later on in the game.
Yet, what's odd, is that the atmosphere is still there, it's still pretty solid, lonely, a little creepy, despite it always being daytime thus far. Also, surprisingly, the voice acting is damn decent. Another thing I didn't expect.
How they would not implement nighttime in this is just brainless on their part, but as for the game as a whole, I'd actually have to endorse it, no shit, and I never thought I'd say that, given I've avoided it like the plague since it was horrendously ported to PC.
So, there are factual things regarding the game, such as mentioned above, that actually make it great. It's becoming seriously addictive.
As for the personal perspective part, I'm finding it less tedious to do the countless fetch quests in Dead Island, compared to running around the island in Far Cry 3, which felt so god damned boring to me I couldn't even finish the game. Far Cry 3 looks gorgeous, though honestly only a couple of notches above Dead Island with the game maxed. But, it just felt empty and lifeless, even despite the wildlife running around, which didn't really make it feel more alive.
The lack of enemy AI in FC3, in terms of human enemies, made the entire world feel empty. So, while seeing some fire spread over a hundred yards is pretty, and the environment beautiful, just capturing radio towers and hunting relics, with occasionally running into some bandits along the way, bored the shit out of me, and I love open-world games, including the first Far Cry, and some aspects of the second.
I can honestly say that Dead Island is far more entertaining (especially the physics and deformations of bodies), a lot more entertainment value in general, including with the combat, and thus far it's been a damn blast.
Who'd have thunk it, eh?
Well, if anyone has gone with the negative "hype" over the game, I'd actually suggest you reconsider. I never thought I'd be saying this about Dead Island, but this is how you make a zombie game... minus the stupid absence of any day/night cycle, which is just stupid.
As for being swarmed by zombies, it's far more tense and feels like you're actually in danger, and you've got to have quick reactions. The combat is actually tight, and I'm seriously shocked. I've not felt really threatened in any zombie game. Yet, at the same time, if you're quick, use a kick here, followed by a swing there, go for an arm or a limb instead of just the head for the larger zombies that punch you (i.e. tactics) it's damn fun. It's also pretty damn visceral... the chopping, the bludgeoning, the gore...
I'm a little shocked at the rant here, but that's because I'm shocked by the game. It's actually pretty damn good!
Well, there's a different perspective for the seemingly countless many (myself included, to that I admit) who thought the game was just boring, annoying shit. It's actually quite the opposite.
Everyone is different, though, so I don't expect anyone who's played it and hated it to change their mind. Just like I don't expect I'll ever be returning to FC3, which bored me rather quickly, and I wasn't the only one, so everyone's different, of course. But, there's my take thus far, for anyone who's not really tried it and only been hit with the negative hype.
