Dead Island Review

Game:  Dead Island
Year (s):  2011
Company:  dev.  Techland
pub.  Deep Silver
Engine:  Chrome Engine 5
Type:  Survival Horror, RPG, Hack 'n Slash
Viewpoint:  First-Person
Metacritic Score: 80
My Score:  Like Fallout 3 with less guns

Price (as of January 30, 2013)

Regular list price on Steam:  $19.99 (GOTY edition)
Lowest Buy-It-Now on eBay (new, with shipping):  $20+

Game Time: 30 hours, more if desired

Obligatory Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ialZcLaI17Y


Plot

Resort island + zombie outbreak + you're immune = you're the preferred go-getter.  You help pckets of survivors with an end goal of getting off the island.  This game can be done co-op with up to four players, so cutscenes show all four immune people interacting.

Engine

Yet another graphics engine that looks like everything else.  I hit glitches occassionally that hid waypoints or created invisible walls, but these were fairly minor and there were no crashes.

Save System

Manual Save?  No
Quick Save?  No
Area Load Save?  Yes
Checkpoint Save?  Yes
Other:  Respawn on death, with killed hostiles removed

Combat/Gameplay

There are firearms, but usually only when you're fighting other humans.  Ammo isn't found very often anywhere else.  For the most part, you'll fight with whatever you can find, buy, or build.  Boat paddles, butcher knives, machetes, molotovs, and so on.  My favorite weapon was a baseball bat with a powered circular saw attached to the end.  Any weapon that you swing or throw at an enemy will degrade, so repairs and upgrades are important.

There are four different characters to choose from.  Each can use any weapon, but excel at one in particular (blunt weapons, edged weapons, thrown weapons, and firearms).  Much of the game is done on foot, but there are vehicles and fast travel options to get around faster.  After completing the main story, you can start the game over at your current level, with all your gear and everything.


Expansions / DLC / Sequels

I have the Game of the Year edition, so it includes all the bonus content.  Two DLC are worth mentioning.  The Ryder White DLC's short adventure takes place concurrent with the base game, and does an amazing job of adding several plot twists to what had been a pretty straight plotline.  Nice job.  Bloodbath Arena is exactly what it sounds like: plotless waves of enemies in arenas.  Unlike the rest of Dead Island, these two DLC are single player only.


Final Thoughts

There are several things I like about Dead Island (aside from a memorable trailer).  The game time couples with choices of different characters, the choice to play cooperatively, and the option to start over at your end-game level to offer a lot of time.  The Ryder White DLC did a superb job of making an average plot rather interesting.  And of course, there's some satisfaction to be had by smashing zombie heads.  All in all: not stellar, but definitely good.  If you catch it on sale and want to play through as all the characters, you'd have something to keep you occupied for a month.

Awesome Fateful Hour Deck

Fateful Hour
60 Card Format
Black, Red, White

4 Fire Covenant
4 Phyrexian Processor
1 Heartless Hidetsugu
3 Repay in Kind

4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Thraben Doomsayer
4 Death's Shadow

4 Phyrexian Unlife
4 Pariah

4 Seething Song
4 Jalum Tome

LANDS

Multicolor lands
Basic lands

WIN METHOD: Damage- Creatures, Loss of Life- Repay in Kind
DECK EFFECTIVENESS: A
INHERENT WEAKNESSES:  Direct damage and flyers.

DISCUSSION

It's a rare deck in which the player wants a low life total as quick as possible.  In this case, it's effective.

Form of the Dragon, Sign in Blood, Minion of the Wastes, and a few other cards were experimented with, but ultimately failed to make the cut.

Dishonored Review

Game:  Dishonored
Year (s):  2012
Company:  dev.  Arkane Studios
pub.  Bethesda Softworks
Engine:  Unreal Engine 3
Type:  Ninja!
Viewpoint:  First-person
Metacritic Score: 91
My Score:  I liked it.  Something different..

Price (as of January 5, 2013)

Regular list price on Steam:  $59.99
Lowest Buy-It-Now on eBay (new, with shipping):  $31

Game Time: 

About ten hours the first run. The second run was half that.  NOT a completionist.

Obligatory Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyDvT7XpaBc


Plot

Dishonored is set on a steam-punk world, in an empire ravaged by the Rat Plague (think of the black plague paired with Hitchcock's The Birds, well, except it's rats).  You take on the role of the bodyguard to the empress.  The empress is killed, the princess heir kidnapped, and you are blamed.  Imprisoned.  DISHONORED.  The goals are to 1.  Escape from prison  2. Punish the ones behind the coup and 3.  Restore the heir to the throne.  

Save System

Manual Save?  Yes
Quick Save?  No.  I found this a little strange.
Area Load Save?  Yes
Checkpoint Save?  Sometimes

Combat/Gameplay

There are essentially two ways to play this game, with each resulting in a different ending.  The first time, I fought my way through hostiles, and a lot of people were killed in the process.  This in turn led to more guards in the streets, and more deadly rats.  This play style ends in the "bad" ending.

Alternately, the player can sneak around, knock people unconscious, and only kill if there's no other way.  I played this way my second time, and it was more fun.  It turns out I suck at stealth, so I lowered the difficulty.  This ending was much more positive.

Your arsenal include different ammo for a gun and a crossbow, as well as a sword.  Ammo and upgrades can be purchased.  The player also has a variety of available magic powers that can be unlocked.  If the player wants to unlock many powers or buy much, exploration is highly recommended.  Different choices in powers enhance the play style you're going with.


Expansions / DLC / Sequels

Dunwal City Trials adds more content, but it's not plot related.  Further DLC has been promised.


Final Thoughts

I haven't played very many stealth games, but Dishonored was still very accessible because I didn't have to play stealthy if I didn't want to.  The Victorian era, steam punk environment was a breath of fresh air.  I also like having more than one ending, and the powers were enjoyable.  I wouldn't call this THE BEST GAME EVER, but it was cool, and different than the stuff I usually play.  I wish it was longer, but I can say that about lots of games.  If you want to try something new, check this one out.

Mycosynth Lattice Deck

I love building decks around cards that affect everyone.  Mycosynth Lattice makes all permanents artifacts.    Some of these cards are a little pricy, so it'll take a while to gather them all together.  Also, Hellkite Tyrant isn't printed yet, it's due to be released as part of Gatecrash in February.

Hellkite Tyrant is:  Card Type: Creature

Creature Type: Dragon

Power/Toughness: 6/5

Casting Cost: 4

Card Text: Flying, trample
Whenever Hellkite Tyrant deals combat damage to a player, gain control of all artifacts that player controls.
At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control twenty or more artifacts, you win the game.
It's a pretty simple combo deck.

Mycosynth Lattice
60-Card Format
Blue, Red

4 Mycosynth Lattice
4 Fabricate
1 Tinker
1 Arcum Dagson
2 Goblin Welder

4 Hellkite Tyrant
4 Hurkyl's Recall
4 Copy Artifact

3 Unwinding Clock
3 Kill Switch

4 Iron Myr
4 Silver Myr
2 Vedalken Engineer


LANDS

1 Tolarian Academy
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Great Furnace
2 Buried Ruin
9 Multicolor Lands

A Few Games in Brief

These are a few games that I've played recently, but don't feel they merit a full-length review.

Alice: Madness Returns

This action platformer sequel was released about ten years after the first game. Alice is still nuts, and again battles her way through a demented Wonderland. There's really more jumping than battling, but whatever. Madness Returns keeps the same look as the first, but with a graphical facelift (Unreal Engine 3 instead of id Tech 3).

Madness Returns addressed pretty much all of my complaints of the first by looking better and having a more enjoyable combat system. That being said, it's overall an average game. My game snagged on a glitch after I'd played for about five hours, and I couldn't play it anymore without starting from scratch and/or screwing with the game's ini files. Bleck.

Just Cause and Just Cause 2

These games portray themselves as action platformers, where a lone CIA operative is dropped on an island with a mission to overthrow the government. In truth, these are Grand Theft Auto clones. I don't care for GTA, so I didn't play this for very long. It didn't really make sense that I was taking out hits, peddling drugs, and stealing cars, “For the Revolution!”

I bought both Just Cause games at the same time. Just Cause 2 does not support Windows XP, so I can't play it without upgrading.   

Mass Effect 2 Review

Game:  Mass Effect 2
Year (s):  2010
Company:  dev.  BioWare
pub.  EA
Engine:  Unreal Engine 3
Type:  Shooter, RPG
Viewpoint:  Third-Person
Metacritic Score: 94
My Score:  Satisfying gameplay with zero plot calories!

Price (as of November 27, 2012)

Regular price on Steam:  $19.99
Buy-It-Now on eBay (new, with shipping):  $10

Game Time: 30 hours

Obligatory Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCpK2XnIaeI

See Also


Mass Effect Review:  http://fpsandmtg.blogspot.com/2011/01/mass-effect-review.html

Plot

Mass Effect focused on fighting the robotic Geth and their overlords, The Reapers.  Mass Effect 2 begins with the main character dying and then brought back to life two years later.  Mass Effect 2 has no Reapers, almost no Geth, and a irrelevant story mostly about finding a new crew to save the day.

Can I play the game already?

At about fiteen gigs, this take a while to download.  Then, there's the usual DirectX and C++/Visual Basic minor install.  Then, the game had to convert files to a newer format, which took about forty-five minutes.  Then, I had to sign up for EA Online.  I bought the delluxe edition, which has three product keys.  Steam will normally allow users to copy and paste a product key, but with three, this isn't an option.  I manually entered the key code.  Annoying.

I spent about ten mintures trying to unlock the digital deluxe edition content.  Having just signied up for a EA Online, I was not at all interested in signing up for additional crap (Bioware fan club and Mass Effect 2 social network).

I then spent a bit of time (unsuccessfully) attempting to marry my ending Mass Effect save files with the beginning Mass Effect 2 files.  The idea that decisions made early effect the entire trilogy is a huge selling point, and the failure of this aspect is sloppy and piss-poor example of design.

To sum things up, I downloaded a massive game, and got jerked around for an hour afterwards.  I never accessed the DIgital Deulxe content, or my previous save files, and the experience tainted my ongoing gaming experience..  

Save System

Manual Save?  Yes (when not in combat)
Quck Save?  No
Auto Save?  Yes
     Details: Area Load, Checkpoint


Combat/Gameplay

It's still you and two sidekicks, shooting and using powers.  Mass Effect 2 makes greater use of cover, and has streamlined the combat system.  Looting is no longer a thing.

Pretty much everything from hacking and dialogue options to "karma" and mining have returned.  There are some changes laying around, some I liked, some I didn't.  All in all, as enjoyable as the first from a gameplay persepctive.


Expansions / DLC / Sequels

The edition I purchased had minor DLC (a few additonal armor and such) that weren't worth the hassle of unlocking).  Mass Effect 3 came out the summer of 2012.  Mass Effect 3 requires a user to install EA Origin (another thing to sign up for) which will not run concurrent with Steam.  Origin has had a lot of complaints, such as having one's account hacked.


Final Thoughts

I feel like this game could have been left out of the triology.  For a variety of reasons touched on already, I have zero interest in Mass Effect 3.  I think of Mass Effect 2 as, "that crappy song by that awesome band ."  OK, but not great.  I recommend the first, but not this one.

Games I Liked: 2012

Games I Enjoyed in 2012

This is the third annual installment of games (new or old) that I first played in the last year and would recommend.  In alphabetical order: 

Bulletstorm

Bulletstorm is absurdly profane, overly violent, and that's the joy of it.  While the usual length for the genre, the ludicrous humor and interactive combat keep the player entertained.

Dear Esther

There's really nothing else like this one.  It's not a shooter.  Plot-driven, combat-free, and, in the end, just plain mysterious.  Dear Esther is an exceptionally well made experience, with small changes each play.  Beautiful to look at, a solid score, and a wonderfully haunting quality.

RAGE

A lot of people criticized this one.  The graphics aren't Crysis 2.  There isn't a plot.  This is'nt Fallout 3.  Who cares>  Between the AI variety, racing, and weapon choices, RAGE has a lot to offer.  I have had more fun with the RAGE combat system than most other shooters in recent years.  The 2-player co-op mini-campaigns, and up to four-player racing, combine with the single player mode to make the game two to three times the length of the twelve hour standard   This game also has one of my favorite opening cinema tics.

Sanctum

This one is on the fence.  The single-player mode is not done very well, due to a lack of story and a horrible tutorial.  For a single player, it's not good.  And while all my friends don't agree, I think Sanctum is a nice, alternative, casual game to play with others.  

Serious Sam 3: BFE

Take Duke Nukem 3D, remove the sex, and multiply the number of enemies by 10.  Alone, the game is an incredibly challenging old school shooter, with some memorable funny lines.  With friends, the game offers a variety of co-op and versus game types for up to sixteen players.