Dead Island 2 - Simple, Gory, Fun

By Sam Coles: 

Development Hell is not exactly a new phenomenon in the games industry, as there are many examples throughout gaming history, Duke Nukem: Forever being the most notorious. When a game is announced and then disappears for almost a decade, that should raise some red flags. Dead Island 2 was first announced all the way back in 2014, it was first handed to Yager who made the excellent Spec Ops: The Line, then Sumo Digital who made Crackdown 3 (oh dear) and then finally Dambuster Studios who made Homefront: The Revolution which was decent. Was it worth the almost decade long wait? In short, yes, as it is an example of how you can have a game that is simply fun, with nothing complex but it is well made, competent and presents itself well.  

Dead Island 2’s plot is simple; it takes place in LA or as the game cheekily dubs it “HELL-A” which I thought was a nice touch. Anyway, you are one of few slayers on a flight out of the zombie infested city, however things got predictably wrong as an infected passenger turns into a zombie and takes a chunk out of someone's jugular as she tries to get a selfie with him. The plane crashes, you emerge bleeding out as your slayer of choice and you find that you are conveniently immune to the zombie virus.  

The story is standard in terms of zombie fiction, but that is not a bad thing as it sets up the context of the gameplay. Plus, what I like about the narrative is that it makes fun of celebrity and influencer culture, which made me crack a smile a couple of times. For example, there is a side quest you take on from an influencer, this involves you getting footage for her Instagram where you must kill zombies in creative ways. It made for a funny experience, and yeah some have said the dialogue is cringe worthy but that is the entire point as influencers can be and this is coming from someone in that circle.  

Dead Island 2 ditches the open world formula to focus on gameplay, combat and extreme detail (oh boy). When they said they were not going open world with this instalment, a lot were disappointed but this means they can craft a more focused experience with less filler (mostly).  

The game’s main focus is combat, most of the survival elements have been done away, with a simple crafting system for ammo types, med kits as well as general upgrades for weapons (which I will get into later). The game’s combat is mostly melee focused, and yes it seems simple but you can get surrounded quickly but that is where the counter system comes into play and you can unleash substantial damage on a zombie that is stunned. You can grab them in this state, where you can then pummel, stab, slash or stove a zombie’s face in with a shovel or whatever blunt instrument you have on hand.  

You can make and upgrade weapons, which can be infused with various elements such as fire and electricity or acidic chemicals that can melt zombie’s flesh off. This also applies to the fire arms, which can be equipped with explosive capabilities which is great for clearing a crowd. You can make some insane combos that output ridiculous damage, my favourite combo are the knuckle dusters with acid coating on them, these were fun to use coupled with the excellent sound design as you cave a zombie’s skull in.  

There are character upgrades in the form of cards, these can range from a great drop kick move which never gets old to passive abilities such as doing more damage when you are near death. As you get further into the game you unlock more, and I found the game got easier in tandem, as I was able to regenerate health when I got a perfect block, and I was up against enemies 2 levels above me.  

Now let’s talk about the standout feature in this game, and that is the gore engine appropriately named F.L.E.S.H. You can literally tear a zombie a part, rip their skin off and just eviscerate and disembowel zombies. You can punch a zombie through their skull as you grab their eyeballs, hit a zombie so hard that their eye pops out its socket, or break their arms where they are hanging by a thread of their skin. If you are easily squeamish, then this game might make your stomach churn a bit it even got me a few times when I noticed a zombie with their guts hanging out.    

Visually the game looks fantastic, the bright sunny and blood-soaked streets of Hollywood look amazing running on the Unreal Engine 4. Facial animations during cutscenes look really good, you see the subtle expressions on character’s faces from a quick flick of an eyebrow to a cheeky smirk from the likes of Sam B.  

The only thing I can say negative about this game, is that it can get very repetitive if you play it for too long, this is why I recommend that you play the game in two-hour bursts like I did. Also, I was playing on PS4 which runs at 30 frames per second for the most part, however I did notice the framerate drop a few times especially when I started to use explosives or certain elemental weapons.  

Overall, Dead Island 2 is a very enjoyable game, if you are looking for a game that allows you to unleash havoc on a zombie population then this is the game for you. It is fun, over the top and has its tongue firmly in its cheek and I love it. The combat combined with the gore engine, makes for a satisfying experience.  

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Resident Evil 4 Remake - A Classic Redefined, Reinvented and Reborn.

By Sam Coles: 

Video game remakes seem to be rather ubiquitous these days, especially if you are a horror fan, with the recent Dead Space remake, the upcoming Silent Hill 2 and of course the subject of this review Resident Evil 4. A remake that most were not really asking for, and I was one of those skeptics as I thought it didn’t really need a remake, but I was very wrong after playing it. I feel that Resident Evil 4 is the gold standard of how video game remakes should be done. It is a great experience, so without further delay let’s get into it.  

The story retains the same context, where it is set 6 years after the Racoon City incident, and you play as Leon Kennedy working for the US Secret Service looking for the President’s missing daughter in Rural Spain. It is the same setup, however the characters act more like human beings in the story, and they flesh out a lot of the backgrounds with each character making the world feel more believable. Leon is still snarky and cynical, however it is realistic given the ordeal he went through in Racoon City so having a dark sense of humour is a given. For one, Ashley is a likeable character in this game, yes, she still shrieks in horror when she is grabbed, but it is the quieter moments. She has some nice moments with Leon, she can be funny and as the story progresses, she becomes braver in the scenario it is a nice character ark. Overall loved the changes to the story, as they made it more engaging.  

Now let’s get into the gameplay, which I was very nervous about how much they were going to change it, but they have maintained it but tweaked it to make it feel more like a survival horror game. You can aim, shoot and do location-based damage however you can now move while aiming and shooting. However, this added movement comes with a caveat as the enemy A.I. is far more aggressive in the remake compared to the original game. They are faster, have more tactics and will swarm you if you stay still. You can still thin out the crowd with melee attacks, which Leon’s roundhouse kick is incredible in this game, but they can grab you from behind now and will hold you for their allies to repurpose their pitch forks into your abdomen.  

 

Shooting has been tweaked and feels more realistic, with more recoil but the feedback feels amazing which enhanced by the excellent sound design. The starting pistol feels like it can do damage, compared to the pitiful noise from the original and the shotguns my lord the shotguns, I feel like I need to hip thrust with each trigger pull. Sorry I lost my trail of thought with the shotguns, anyway my point being is that the weapons and Leon’s melee attacks feel meaty and have a gory and juicy outcome. It is still an action game, but I do feel that ammo and items are sparser as I felt there were moments where I barely escaped combat encounters compared to the original, so picking the right shot is still key.   

Leon has more weight to him in terms of how he controls, everything in general has more weight to it. Leon no longer feels floaty, he moves realistically, and you really feel his struggle throughout the game as he is being swarmed as well as every axe, pitchfork, knife or mace that embeds into Leon’s shoulder or face. Leon no longer brushes off axe blows, you feel it when they land their attacks, it is brutal!  

They have also changed how the knife works; it now degrades over time until it breaks. This adds a layer of tension to fights, as you can now parry melee attacks from enemies which keeps the combat flowing, but you can also stab them in the throat if they grab during a fight. I know weapon degradation tends to be met with eyerolls, but the combat knife lasts for a while, it can be repaired and if it is broken you can find spare knives throughout the game to help you out before you get to The Merchant.

 

Speaking of The Merchant, he is back, and the economy has been tweaked in this game which makes you spend your money wisely. Treasures such as Spinel and Velvet Blue gems are rarer in this game compared to the original which were everywhere, they are now given to the player more sparingly, but enemies do tend to drop money more frequently. I did notice that items are more expensive, such as weapon upgrades, but it just makes you be more careful with how you sell certain treasures as you can earn certain gems to put in more elaborate pieces to sell them for high prices.  

One of the most notable things you will notice first booting the game up are the visuals, and they look superb, and I am playing this on a standard PS4. Considering I am playing this on 10-year-old hardware, it looks amazing, everything looks dark, oppressive and juicy in terms of the blood and gore. This game is extremely violent, the death animations have been ramped up, the kill from the chainsaw man is no longer a quick decapitation, but a slow drawn-out stab into the chest as he thrust the chainsaw up your torso. The visual feedback from the violence is extreme, and made me turn away a few times, but it adds to the relentlessness of the game.  

The game tries to run at 60 frames per second like other RE Engine games, but it doesn’t quite hit that target, a 30-fps mode would be greatly appreciated in a later patch for PS4 users. I did notice texture pop in here and there on certain objects, however it didn’t happen too often, so it didn’t hinder my experience, I am just super impressed that this game looks so good on PlayStation 4, it is quite a triumph.  

The remake of Resident Evil 4 is a fantastic experience, Capcom have done it again with another remake of a classic. They took the foundation of what made the original game great, and then elevated it to new levels to satisfy both old fans and newcomers to this game. If you have or have not played the original, I highly recommend this game, and dare I say it is better than the original. A must play!  

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