-Sigh- Dead Island...

[kouriichi]

I have had no problem with it so far.
Ive beaten the story ((with all side quests complete)) and have a level 40 Sam B. (Who do yo Voodoo byeeeitch?)

I played through the campaign solo the first time, and the second play through im doing with a friend.

Yes, the game is VERY difficult. But with more people, it becomes quite easier. Its designed for 2-4 people to play together.

Not to mention, its a zombie SURVIVAL game. Alot of people ((my friend included)) seem to think the game is about killing EVERY zombie you encounter, for EVERY bit of experience you can scrounge. You can easily outlevel your weaponry if your not careful.

And i wont lie, money is plentiful. I ended the game with almost 20k in my pocket. So dont be afraid to purchase weapons, medkits or misc needed for upgrades.

And late game, guns become more then common, and you gain the ability to make ammo for it. I have an 800 damage electrified magnum (Before my 15% damage boost from my skills), that runs on the cheapest ammo in the game.

And the leveling system is extremely important to the game. If your constantly gaining health, doing more damage, and gaining overpowered abilities ((i think the blade expert ends up with 30% crit chance, and 60% extra jump-attack damage?)), the zombies must scale to meet that.

The game is very balanced. But the learning curve is a bit steep. I was well aware of what the game was going to be like, and i only died 3 times my entire play through. Play smart, keep track of your area, and NEVER run out of stamina, and you'll have a great time. Run into every swarm headfirst, swinging your weapon like a mad man, and refusing to take points in survival will get you killed constantly, and make the game unpleasant.

 

[Aeon_COR]

Rant in 3...
2...
1...

Everything about this game seemed to annoy me

The strafing annoyed me, yes moving slower while sidestepping is more realistic but I can run full ahead IRL and just turn my head, so unless you include head rotation controls keep the speed unilateral.

The level scaling annoyed me, don't scale zombie health and damage off of our health, all it results in is less effective health pickups, scale the number of zombies off our health, its more realistic and makes us feel like more of a baddass when we start struggling with 3 walkers and end up needing at least 25 for a challenge.

The weapon spawns annoyed me, whats the good of a firearms or sharp weapons specialist if you cant find those weapons (or good ones) and ammo until the second act.

The damage models annoyed me, why does shooting a person in the head do bonus damage while shooting a zombie in the head doesn't especially with ammo so scarce and having a small pool, the loading tips even say go for the head. Also hacking off limbs is cool, but when doing so takes almost half the zeds heals per limb, whats the point. (for example the thug, taking off one arm doesn't even slow down his attack pattern, he just compensates by swinging his other one twice as much, by the time he loses both a kick or 2 could finish him.)

The weapon mods annoyed me, yes it is cool that i can have my weapon ignite, electrocute, and poison zeds. It's decidedly less cool when their bodies become a hazard even when defeated, it just makes them even more dangerous, that kinda defeats the point!

The Menus annoyed me, the bleeding menus! why is my mouse so slow in them, WHY, THERE IS NO REASON! (unless its a port then they just didn't bother to check the sensitivity) (apparently there is a fix for this in the steam forums, but just patch it devs)

The characters annoyed me, look at me when I talk to you. Shut up you stupid nun, they're not demons, they're not overcome with the forces of evil, its an infection, you know this, other NPCs know this, the player knows this, did you not see the giant quarantine.
Remove your goddamn high heels, YOUR A COP, A FEMINIST COP, you should know better, when shit hits the fan get sensible shoes. (there's more but you get the point)

The skill trees annoyed me, why does the description cover the other skills with no way to remove it, put that shit in a side bar.

The fall damage annoyed me, I can drop further than these fuckers can, and I'm not a cop, body guard, or former athlete, I can't jump higher but their in peak physical condition they should be able to and I can at least climb.

The tutorial annoys me, it's kinda lacking, sure it gives you the basics, and figuring it out as you go along does add to the desperate feel they wanted, but it would have been nice to know some basics about how weapon stats affect things rather than being told in the loading screen hints, or that drinks heal and i should look out for them.

The crouch annoys me, why include it if it doesn't do anything, you don't crouch low enough to find cover against gun wielding enemies, it doesn't make you more silent so you might sneak past zombies, you cant even duck under openings my grandmother with replacement hips and knees would laugh at!

The degradation / repair cost balance annoyed me, who are we paying exactly, and why are we paying so much, either have it cheaper, or have stronger weapons.

The door buster mechanic annoyed me, why move the mouse up and down, it makes it harder to be precise, and it doesn't tell you the specifics, at first i was trying to get it to hover over red like a balance beam.

The searching containers annoyed me, press once to open, WAIT FOR ANIMATION, press again to grab, WHYYYYYY!

All this added up to zero immersion, Every time i did something it started with the thought "I am playing a game in which the character I am controlling is ..." never "I am..."

 

[RollForInitiative]

I think if you're going to level scale (Where EVERYTHING levels with you), don't really bother including levels at all. Why not just gain a skill point or whatever every time you fill the EXP bar?

That's basically what Deus Ex does. No levels and a Praxis Point every time you successfully fill up the XP bar. Whether they scale or not isn't clear, however.