"Dead Island 2," Feels Trapped in the Past With Little To Offer Us in the Present

I didn't play a ton of, 'Dead Island 2," but from what I did something clearly became apparent. I would say that, "Dead Island 2," feels like a throwback to the video games of 5-10 years ago. That can be a compliment, but in this case, it is not a compliment. The first, "Dead Island," came out in 2011 with a stand-alone kinda-expansion kinda-sequel in 2013. This was announced back in 2014 and was supposed to come out in 2015 before countless delays and rebuilding from scratch. If this game we've now been given had been released in 2015, it would be relatively impressive. It ain't 2015 though.

I think in 2015 having as a major selling point that the zombies look gross as you beat them up would've made sense. Chunks of flesh fly off to reveal muscles and brains, eyeballs pop out, bones crunch, and it is otherwise impressively disgusting on a PS5. If only so much thought had gone into making any of the characters interesting, or the dialogue, plot, and so forth less bland. There is some fun in tossing a gas canister into a downed powerline and watching as a bunch of zombies blow up just as scavenging for gear can be a good time (I love exploring for little goodies in games). I want to care about the human characters though or have the environment I'm in be somewhat interesting. I can't help but think of the, "Dying Light," games that the creators of the first, "Dead Island," went on to make and how much better those are. 

The first, "Dying Light," was fun and the second was just superb. In, "Dying Light 2," the city you explore is eerily beautiful and fascinating. The first-person parkour is a hoot, and I actually was into the story and its characters even if some reviews disparaged it. "Dead Island 2," takes place in a Los Angeles which is overrun with zombies. This sequel lacks any noticeable improvements over the first game from over a decade ago beyond some snazzy graphics, the zombie gore, and a tedious skill system that involves choosing cards representative of abilities that have a very minor impact on the game.

If all you want from a zombie video-game is disturbingly detailed violence, you'll adore, "Dead Island 2." However, I found the idea of smacking zombies around for hours pretty tedious if the story/dialogue/etc. couldn't make me care about why I was stomping on countless undead and offered little gameplay beyond, "Here, now you get a weapon that makes the zombies electrified!" Playing, "Dead Island 2," in 2023 is like running into someone you used to really like hanging out with who hasn't changed since you last saw them a decade ago. The fact they haven't matured or gained any further depth is quite disappointing. The, "Dead Island," games of 2011 and 2013 were a hoot, but I want the, "Dead Island 2," we get in 2023 to offer some kind of depth beyond, "Look at that zombie's jaw go flying when you hit it with a pool cue!" I don't think I played enough, "Dead Island 2," to offer a truly detailed and intricate review, but from what I did play, I'll say I'm glad I just rented the game for the week instead of buying it. From what I played, I'd rate this 1.5 out of 5 stars and advise you to play something else.

Good Comics, Catwoman (So, Bad Comics), Video-Games, And Contagion--Not Quite In That Order

Apparently DC Thinks Of Their Female Super-Heroes This Way
First off, no, I'm not going to comment on the whole Catwoman/Starfire-sex-thing in comics because Larua Hudson of Comics Alliance has done it even better. The Savage Critic's Abhay did a great job too.What? You really want my opinion? Okay, well, I can sum it up best with this video clip. The person below is in fact delivering their review of the Video Music Awards that always happen and are terrible, but I feel this gentleman expresses perfectly how I felt about all this Catowoman and Starfire business.



Yeah, that's exactly what I'm feeling in a nutshell. Well, at least Wonder Woman didn't have any gratuitous sex-stuff that made women look bad, it just had decapitations--fun for the whole family!

I never mentioned these great comics? Odd.

It occurs to me I never said how Action Comics #1 and Men of War #1 were really good. They were, you should buy them. Yeah, I know I said I had no interest in Men of War and even maybe made fun of it. Well, I read some good reviews and went out and bought it...it's quite good. I mean, Animal Man is still my favorite of the new DC books that I've read so far (and I'm pretty behind, but still think it'll be my favorite), but I'm definietely interested in seeing what happens next in Action Comics and Men of War. Why? Well, Grant Morrison writes a good Superman who is just starting out, and Men of War has an interesting soldiers-mixed-with-heroes motif.
4.5 out of 5 stars (both)

This Game Isn't Dead? Well, Awesome!
Apparently Max Payne 3 is an actual thing that will be coming out. As someone who loved Max Payne 2, this is good news. How about we watch a video of Max Payne 3 with the additional fun of pop-ups explaining stuff?



Yeah, I want to get me a copy of that, I think.

Speaking of "Dead"

So, I've rented (with a trial of an extended rent-time thing) and been playing a lot of Dead Island. It's pretty fun, and at times quite hard. It isn't just an easy, "run and kill" game as it has role-playing-game elements of needing to keep weapons you use to fight the zombies in good working order, through repairing or upgrading them. Plus you can make new weapons. Also, different types of zombies require you take them on in certain ways, and little things like that make this game almost remind me more of something like when I played one of the Fallout games on my console than something like Left 4 Dead. Why Fallout? Well, you collect items, its a decimated location, and some of the weapons have funny names, to name just a few things. I'm currently in the city, where it seems the difficulty ramps up a lot, but so does the neatness of the scenery. Wandering around this place that has wrecked-up cars and torn-down quarantine walls is just so neat, even if the resort you traverse early in the game is quite beautiful.

This game is definitely an acquired taste. You have to be someone who likes first-person games, but doesn't want to shoot a lot--because trust me, guns are not used a bunch till later on, you will be whacking the zombies with pipes, crowbars, and knives. Someone who likes action but also wants to have role-playing elements. Plus, someone who likes zombies, of course. I'd recommend renting Dead Island and seeing if you like it.

Viruses Are Nasty
Hm ,we almost have a theme going, as I talked about zombies which people think could be spread by a virus, and now I'm going to talk about how a bit ago I saw Contagion, a movie about a virus! Seriously though, this was quite a good movie, and interesting even if you aren't a person studying health like I am. It has suspense, drama, and some educational science in it too. I was riveted by the great plotting, superb acting, and overall quality of the movie. I'd recommend seeing it, although know that once you view it you might think twice about touching anything in public spaces.
4.5 out of 5 stars.

In Closing
Catwoman and Starfire apparently like to make comic books with lots of sex for the lonely readers out there, you should read Action Comics and Men of War, Max Payne 3 looks good, try out Dead Island, and see Contagion.