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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Dying Light in Video Games
Jul 19, 2017
Awkward parkour (2 more)
Terrible story
Disappointing loot
Mutton dressed as lamb
This game came out in January last year, so it’s now more than a year old, but honestly it feels much older than that. I can remember when this came out to glowing reviews and I was pleased, because I was a big fan of Techland’s first open world, first person zombie game, Dead Island. Plus this looked really cool as it added free running and a transformation of zombies. I bought the game in about September last year, but I have only recently gotten around to actually playing it, so I figured I’d give my thoughts on the game so far. To be honest I am very disappointed, after the glowing reviews and audience praise I was expecting a game that was a lot better than this. I honestly think I may prefer the original Dead Island to Dying Light and although I may be looking at Dead Island through rose tinted glasses, it was only a couple of years ago that I played it, so I’m not so sure.
The big gimmick in this game is the free running. I went into the game expecting Dead Island meets Mirror’s Edge, but instead I got something more akin to Shadow Fall or Far Cry’s janky free running. The player character honestly feels so heavy and clunky and there is no coherent flow to the free running at all. The other gimmick is the idea of ‘drops,’ which are basically supply drops that are dropped in various locations throughout the map. The controller will vibrate, the blue icon will appear on the map and you haul ass across the environment towards it, in the awkward parkour motion that you are forced to endure throughout the game. The first couple of drops are difficult when you don’t yet really know what you are doing, but after a while you know what to expect and as soon as you feel the controller rumble and the icon appear on the mini map you know to just run as fast as possible towards the icon and everything will be straightforward. Also, while I am aware that players don’t tend to love this game for it’s immersive story, what story they attempt is garbage delivered by poor voice acting, in addition it makes absolutely no sense that you are just some random guy that the people from The Tower find out on the street and within spending a day or two with them they declare you to be the best free runner in the whole tower, it is all just far too convenient. The game also attempts to force you to change your play style at night, some of the zombies transform into hulking, hard to kill beasts with super speed, but their field of vision also appears on the map, so as long as you can avoid that, everything will be hunky dory and even if you do get seen you can just run away for a bit and climb onto a ledge and they will soon forget about you. I actually think that the virals that attack you during the day are more dangerous as they don’t have a specific field of view and are faster than the night time virals. Now while all these minor gripes do add up to my dislike of the game, the biggest let down in this game is it’s loot system. The loot in Dead Island was so good and when you had a great weapon, you knew it was great because it was so effective and felt so good to use in combat, there was just a charm to the weapons you could find in that game. The loot in Dying Light is much more generic and the effectiveness of the weapons has been neutered. The game starts you off with flimsy blunt weapons, which is expected, then you either find or save up your money and buy a sweet new axe or machete, you think that this is going to help you take out everything so much easier, but there isn’t much more of an effect, like maybe instead of dying after 18 hits a guy will die after 15, but that still doesn’t exactly feel effective to me. Also, the weapons degrade quickly, but that doesn’t matter because there is a good amount of weapons to buy and find, but since they have all been nerfed anyway it renders the whole process totally pointless, the loot system is really redundant and has no impact at all on the game. Also the guns are overpowered as all hell. The big guys with the heavy weapons will take you around fifty smacks with a hammer to bring down, but if you have a pistol and jump over a three foot wall, they can’t follow you and so they just stand still, so you just pop two or three caps into their skull and they go down in a couple of seconds. I also dislike how the damage you inflict on an enemy is the same no matter where on the body that you hit them. You can whack a guy repeatedly in the head or the legs and he will fall down in the same amount of time either way.
Overall, this game tries to be the next gen version of Dead Island, but what it delivers is a game that looks and feels like it came out at the same time as its predecessor and in a lot of ways it is even less intuitive than the first game. I know that I keep comparing this game to Dead Island, but I honestly believe that if you are looking for a first person zombie survival game, you should save yourself the cash and go pick up Dead Island as it plays better than this one and is graphically on par. However even though I have torn this game apart for the duration of this review, it is still a good game and I can see why people like it, I just don’t understand the massive amounts of praise it gets when Dead Island was a better game.
The big gimmick in this game is the free running. I went into the game expecting Dead Island meets Mirror’s Edge, but instead I got something more akin to Shadow Fall or Far Cry’s janky free running. The player character honestly feels so heavy and clunky and there is no coherent flow to the free running at all. The other gimmick is the idea of ‘drops,’ which are basically supply drops that are dropped in various locations throughout the map. The controller will vibrate, the blue icon will appear on the map and you haul ass across the environment towards it, in the awkward parkour motion that you are forced to endure throughout the game. The first couple of drops are difficult when you don’t yet really know what you are doing, but after a while you know what to expect and as soon as you feel the controller rumble and the icon appear on the mini map you know to just run as fast as possible towards the icon and everything will be straightforward. Also, while I am aware that players don’t tend to love this game for it’s immersive story, what story they attempt is garbage delivered by poor voice acting, in addition it makes absolutely no sense that you are just some random guy that the people from The Tower find out on the street and within spending a day or two with them they declare you to be the best free runner in the whole tower, it is all just far too convenient. The game also attempts to force you to change your play style at night, some of the zombies transform into hulking, hard to kill beasts with super speed, but their field of vision also appears on the map, so as long as you can avoid that, everything will be hunky dory and even if you do get seen you can just run away for a bit and climb onto a ledge and they will soon forget about you. I actually think that the virals that attack you during the day are more dangerous as they don’t have a specific field of view and are faster than the night time virals. Now while all these minor gripes do add up to my dislike of the game, the biggest let down in this game is it’s loot system. The loot in Dead Island was so good and when you had a great weapon, you knew it was great because it was so effective and felt so good to use in combat, there was just a charm to the weapons you could find in that game. The loot in Dying Light is much more generic and the effectiveness of the weapons has been neutered. The game starts you off with flimsy blunt weapons, which is expected, then you either find or save up your money and buy a sweet new axe or machete, you think that this is going to help you take out everything so much easier, but there isn’t much more of an effect, like maybe instead of dying after 18 hits a guy will die after 15, but that still doesn’t exactly feel effective to me. Also, the weapons degrade quickly, but that doesn’t matter because there is a good amount of weapons to buy and find, but since they have all been nerfed anyway it renders the whole process totally pointless, the loot system is really redundant and has no impact at all on the game. Also the guns are overpowered as all hell. The big guys with the heavy weapons will take you around fifty smacks with a hammer to bring down, but if you have a pistol and jump over a three foot wall, they can’t follow you and so they just stand still, so you just pop two or three caps into their skull and they go down in a couple of seconds. I also dislike how the damage you inflict on an enemy is the same no matter where on the body that you hit them. You can whack a guy repeatedly in the head or the legs and he will fall down in the same amount of time either way.
Overall, this game tries to be the next gen version of Dead Island, but what it delivers is a game that looks and feels like it came out at the same time as its predecessor and in a lot of ways it is even less intuitive than the first game. I know that I keep comparing this game to Dead Island, but I honestly believe that if you are looking for a first person zombie survival game, you should save yourself the cash and go pick up Dead Island as it plays better than this one and is graphically on par. However even though I have torn this game apart for the duration of this review, it is still a good game and I can see why people like it, I just don’t understand the massive amounts of praise it gets when Dead Island was a better game.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Baby Dinosaur Rescue in Tabletop Games
Apr 21, 2021
The Kids Table series from Purple Phoenix Games seeks to lightly explore games that are focused toward children and families. We will do our best to give some good insight, but not bog you down with a million rules.
The island’s volcano is about to erupt! We HAVE to get these baby dinosaurs to safety FAST! Place the game board on the table with the lava tracker token on the highest lava spot. Depending on how challenging you want your game, place all your dinosaur tokens at the bottom of the board ready to move to safety. Shuffle the cards and deal each player three. You are ready to truck it to the safety of a neighboring island.
On your turn you will play a card from your hand and move any dinosaur to the next-closest open spot that matches the card you played. So if you play that Fish Bone card, move one dino to the first Fish Bone spot on the board you see. Draw another card and it’s the next player’s turn. Do they also have a Fish Bone? Great, play it now because the next-closest open Fish Bone spot is the one PAST where you last placed a dino moving them even further ahead!
Uh oh, have a Lava card in your hand? You HAVE to play that first. When a Lava card is played, no dinosaurs move, but the Lava token moves down one spot closer to obliterating the island!
Play continues in this fashion of playing cards and hopefully leap-frogging dinos to move further ahead on the path to safety. Players are playing cooperatively, so either everyone wins when all the dinos get to the other island, or everyone loses because the island has been burninated.
Components. Any game with a trumpet-playing character already has great components. But, the board and chips are good sturdy quality, and the cards are as well. If you find that you will be playing this one quite a bit I would suggest sleeving the cards as they are handled a lot during play.
We love this game and my son requests it more than any other game we own. It is simple, fun, and tense at times! What we love about this game as parents is that it teaches children about cooperative gaming. No dinosaurs are owned in the game – everyone is trying to save ALL the dinos, not just “THEIR” dino. It also teaches that sometimes you have Lava cards and are unable to help the team, and that’s okay because another player will pick up that slack and make the team better. Gotta love educational games with great themes! Pick it up online as I haven’t seen it in stores anywhere.
The island’s volcano is about to erupt! We HAVE to get these baby dinosaurs to safety FAST! Place the game board on the table with the lava tracker token on the highest lava spot. Depending on how challenging you want your game, place all your dinosaur tokens at the bottom of the board ready to move to safety. Shuffle the cards and deal each player three. You are ready to truck it to the safety of a neighboring island.
On your turn you will play a card from your hand and move any dinosaur to the next-closest open spot that matches the card you played. So if you play that Fish Bone card, move one dino to the first Fish Bone spot on the board you see. Draw another card and it’s the next player’s turn. Do they also have a Fish Bone? Great, play it now because the next-closest open Fish Bone spot is the one PAST where you last placed a dino moving them even further ahead!
Uh oh, have a Lava card in your hand? You HAVE to play that first. When a Lava card is played, no dinosaurs move, but the Lava token moves down one spot closer to obliterating the island!
Play continues in this fashion of playing cards and hopefully leap-frogging dinos to move further ahead on the path to safety. Players are playing cooperatively, so either everyone wins when all the dinos get to the other island, or everyone loses because the island has been burninated.
Components. Any game with a trumpet-playing character already has great components. But, the board and chips are good sturdy quality, and the cards are as well. If you find that you will be playing this one quite a bit I would suggest sleeving the cards as they are handled a lot during play.
We love this game and my son requests it more than any other game we own. It is simple, fun, and tense at times! What we love about this game as parents is that it teaches children about cooperative gaming. No dinosaurs are owned in the game – everyone is trying to save ALL the dinos, not just “THEIR” dino. It also teaches that sometimes you have Lava cards and are unable to help the team, and that’s okay because another player will pick up that slack and make the team better. Gotta love educational games with great themes! Pick it up online as I haven’t seen it in stores anywhere.
Awix (3310 KP) rated Kong: Skull Island (2017) in Movies
Feb 9, 2018 (Updated Feb 9, 2018)
The Vietnam Movie That Time Forgot
Surprisingly effective and entertaining attempt to combine classic monster movie structure with a Vietnam War movie vibe. The secret monster-hunting agency of the US government organises an expedition to the mysterious Skull Island; everyone gets more than they bargained for. Is it a spoiler to reveal there's quite a big gorilla called Kong in residence?
Leading players Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson seem a bit all at sea but there is some good work from the supporting cast, who know just how much of the scenery to chew - Samuel L Jackson, John Goodman, and John C Reilly all raise a smile. The monster mashes are good fun, too. You could probably argue that doing a King Kong movie where Kong never gets off the island kind of misses the point entirely, but this is still arguably the most faithful take on the general tone of the original movie since the 1930s.
Altogether much lighter on its feet and less portentous than the most recent American Godzilla, with which it is in continuity - they don't make a big deal out of this, thankfully, but all-in-all you do rather hope the forthcoming Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla Vs Kong are closer in style to this than the 2014 movie. Toho fans should stick around for the post-credits bit.
Leading players Tom Hiddleston and Brie Larson seem a bit all at sea but there is some good work from the supporting cast, who know just how much of the scenery to chew - Samuel L Jackson, John Goodman, and John C Reilly all raise a smile. The monster mashes are good fun, too. You could probably argue that doing a King Kong movie where Kong never gets off the island kind of misses the point entirely, but this is still arguably the most faithful take on the general tone of the original movie since the 1930s.
Altogether much lighter on its feet and less portentous than the most recent American Godzilla, with which it is in continuity - they don't make a big deal out of this, thankfully, but all-in-all you do rather hope the forthcoming Godzilla: King of the Monsters and Godzilla Vs Kong are closer in style to this than the 2014 movie. Toho fans should stick around for the post-credits bit.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Claws for Alarm in Books
Jun 14, 2018
Don’t Be Alarmed. You’ll Enjoy This Mystery
Natalie’s current guests at her bed and breakfast are on a yoga retreat, but any thoughts she’d had of peace and quiet have vanished. They are demanding different food and squabbling amongst themselves. However, the real drama is happening elsewhere on this island off the coast of Maine where newcomer Francine is making everyone’s life miserable in her efforts to remake the island into what she thinks is should be. After a particularly memorable fight with Claudette, Francine winds up dead. Natalie knows her friend couldn’t have done it. But who did?
I do need to get one issue out of the way first. There is a timing issue in the plot that keeps me from giving the version I read five stars. Once it is edited (and the author is working on the revisions), that won’t be an issue at all. And that’s great because this book is wonderful. I love the setting of the series, and always feel like I’ve gotten to relax when I am reading about it. Natalie and the usual cast are old friends, and I was glad to get updates on them. The new characters are just as strong and memorable. I thought I had the killer pegged early, but it turned out I was wrong, yet all the twists made sense at the end.
I do need to get one issue out of the way first. There is a timing issue in the plot that keeps me from giving the version I read five stars. Once it is edited (and the author is working on the revisions), that won’t be an issue at all. And that’s great because this book is wonderful. I love the setting of the series, and always feel like I’ve gotten to relax when I am reading about it. Natalie and the usual cast are old friends, and I was glad to get updates on them. The new characters are just as strong and memorable. I thought I had the killer pegged early, but it turned out I was wrong, yet all the twists made sense at the end.
Vegas (725 KP) rated Ibiza Undead (2016) in Movies
Oct 24, 2018
Watchable to pass the time...
It is like a less funny version of the Inbetweeners mixed with the Walking Dead on a party Isle...
If you are a gamer think of Dead Island with nightclubs...
I didn't expect much from the story and if I'm honest I was right, the humour worked in places and there were some good bits, but not enough to save it. The intentionally irritating friend was very irritating, in a way that I'm sure wasn't the writers hadn't intended. One character disappears midway through the film for a large chunk and it makes you wonder why the character was there in the first place only for him to reappear near the end.
Not enough was done to make you care about the characters - It didn't really make a difference if they would make it off the Island or end up as Zombie fodder, you didn't really find yourself willing them on - I know it's a 'comedy,' but whatever you are watching you should feel something for the characters.
That being said, it passed the time with something I didn't have to think about, after watching a couple of series that required subtitles recently I just wanted to Zombie out in the chair to wind down.
I've seen definitely seen better but I have also seen far worse...
If you are a gamer think of Dead Island with nightclubs...
I didn't expect much from the story and if I'm honest I was right, the humour worked in places and there were some good bits, but not enough to save it. The intentionally irritating friend was very irritating, in a way that I'm sure wasn't the writers hadn't intended. One character disappears midway through the film for a large chunk and it makes you wonder why the character was there in the first place only for him to reappear near the end.
Not enough was done to make you care about the characters - It didn't really make a difference if they would make it off the Island or end up as Zombie fodder, you didn't really find yourself willing them on - I know it's a 'comedy,' but whatever you are watching you should feel something for the characters.
That being said, it passed the time with something I didn't have to think about, after watching a couple of series that required subtitles recently I just wanted to Zombie out in the chair to wind down.
I've seen definitely seen better but I have also seen far worse...
Lindsay (1760 KP) rated Storm Taken in Books
Jan 4, 2019
Storm Taken is one action packed but also as some different elements to it. It was enjoyable and really a good way to look at a storm and the way we prescriptive them. Ever wonder what it like to look at thunderstorm and wonder it something of it own.
There a storm that taking be surprised by all. Things start to go missing? Is there someone taking things with out anyone knowing. To the locals on Naples they do not know that the storm is feeding on something until they are trapped on the island and can not get off or anyone can get on the island.
Can a storm feed of fear and make people to turn on one another or will they unite? I wonder about this if a storm really can feed off our fear? Is it some weather weaponize from the government? Is is a freak storm? To know for sure it hard to say. But the story behind it is good. There seems to be few plots and is there a mad man running around?
The author does a really good job with it. There seems to be a bit mystery. We learn that we may need to learn survive and get along with neighbors. Will the families work together or will they start turning on each other?
There a storm that taking be surprised by all. Things start to go missing? Is there someone taking things with out anyone knowing. To the locals on Naples they do not know that the storm is feeding on something until they are trapped on the island and can not get off or anyone can get on the island.
Can a storm feed of fear and make people to turn on one another or will they unite? I wonder about this if a storm really can feed off our fear? Is it some weather weaponize from the government? Is is a freak storm? To know for sure it hard to say. But the story behind it is good. There seems to be few plots and is there a mad man running around?
The author does a really good job with it. There seems to be a bit mystery. We learn that we may need to learn survive and get along with neighbors. Will the families work together or will they start turning on each other?
Becs (244 KP) rated Nothing Wee About Me! in Books
Nov 12, 2019
A magical tale of female championship
You can also find this review on my blog: bookingwayreads.wordpress.com
Nothing Wee About Me is a magical tale of one girl's power of imagination and self-confidence. The story follows the main character, Liesel as she visits her Grandma Rose. She takes her grandmother's ladle and goes on an adventure, this adventure leads her to an island that is inhabited by pirates. On this island, there is an active volcano and Liesel is determined to save the day. So she does just that, but it is only a temporary fix.
However, there are multiple of obstacles that get in her way such as a dragon that is guarding a castle. All throughout this little book, Liesel is called a "wee girl" and questioned by everyone. Liesel is confident in herself and what her capabilities are. Her use of a ladle is a bit of a symbolism towards reclaiming the stereotype against women. But Grandma Rose's dismissive attitude towards Liesel's confidence suggests that Liesel's choice isn't that radical.
The text doesn't really tell the story but it rather shows it with soft, sketchy illustrations that support the text with visual information. There are only three human characters while the rest of the characters are animals. Nothing Wee About Me! is a fun and easy read that makes for a great picture book about championing girl power.
Nothing Wee About Me is a magical tale of one girl's power of imagination and self-confidence. The story follows the main character, Liesel as she visits her Grandma Rose. She takes her grandmother's ladle and goes on an adventure, this adventure leads her to an island that is inhabited by pirates. On this island, there is an active volcano and Liesel is determined to save the day. So she does just that, but it is only a temporary fix.
However, there are multiple of obstacles that get in her way such as a dragon that is guarding a castle. All throughout this little book, Liesel is called a "wee girl" and questioned by everyone. Liesel is confident in herself and what her capabilities are. Her use of a ladle is a bit of a symbolism towards reclaiming the stereotype against women. But Grandma Rose's dismissive attitude towards Liesel's confidence suggests that Liesel's choice isn't that radical.
The text doesn't really tell the story but it rather shows it with soft, sketchy illustrations that support the text with visual information. There are only three human characters while the rest of the characters are animals. Nothing Wee About Me! is a fun and easy read that makes for a great picture book about championing girl power.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2346 KP) rated Murder on the Half Shell in Books
Feb 5, 2020
Life’s Not Quite a Beach
Penelope Sutherland and her catering crew are working on a period mystery filming on an island in Florida. Penelope has hired a few locals to help out, including two teen girls who work part time as servers. After a party one Friday night, the teens disappear. Suspicion falls on Emilio, one of the chefs that Penelope studied under at culinary school. Penelope doesn’t want to believe her old teacher is guilty, but there is something in his past that makes Penelope doubt her judgement. Where are the girls? Who is responsible for what is going on?
It’s been a few years since I read the first in this series, and I didn’t remember who everyone was. Sadly, this book assumes you remember the relationships, and it took me longer than it should have to figure out those connections. The characters are good, but they don’t feel fully developed to me. I was pulled into the plot, however, with the missing teens making it easy to care about the outcome. There are plenty of twists and turns, and the climax was satisfying. Being able to visit a beach location during the winter was a great treat, and I found the balance of the mystery with the slower life of the island was well done. This is a quick read, and I enjoyed it.
It’s been a few years since I read the first in this series, and I didn’t remember who everyone was. Sadly, this book assumes you remember the relationships, and it took me longer than it should have to figure out those connections. The characters are good, but they don’t feel fully developed to me. I was pulled into the plot, however, with the missing teens making it easy to care about the outcome. There are plenty of twists and turns, and the climax was satisfying. Being able to visit a beach location during the winter was a great treat, and I found the balance of the mystery with the slower life of the island was well done. This is a quick read, and I enjoyed it.
