The Walking Dead "Survival Instinct" Update

David Brown

Many of you know about the game The Walking Dead by Telltale Games that has been releasing episodes for a few months now.  That game is a great game and is deserving of all of the praise that it has gotten thus far.  The biggest concern that a lot of people have had, including myself is that it included locations and characters from the show, but the protagonist was not one of those main few we were familiar with. 

Activision is looking to change that next year with their newest video game inspired by "The Walking Dead". Titled "The Walking Dead 'Survival Instinct'" this game allows players to assume the role of Daryl Dixon.  According to Activision when describing the game:

It is a first-person survival title takes place within the universe of “The Walking Dead” and before the events of the AMC show, following Daryl and his brother Merle on a gruesome journey to reach the supposed safety of Atlanta as the world around them ends. Reedus and Rooker will bring life to their characters' desperate, unforgiving struggle against limited resources, the nightmarish walkers and, perhaps, their fellow survivors...

The best news of all came today when it was announced that Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker would be reprising their roles as Daryl and Merle for the game. This is exciting news and if it is an indicator of what is to come there is much excitement in the future.  Stay tuned to Zombies & Toys for continued coverage of The Walking Dead "Survival Instinct" and watch for the game to drop next year on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Windows PC.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II Zombies Review

Dave Brown

We have been talking a lot about Call of Duty: Black Ops II for the past few weeks and now that the game is out,  we finally get the chance to ask if it is worth the price of admission or not.  Activision has been so gracious as to give us a copy of the game for the purpose of this review. I would like to take a look at each of the different modes in the game ultimately, but would like to start with a mode that has been close to our hearts for a while now, the zombies mode.

The Zombies mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops II is a much more fleshed out experience than it has been in previous releases. In the zombies mode you can choose to do the story centric Tranzit mode, the Survival mode, or the new 8 player Grief mode. 

Tranzit is the so called meat and potatoes of Zombies mode as it allows you to traverse an open world setting finding all of the mysteries that the map has to offer all the while avoiding the hoardes of the undead that are following right at your heels.  In Tranzit you and up to three other players start out in the bus terminal on a ruined earth.  The dead have overrun everything and all you have at your disposal are your combat knife and a handgun.  It is up to you to find the weapons to survive from this point on.

As in the past games, as you kill zombies you gain point that can be used to purchase weapons, purchase powerups or access parts of the map that are locked.  In Tranzit mode you have two very important new additions to your survival plan. The first is the zombie bus which will allow you safe passage from one part of the map to the next, but is also succeptable to zombies attacks. The bus can also be upgraded with parts that are scattered around the map allowing for ladders which will allow roof access and various other add ons.

The second addition is buildables.  As mentioned earlier with the bus, you have the ability to find items scattered throughout the map. These items can be combined at workbenches around the map and used to create a number of different things including a tool that will open locked doors without the need for points in some cases. Tranzit is a fun mode, but be cautioned that you will have a very hard time if you choose to go alone.

If you don't feel like discovering the mysteries that lie within Tranzit you can play the survival maps, which function much in the same way that they have in the past, these are very fun maps that lend themselves to fast action and a dash of strategy.  The other mode that you can try out is the Grief mode.  This new mode allows two teams of four to take over a map and fight with or against each other against the undead.  The ultimate goal of this mode is for one team to be left standing.

You cannot just kill the other team members though, you must make them die from the zombies. All the team work in the world will allow you to survive far into the waves, but at the end of it all the question becomes when to choose to turn on the other team and fight your way to survival and victory.

With this all being said, I can enthusiastically say that Call of Duty:Black Ops II Zombies mode is everything that fans of the previous games asked for and so much more.  There is enough to keep even the most seasoned hunter busy for a while.  The tight controls and great ambiant sounds keep you in the action and you will be on edge the whole time.  Run out and pick up this game today. This is just one mode and there is so much to offer, the multiplayer and single player mdoes are great additions that all create one hit game. 

Call of Duty is available now on PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 systems and retails for $59.99.  Stay tuned to the blog as we further follow this game through the add ons and if you are lucky we may even throw in a few surprise announcements along the way.

Dishonored Review

David Brown



Bethesda has always been a company that knows how to deliever an epic storyline that gives players the freedom to choose how they complete a mission.  In Dishonored you are a royal protector who is framed for murder and kidnapping.  It is your mission to get revenge on those that wronged you and try to find the princess who was kidnapped. 

If you are unfamiliar with Bethesda, you can see our review of Fallout 3: Vegas here to see just how grandiose their games can be.  From the minute you start Dishonored you are engrossed in the storyline.  This game is played from a first person perspective that helps to draw you in. You get a steampunk style victorian setting where guards are not your only worry.

This game is one of choice, you can choose to take enemies out head on in battles where that will see you blocking, parrying, and attacking with various weapons and magic.  The enemies in this game can quickly outnumber you if you aren't careful and combat can you tense.  If you don't feel like fighting Dishonored also allows you to utilize stealth to complete your objectives.  I was able to get through the first section of the game by only killing one enemy.

The controls in this game are very similar to many first person shooters, but I have to say that I haven't seen such tight controls in a long time.  The controls make it easy to drop down from a vantage point silently and sneak up behind your enemies. From here  you can pickpocket them, kill them or render them unconscious. 

The question arises from here, why even care about killing or just knocking out guards.  The answer comes in the form of rats.  The rats in Dishonored carry the plague virus and when in large enough numbers can devour flesh off a human being with rapid pace.  The more that you kill in this game the more rats that will begin to populate the world.  You will also see the world grow darker in order to reflect your actions. Know this brings us to the question of why we would review this game on a zombie-related site?

The answer comes in the form of plague victims.  As I stated there are many plague rats that fill the streets infecting unlucky citizens.  These plague victims become very disoriented and will attack with viciousness.  They want to hurt you.  The more you kill, the more the plague will overtake the city and the more enemies that you will come across.  The plague throws out shades of a virus and the rapidity that it spreads throughout a populous once a proper catalyst is in place.

As for the rest of Dishonored I will say that the soundtrack is amazing and that the dialogue is spot on in many situations that I have come across.  The general atmosphere is dark in the streets and luminous in the target areas. You will see the dire environment around you and want nothing more than to make things right. 

In regards to length all I will say is that this is a Bethesda game.  With that I mean that you will not be completing this in a few settings.  You can easily put many hours into this game as it keeps the action at a reasonable pace.  This game may not have zombies in the typcial sense, but the plague victims that litter the streets make this a game where you must avoid the infected in order to make your mission a bit easier.  We see moral choice upfront in this game and that creates the immersive environment that makes this game an instant hit. The game is currently available for Windows PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.  Go out and pick this one up and get revenge on those that 'Dishonered; you. 

Zombie Driver HD Plows Onto Xbox Live Today

David Brown

Are you a fan of games where you can drive fast and spread destruction? Are you a fan of games where you can kill zombies with a number of different weapons?   Do you love frantic action? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then I have a new game for you.  Zombie Driver HD is a newly released game from Exor Studios that puts you in the role of driver during the zombie apocalypse.  The army is quickly being overrun and the zombie hoards are starting to take over the streets. It is up to you to utilize the various vehicles and weapons at your disposal to decimate the zombie menace as best as you can.

 

To say that the zombies in Zombie Driver HD are plentiful is an understatement at best. From the minute you leave the safety of the military base you will encounter hundreds of the shambling dead.  They will come at you fast and hard and come in a number of different varieties.  You can choose to stay on the roads or you can drive through many fences, yard and abandoned parks.  

Along the way you will find a number of weapons to help up the ante from the machine gun, to flame throwers and even a decimating rail gun.  There are so many ways that you can dispatch the dead and so many vehicles to use.  You will find taxis, tanks, and even limousines along the way that will help you in your mission, and more vehicles are unlocked through side missions and the various modes.

 

The game looks great and everything seems very crisp. A minor complaint is that the text in many of the menus seems a little small, even on my HD television, but this doesn't detract from the in game action.  I will say that starting out I was a little taken back by the controls.  There was a bit of getting used to the driving and maneuvering, but after about a half hour I got the hang of the controls.  The vehicles control very tight and each handles differently, so you do have a variety to complement your driving styles.  Like the speed of the vehicles, the game moves very quickly.

The good news is that there are numerous other modes besides the main story mode that will keep you busy for a while.  Every mission has side objectives that range from clearing out a certain area to beating a level with a certain amount of time or percentage of health left.  Exor studios has put a lot of work into this game and it shows throughout.

If you would like to try your hand at Zombie Driver HD, you can find it today on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 points, on PC for $9.99, on Android OS for $6.99 and coming soon to Playstation Network.  Drive on out and pick up this game today, and stay tuned for details concerning a special Zombie Driver HD giveaway later this week.

Dead Island Gets a GOTY Edition June 26

David Brown



Last year the world took a trip to Dead Island. While many reviews were mixed, including those of our writers, nobody can deny that it was a great concept. Many of you have probably had the chance to play through the game and experience the things it had to offer.

For those of you that did not, there is hope.  According to our friends over at Joystiq, Deep Silver will be releasing a Game of the Year Edition on June 26.  The edition will include the Dead Island game as well as all 3 DLC packs whcih include "The Ryder White Episode" "Bloodbath Arena" and "The Ripper Weapon". 

So far over three million copies of the game have sold worldwide and it doesn't look to end there.  You can pick up the GOTY Edition for $29.99 on PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

Dead Island Super Review

David Brown

If you are an avid reader of the site, you will no doubt remember all of the fun coverage that we have had in regards to a little game by the name of Dead Island. We have brought you story points, videos, character info and even preorder bonus information. Now that the game is out none of that really matters. The one big question on everyone’s mind is whether or not the game is fun and worth the price of admission?

Before I get too far into this review let me make a few points. First, I played this game on the Xbox360 so there will be some differences in the quality from the PC or PS3 versions. I am also playing a version that has been updated with all of the latest patches, so a lot of the initial issues being reported have been fixed for the most part. I am also for the sake of this review going to be bypassing the online portion of the game in order to give you a more streamlined review.

Dead Island is ultimately what you make of it. Before you start to play it don’t think that this is going to be another Dead Rising or Left 4 Dead clone. Dead Island is ultimately a mix between action and RPG elements but more on this later. When you begin the game you are greeted by a cut-scene where you see the night when all hell breaks loose on the island, to the song “Who Do You Voodoo”. This scene does a good job of showing you all of the characters that you will soon be able to play as. The graphics in this scene do a good job of setting you up for what you will see throughout the game.

After the cut-scene you are taken to the character selection scene where you are able to choose between four different characters. You choice on this screen will help determine the way you will play and the weapons that you will best be able to utilize. Upon selecting your character you are placed in the resort hotel and the gameplay begins. You are introduced to the basic controls and then out of nowhere the infected attack and you are forced to flee. You are unprotected the whole time, so it is definitely a great moment when you first get to pick up a weapon and help fight off the infected.

The first question you are probably asking is how does the game control? There are two control methods to choose from: digital or analog. With the digital controls you utilize the right trigger to swing your weapon, whereas with the analog controls your swings coincide with your movements on the right analog stick. Most of my playtime was spent with the digital controls and I had no complaints. Controls seemed very responsive and I was able to hit all body parts that I was targeting when using either control option.

If there is one thing that this game excels at it is creating an atmosphere coherent with that of a great horror movie. There are many moments where you will be scared when an infected islander latches on to you and you must fight to free yourself from their grasp. The moment when you are going into a building or down a path and hear the moan of the infected is truly a nerve racking one indeed. Speaking of the infected, they come in both slow and fast varieties as well as a few special ones strewn about that truly make for some nerve racking situations.

Dead Island airs on the side of realism by utilizing a stamina system that many will find annoying at first (that is until you realize that kicking doesn’t use stamina). The weapons you pick up also have to be constantly repaired or they will break and you will be left to use your bare hands to take down the infected. These are a few minor annoyances that will serve to aggravate you until you can learn the intricacies of the game. One annoyance for many will be the respawn system. When you die you do not have to reload a checkpoint, you just lose money and are respawned near the point of your death with full health. The issue begins when you realize that you are left with weapons that have been used and may be unhelpful.

Another nice touch to the game is its leveling system. You gain experience as you kill the infected and complete quests so there is always something to do to ever push you forward. As you gain a level you not only get more life and stamina but you also get to select special skills from one of three categories to level up. There is a certain degree of grinding if you want to reach level 50, but there is always enough to keep you busy and entertained whether it be slicing through the infected with a customized machete or running through them with a reinforced vehicle.

The cut-scenes in the game are quite good, but there are minor graphical glitches from time to time. You will sometimes see a zombie stuck in a wall or clipping through a door. You will also notice that with your characters the kicking animations seem a bit off. Draw distances are sometimes off too resulting in graphics not fully rendering right away or having mountains pop-up out of nowhere. These are minor issues, but is one that needed to be touched upon There is also a bit of an issue where you will be playing by yourself one minute and then joined mysteriously by the other three characters during in game cut-scenes.

Overall this is a great game. Many of the glitches that occurred during the initial release have been patched to the point where they are no longer issues. To get the most out of this game you must go into it looking at it as an adventure game. You will be going through the game having to plan your kills and sometimes run from fights. Dead Island is a game where the simple run and gun will no longer work. You will find 20+ hours of fun killing the infected, crafting weapons, helping survivors and trying to survive your stay on the island. If you enjoy a good adventure game and the feeling of needing to survive at all costs then run out and pick up this game. Dead Island will make a great addition to the library of anyone with a PS3, XBOX360 or PC.