You should actually have something there by now, Carlos gives you the blueprints to make your own medkits when you unlock his store. If you go back and talk to him he should have the zombie lure and the medkit plans available in his store for 0 dollars.
1 Like
I’ll go check next time. I didn’t get a notification for it. We are at the point where we just got the guns.
Been playing Dead Island 2 the last couple days, I’m so far feeling kind of mixed on the experience. It took me a while to notice but I think if I were to compare this game to anything it’d actually be to something like Prey. Rather than an open world you have tightly designed but large maps filled with side paths and secrets and hidden areas often with multiple solutions to access them. But I feel like this is where it is perhaps lacking.
One of my favourite moments so far have been finding such an optional area and then figuring out my own way in there - such as at the influencer mansion near the beginning I noticed one such area had a balcony I could access if I dropped off from one side of the roof. So far though moments like this feel few and far between and most of the time the solution has been fairly unsatisfying with a key being on a random zombie or something. I am not too far into the game though so maybe this is something that will get better.
Equally the rewards feel kinda lacking - I can already craft everything I want with the resources I have and I have a good set of weapons so neither of these as rewards for exploration/puzzle solving feel particularly rewarding. Blueprints are an ideal reward but I seem to find them too infrequently. Combined with a kinda awkward map system I find I’m not really all that motivated to actually explore - which is a shame because the environments are actually pretty good.
The biggest problem so far is just I’m not really finding combat all that enjoyable. I started to get into a nice rhythm with it once I got a fancy axe weapon - I was enjoying the way it played and the excellent gore system really made it pretty satisfying. At this point the combat system became fun enough if still not amazing, then they introduced the Crusher zombies. They really drag out the worst of the combat for me - and rather than being a rare tougher zombie I seem to encounter these pretty frequently, sometimes multiple at once. I’m almost tempted to lower the difficulty just to speed these things along.
Still though, it’s not all bad - I think it’s commendable Dambuster made something as good as this after the original version failed - I just don’t know if it’s clicking for me.
2 Likes
I think I will have to suck it up and try it. Really impressive even for the squeamish (like me)
1 Like
Alright I was pretty much on the verge of dropping the game or taking a break but knowing Redfall was coming real soon I figured I should keep at it and try and get finished in time for that (cause then I really would just drop it). Gotta say - it’s gotten a lot better. I’ve started finding more powerful physical weapons and now I’ve unlocked guns - they aren’t the best feeling guns but they do give combat more variety and if I want to just cheese a tougher enemy from a distance with my strongest gun I have that option. Other stuff like new skills and the rage mode give even more options - I feel a lot less like I’m just smacking enemies endlessly. Which is nice cause damn, they really throw the tough ones at you. Speaking of which with the introduction of the rare crafting components they drop there’s now way more incentive to fight them. So it does feel like the game actively improves upon some of my criticisms as you progress further (not sure if it’s ideal that you gotta play like half the game to get to that point).
On top of this I’ve been exploring movie sets and new parts of the city - the movie sets were super cool and I do like the environments as a whole. The different parts of LA are a nice setting for the game and with the smaller map chunks they get to focus on the most iconic and fun parts. Though having fought a few unique zombies and gotten keys for random containers i first saw a dozen hours ago I’m still kinda bummed out there at the missed opportunity to make something more interesting out of the environmental design.
Oh and I cannot fucking believe there is a sewer section. God fucking damn it. Worst part of the originals and with a decade to rethink on that they actively chose more sewers. Monsters.
Update: Finished the game. Definitely enjoyed it overall though it’s definitely stronger in the second half once you’ve gotten more of your skills and unlocked a bunch of stuff. Loved the setting too, LA was such a strong choice and they picked some good locations to explore. It still feels like there are some story threads unresolved but I guess that’s for the DLC, but all in all I found the writing really enjoyable. I never tire of a main character who is just having fun in the midst of a zombie apocalypse.
1 Like