See what the fine folks from Plaion brought with them to PAX East!
One of the cooler booths at PAX East this year was the Plaion booth, where they were showing off a number of games. The booth also has a carnival games theme to it to go along with their game, Dead Island 2. The Dead Island 2 demo took place in an amusement park/Jersey shore location. As someone who lives in New Jersey, this took me back to vacations with the family. The amusement park part, not the zombies running amok on the beach and boardwalk part. The developers really went all out on this in terms of graphics as locations really have that look and feel of the amusement park. I was really impressed with what under the boardwalk felt like because I have worked security for an amusement park in the past and the look and feel of underneath was spot on.
Now that I have talked about the looks, on to what you want to hear about, zombies. Dead Island 2 is tough but it doesn’t punish you for playing the game your way. You start out the demo by walking along the beach, taking out a few zombies here and there. You also get the feel of the weapons and speed of attacks while you stroll the beach It doesn’t get real until you start to make your way to the entrance to the boardwalk and having to dodge some zombie attacks. However, there were times when it was hard to see what was actually happening in the area. There was a zombie that was electrified but there was water on the ground that you couldn’t really see. Later on in the demo, you had to make your way through smoke/fog to get to the other side of the boardwalk and it was pretty tough to tell if you were heading the right direction.
Dead Island 2 is a tough game but I never got the sense that it was an unfair game. The PR Reps at the booth even said they felt like it was a tough game to get through as well. Getting the hang of your weapons will be key to your survival in Dead Island 2. That and locating all the rations/health items as well. There will be a different play-style for everyone who plays Dead Island 2. You might like a faster weapon like a sword or claws. I feel that quick weapons will be beneficial as there will be plenty of zombies up in your business if you aren’t too careful. During the demo, the toughest part, not including the zombie clown boss at the end, was a group of zombies by the Ferris wheel. You had to be quick to attack as well as run around as the larger zombies could stun-lock you. One thing I would like to see in the final version of the game is the map marker, which was yellow, a lot bigger so you could actually see it. That won’t be a problem when you learn the locations better.
The other game I saw at the Plaion booth during PAX East this year was Road 96: Mile Zero. The demo had two levels to play in this action packed rhythm game. You’ll get to know the ins and outs of the characters while you play awesome rhythm scenes. Zoe comes from a rich family and Kaito comes from the other side of the tracks. You’ll have to be quick to get perfect scores on the mission as these action prompts come at you quickly. I found myself playing the demo levels several times to get a perfect score. I also had to hear The Offspring song that plays in the Zoe level multiple times as it is a great song. The Kaito level was pretty cool too as it is much tougher than the Zoe level and shows what s struggle Kaito has to live with.
Zombies and rhythm games! It sounds like a combo that wouldn’t work but Dead Island 2 and Road 96: Mile Zero are two games to keep an eye out for when they release from Plaion!
