Dead Island 2 Slams

So, getting into Dead Island 2, I had seen streams and was interested. I’d played Dead Island, Riptide, and Dying Light—same developer, same theme, same approach, different gameplay—and enjoy Techland’s work with zombie apocalypse stuff.

The studio found the perfect blend of over the top fun and action with difficulty and danger. The first two Dead Island games feature some base protection—an important part of zombie survival—but Dead Island 2 is more about exploration and action.

Most puzzles can be solved by exploring and finding a key item. There’s little parkour-level climbing as is the case with Dying Light. We’re talking simple mantling, putting stuff in stuff, unlocking doors, and killing zombies.

Simple and straightforward.

Of Course the Chosen Survivor is an Errand Runner

As with any open-world action or action RPG, your character—one who is immune to zombie bites, a walking killing machine—is often sent out to retrieve something or save someone. Unless you’ve got a buddy to play with, it’s all on you with no AI partners for the most part.

There are some situations or areas where humans might fight the zombies but for most of the game, living humans are either huddled together safely somewhere or zombie meal. Because there aren’t that many people willing to brave Hell-A, you’re left to run everyone’s errand and find their loved ones.

It’s honestly no different from Fallout and everyone giving the Lone Survivor work—and mostly mediocre pay. Well, in Dead Island 2, the pay is often some decent weapon for your level but those mission tend to be very involved.

That’s Called “Incentive”

That’s a large part of the fun of Dead Island games: using judgment, being patient and improving your arsenal and abilities. For the time that they come out, the games feature big enough game worlds for you to find something to do and level up.

Normally, I take a “I’ll do it when I do it” approach to achievements and challenges but in games like DI2 and Borderlands—ehh, I put in the effort. I’m actually learning the controls to where I’m better than good with timed dodges and blocking.

Now, that’s a big improvement for me because I build every character in every game like a rogue or assassin: damage and criticals. In this game, I’m actually trying to master moves since effectiveness in combat allows you to beat a challenge and get some bonus.

That’s what challenges should do and you notice more games doing it. This stretches out the game a bit as it encourages exploration and discourages blitzing through it—and Dead Island 2 like the original isn’t a game to blitz through.

Similar to Farcry. Combat makes up a huge part of both games with Farcry featuring a focus on territory claiming but rewarding exploration is a large part as well. Both franchises work within large worlds, after all.

How Can We Not Focus on Crafting?

Crafting is something I will sink minutes into whether it’s to boost the armoring/blacksmithing/crafting skill, to produce gear for adventuring, or to engage in enterprise. It’s a feature that tends to feed into other features in a game such as an economy, exploring or raiding for resources, or even lockpicking and stealing.

Personally, I feel that crafting is the straw that stirs the drink in a game. It keeps players engaged to make the perfect weapon for them or for this build. In DI2, crafting will have you looting anything with a white outline, wondering where the next workbench is—never mind that map—and trying to juice up your weapons with damage and status upgrades.

I dig that, I’ve gotten into a preferred combat style with faster weapons using Jacob and I’m having a blast discovering new mods. It’s making me more conscious of my resources for crafting and consider selling over scrapping.

Overall, this was a great release for 2023 and I’d say that the single player campaign is still worth playing now. All the involved gameplay mechanics work within sync for this fun zombie-slaying experience.

What were your thoughts on Dead Island 2? Let us know in the comments!

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

Dino Crisis: Resident Evil with Dinosaurs

Or Onimusha with dinosaurs! The main connection are the dreaded tank controls which I’ve never liked. I often think of the time when RE was released and try to remember if 3D camera scrolling was a thing on PlayStation. You could say the absence of DualShock controller didn’t factor into Capcom’s camera movement decision.

Resident Evil came out a year or so before PlayStation introduced the DualShock controller. However, Capcom continued using tank controls post-1997 in games. It turns out it was a designer choice which is fine. For me, I always felt RE would’ve been more enjoyable in that time with more conventional camera and movement controls.

With that said, I found Dino Crisis to be a blast with the tank controls. I think it was the dinosaur element of the game that allowed me to actually enjoy it. For some reason, RE-style suspense-heavy survival horror with dinos don’t startle me as much as the undead or chemically altered to where I need the controls to control like they’re supposed to.

Another interesting thing is that the events of DC take place in 2009 on a fictional island at a time where if it existed in the same universe as RE or Dead Rising, that would’ve been an unnecessary but welcome scoop of disaster. I mean, those series came out in the 1990s, eventually we would’ve gotten zombie dinosaurs, right?

Resident Evil: The OG

Of Capcom’s old pantheon of the 90s and 00s, Resident Evil proved to be the consistent one. There were Street Fighter spin-offs and offshoots that did well and were remembered fondly like Final Fight, Darkstalkers, and Rival Schools but also offshoots that we kind of remember but tend not to bring up such as Street Fighter EX—not a bad game at all!

Meanwhile, Resident Evil pretty much kept things confined to the main franchise. There were gameplay mechanic changes and spin-offs but it was such that the canon and lore of the series was easy to follow for newcomers. Also, horror sells and will always sell while Street Fighter had this hot period when martial arts was big in pop culture.

RE proved to be a franchise worth investing in for Capcom as it has proven to have strong crossover appeal. The ongoing story of Resident Evil involving an outbreak of zombies-not-zombies is one that could see the series go on for another couple of decades either by stretching the story or eventually rebooting it.

Dead Rising: A Double Dose of Dead

In case killing zombies-not-zombies with interesting movement controls don’t do it for you, you can kill them in a more action game fashion in Dead Rising. I got into DR a bit after the hype behind Dead Rising 2 and found it to be a blast. While Resident Evil focused more on the doom element of horror with one or a few zombies causing concern, in DR it’s like taking the Dynasty Warriors approach, mixing in some of that World Warriors DLC-friendliness with cosmetics, and some fun goals. It’s an action-horror series and it works.

There’s enough danger and excitement for veterans of beat ‘em ups and slash ‘em ups while not being complex to the point of putting new players off entirely. That’s a perfect balance to move copies and warrant sequels.

I found the zombie disaster in Dead Rising more enjoyable than in Resident Evil but the situation itself isn’t necessarily meant to be fun—the gameplay and experiencing the story is. On that note, DR’s story was easy to dive into and it helps that it’s the youngest of the franchises mentioned.

It’s wise that Capcom didn’t make a shared universe with RE, DC, and DR because that would’ve been the hardest multi-front disaster. Most of it is covered up but notice in movies and games, it’s usually the one location before it gets out to the rest of the world.

Zombies of two separate origins and experimental dinosaurs on the loose makes for too many disasters to manage—unless you just drop a bomb on it. That’s another game, though.

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

However, sometimes it’s best to have a primer or a quick guide on what to expect once you’re in the game. Seeing your favorite streamer or content creator go through a game and experience it is different from doing it yourself.

Survival games can be a bit daunting to get into because of the repetition of tasks and having to manage the being you’re playing. Oh yes, it can be a lot. Of course, it can be tackled if you have a mind for planning and can multitask.

For those absolutely new to survival games and open-world titles, here’s a straight-up cheat sheet on what you need to know to get you through them.

Learn to Like Repetition

“Variety is the spice of life” and “people love spontaneity” are things we often hear. We might know people this applies to or you might be that person. However, we all eventually settle into routines in life. Routines keep things consistent for better or worse.

Routines are based on the repetition of tasks at specific times. In survival games repetition and grinding are necessary to progress. Grinding has a negative connotation as does repetition but that’s what you’re getting into.

Depending on the gameplay mechanics, you might have to farm (extract and gather) resources or whatever over and over but the resources might actually deplete in the area for a period. The thing is: you will have to farm repeatedly.

Of course, it’s easier if you’re playing with someone else. Hell, you might not even have to do it—but there will be something you’ll have to do repeatedly. It might be something you do daily in-game and during your play time as those of us who have played MMORPGs can confirm.

Learn to Like Farming

You might as well learn to like skinning animals or cutting down trees. Farming is essential. Yes, most survival games feature some degree of actual crop farming and even herding/ranching. However, the farming we’re talking about is the repeated harvesting of resources and loot.

There might be a beast or creature that drops certain skins, feathers, or loot in a certain area. Usually when people find this out, they can tell you down to the time when the rarest stuff drops and after how many enemies.

The point is, wherever a particular resource is located, the player is there constantly slaying beasts to get materials or picking rocks for ores. They might stay at the lake to farm fish or clear the woods.

In an MMORPG such as Runescape which features some survival elements, these tasks are tied to different skills or attributes. They might give experience, raise levels in certain skills tied to the activity, or even improve the character’s attributes.

Swinging an axe to chop down trees gives experience in Ark but in other games it might improve strength and stamina. Pay attention to what the tutorials explain about each action and your skill trees.

Crafting is King

Besides probably Oregon Trail, every survival game features crafting. It’s as essential as farming and the two go hand-in-hand. As a matter of fact, crafting also involves a great deal of repetition as well! How about that?

Crafting allows you to progress and survive longer. You’ll need better gear to defend yourself, improve your quality of life, and improve your farming ability. While this could be it’s own category, you’ll always need a light or heating source. That means you’ll have to craft a campfire—after gathering the materials.

You’ll also need that campfire to cook food since you might get sick eating raw food. More crafting and farming. With that said, I always found all forms of crafting extremely fun since Elder Scrolls III. After playing that game, if a game featured RPG elements, a skill tree, and or crafting—I needed to play it.

I mean, I need at least two of those and all three go hand-in-hand.

Creating something in-game whether it’s weapons, houses, or meals is always rewarding both in the experience it gives and the buffs offered. Even better is when there is a rating system with the crafting system. It gives players something to aim towards while being engaged in repetition.

Just remember the little spear you’re eventually able to make is nothing compared to when you make your first ranged weapon. After that, you really see the importance of crafting.

Torches Are Trash but They Have Their Uses

The main use is illuminating an area. See, over the years, developers got really good with creating worlds down to the day-night and weather cycles. We’ve gotten to the point where developers have in-game seasons and the phases of the moon and day lengths can be different.

It’s incredible and adds to player immersion. However, when night falls in survival games it gets dark.  In multiplayer games, this can be remedied by simply running in the direction of civilization and hoping they’re friendly.

For the most part, that little crappy torch that eats up space in every game is tossed away early. I’ve thrown many torches away back when I played MUDs and MUCKs. You typically don’t need them but in survival games, some kind of portable light source is necessary.

You Might Fight Here and There

Survival games give you the option to fight or flee but some situations neither option is the right one. In a multiplayer survival game, fighting is something you will do and it will likely be with other players. The good resources are either scarce or guarded and you never know what loot someone might have on them.

Honestly, survival games are kind of like social experiments where people who would never rob someone in real life won’t hesitate to rob and/or kill and even humiliate another player. Not only that, it might be their thing in the game. Never mind mining and logging, just rob and farm players.

So, fighting is necessary in PvP settings. When it’s PvE or player versus environment, combat will always be with the AI and there’s always the choice to avoid conflict or exercise caution. A lot of your time will be spent gathering resources, crafting, exploring, and traveling.

The best piece of advice will always be to play attention to the tutorial or learn where the in-game handbook is located—just in case. Again, survival games include a lot of similar mechanics that are tied into different tasks and award different kinds of experience points.

My experiences mainly come from games like Ark, Minecraft, Starbound, State of Decay, and Medieval Dynasty. For our readers who enjoy survival games as well, let us know some your quick tips for beginners!

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

Over the Christmas holiday, I finally got a chance to sit down with the game and I must say: I’m impressed. This is pretty damn fun game that will test your management skills. Actually, I’d say that management makes up a little more than half of the game. Let’s get into Medieval Dynasty.

Storyline Progression

Let’s get the lighter lifting out of the way first. There is some story in MD where early on, it’s all about meeting your uncle’s former friends. After war breaks out in the land, the main character—Racimir—flee and attempt to head to the village that his uncle was the castellan or village chief over.

Once there, he finds that his uncle died a few years earlier. He was a part of a group with different names depending on the member you ask and his eldest friend takes over his position as castellan.

He offers Racimir the right to establish a village in the valley and that’s the foundation of the gameplay. I’m still going through the main story but I’m finding the side quests, hunting, and foresting more interesting.

Gameplay

Now this is where Medieval Dynasty shines. Developer Render Cube really delivered the goods here as it’s a stripped down survival game as far as it’s very realistic.

While I love zombie survival and some of the pioneering games of the genre, MD is close to Oregon Trail levels of pure.

Your main enemies are hunger and thirst but during hunting it’s possible to run into aggressive animals like wolves, bears, boars, and bison.

Rabbits, moose, and deer are docile and tend to run while you never really know with badgers and foxes. They might run or they might want the smoke. Something I’ve yet to encounter but are definitely in the game are the bandits.

Outside of hunting and combat but related, you’re able to craft all kinds of medieval period items and dishes. To craft the items, you’ll need to do a ton of resource gathering mainly in the form of tree clearing and gathering but you’re also able to mine.

From there, you’ll need to build your homestead but you’re also dealing with a technology system. This tech system is basically your character’s familiarity with creating new things and can be raised by doing associated activities.

For instance, crafting items and making food raises production and cooking respectively. Plowing fields and planting crops raises farming. All activities give some sort experience and that plays into skill building and unlocking technologies.

Quick Hints

The earlier you’re able to unlock different technologies as early as possible. I’d recommend doing it before the story brings it up since the main story’s quests might not keep up your play style.

You might want to focus on farming but the quest line doesn’t ask for you to farm much for a while. An important piece for your village will be the well.

You’ll want that as soon as possible but you can float on buckets of water and water skins if you have one or two other villagers. In tandem with roughly any upgrade to houses, you going to need the woodshop because eventually planks will be necessary.

Then again, you can always ask villagers in different settlements about where to find certain resources or materials. Mind you, the villages where you want the really primo materials are always far out of the way. Just know most of the stuff sold by stores cost an arm and a leg.

When starting a new game, you’re able to change a bunch of the game world’s settings. So, you can play it straight up or make it so that more XP is awarded for different activities, remove bandits, or make crafting faster.

On this note, I’ll recommend changing the length of a season. The default is a little too fast. I currently have a game on fifteen days equals a season and it’s a bit of a crawl. I’d say ten days is probably the sweet spot in this regard.

Is Medieval Dynasty Recommended?

The ultimate goal is to build a dynasty and a settlement that is the envy of your neighboring villages and settlements. It’s a fun mix of survival and small-scale city building. However, it can be a bit on the grindy side of things. There’s no end to having cut down trees, find straw, travel to villages that are ridiculously far, and accidentally running into dangerous animals while taking a straight shot from a village to your settlement.

It’s extremely repetitious and the winter is probably the season that will slow everything down. If you’re not up for a grind, Medieval Dynasty might not be for you but I definitely find it to be an extremely fun game. Far from the most exciting throughout but you will get a lot of time out of MD.

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

Before diving into this title, it’s important to note that there have definitely been survivor games before Ark and ones afterwards that did what Ark did better.

However, this title along with Minecraft, Terraria, and DayZ pretty much established the base mechanics of modern survival games. Of course, just because someone or something is a pioneer in a field doesn’t mean relevance is forever.

Let’s get into Ark and see what it is and why it players eventually moved on from it.

What Is Ark Exactly?

In Ark, players wash up on the beach of an island swarming with prehistoric animals—and online, human players. The goal is to survival by gathering, crafting, hunting, and exploring.

There is a day/night cycle, temperatures, and weather effects. All of these can impact the player’s health and chances of survival. Obviously, without lighting the night is extremely dangerous as there are predators around. If you get wet while swimming, you’ll need to get dry.

You’ll have to make sure you don’t pass out from heatstroke, eating is important, and you’ll want to cook your food. That means you’ll have to hunt or tame animals and pick up farming.

Also, crafting is essential. In the game, you’ll level up with experience and can improve your knowledge in different handicrafts and just your overall condition. This is the kind of game where you’re going to invest a time a lot of time into.

Will you fail and get killed? Multiple times. There are so many ways to just end up dead in this game: some animal could take you out or you could end up poisoned. You’ll have to learn and improve which means your chances of survival increases.

Outside of that, Ark is highly customizable. This has resulted in servers for players to enjoy the game as it was meant to be played, enjoy it with mods that enhance or makes the game easier, or use the game as a backdrop for roleplay.

The Best Parts

Plot-wise, Ark is pretty weak. You’ll come across notes and the like explaining the weird structures on the island but the plot itself isn’t exactly there. It’s more that you’ll come across lore while exploring.

And that’s fine, that’s basically what I do in Fallout and Elder Scrolls before dragging myself to do the main mission. There is something else about Ark that I like and it’s the premise.

An island of mysterious origin with dinosaurs and other creatures roaming around just seems like what you’d expect from Jurassic Park. Like, it’s not a project that should be explored but if it was and it failed, Ark is how it would end up.

The Downturn for Ark

Professional and fan ratings varied for the game. One thing that turned people off on Ark was the difficulty. This goes hand-in-hand with the grindy nature of this title. Personally, I enjoyed playing it on PlayStation 4 and the console versions aren’t even prime Ark.

Ultimately, I believe Ark just naturally declined in interest—at least as you can measure via streaming. When streamers start to move away from a title, it’s often because of the hit to viewers.

A chunk of viewers will stick around regardless of the game but there’s still a significant portion who love to see them playing a particular game. If others are playing the game they prefer, it’s not unusual for them to stream hop.

That doesn’t mean that a game just stops selling entirely. Eventually, it will but those still playing Ark four years later are the diehards. The same ones who will be there for the announced Ark II.

As for this fan of survival and open-world games, I’m still enjoying it. I love a game with a lot of replay value. This one has the added benefit of being a game you’ll just sink time into anyway.

Grounds For a Revival

Even when games experience a decline in players over time or attention via streaming, there is hope of something of a revival. Just look at the revival Among Us got late last year.

How about GTA Online? GTA V dropped in 2013 and Online had a large base but interest was fading. Those who were there already would continue to buy the Shark cards and pump money into Rockstar Games but eventually, if became boring to watch others play the game.

Roleplay revived interest in GTA Online and actually saw players who either had the game on console already or had never played GTA V purchase the game. Why? To play with others in a roleplay setting with defined rules free of the griefing that plagues default Online.

Ark saw a mild bump via players wanting to roleplay but even that declined when better roleplay worlds—other games—either dropped or go their own bumps and revivals.

Major streamer interest is the really the only thing that will put eyes back on Ark. Streamers get hundreds, thousands—tens of thousands—of eyes on them while playing games.

Sometimes, it only takes one popular streamer to play a game with their fellow streamers to get the ball rolling again. Ark can and will benefit from such a rub but if it’ll get it remains to be seen.

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

It was expected given the mess that occurred with the original developer. Unless the new developer hits the ground running with the current story instead of having to start from scratch, it could be a while before we actually see this title.

However, fans of White Wolf Publishing’s flagship franchise won’t be without some vampire clan-clashing action. During E3, we saw two new titles in the series that will debut this year.

That’s the major thing at the moment: releasing this year. Not many games get canceled or pushed back but 2020 was a year that saw several games get clotheslined back a few months—or just put on the shelf.

Bloodhunt

When I think of vampires in video games, it’s usually something single-player and action-oriented or RPGs. Bloodhunt offers a new spin on the vampire subject via a popular genre: battle royale.

There are multiple methods of combat here with players taking the role of a vampire who arrives in Prague for a gathering. When hostilities breakout among the clans, the Second Inquisition steps in to regulate.

The Second Inquisition, is a secret organization that handles supernatural threats that make themselves known to the world. Also, hostilities tend to raise the chance that the vampiric code of The Masquerade will be broken.

This code dictates how vampires are to carry themselves in the world. At the core of the vampires’ Masquerade is to not let humans know of their existence.

All of this comes into play in Sharkmob’s Bloodhunt. Players have the choice to go it alone or in a team while dealing with other players and the Second Inquisition. On top of that, players will have to maintain the Masquerade.

Impression: From the trailer alone, I was intrigued. I really dig the World of Darkness/Vampire: The Masquerade world and mixing that with gameplay synonymous with games such as Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and PUBG sounds like a winner to me.

I’ll definitely be giving this one play when it drops.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong

Developed by Big Bad Wolf, Swansong was announced two years ago and brings the franchise back into RPG territory. Since we’ve already gone into the very light basics of White Wolf’s Vampire series, just know that this one focuses on three vampires from different clans.

The game’s plot seems interesting so far with the three vampires looking at the Camarilla—a powerful clan—and its rule over Boston differently. Their different views on things influence how they navigate the city while also looking into a conspiracy that could unravel the Masquerade.

Again, it’s essential that the Masquerade is maintained because the Second Inquisition will come in and turn a city into a parking lot after exterminating vampires. Again, players will be tasked with upholding the code while using their powers, breaking the law, and feeding.

Impression: Honestly, this will be the closest thing to Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. Since Big Bad Wolf wants to keep the feeling of tabletop play via the RPG route, we could see some interesting gameplay.

This is a first day purchase for me as well. However, even though I’m a big RPG fan, I’m leaning more towards Bloodhunt. The game just looked more impressive even though I know Swansong will be truer to how players would enjoy the tabletop game.

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

Resident Evil 2 Trophy List

There will be a total of 42 trophies in Resident Evil 2 remake and these trophies also include the hidden ones which players will earn after completing certain levels in the game. These trophies will be unlocked after completing in-game events such as opening a portable safe or killing 3 enemies at once using a sub-weapon. So completing these types of tasks will earn you trophies in Resident Evil 2.

The Claire/Leon Campaigns

Another interesting fact about the upcoming Resident Evil remake is that it won’t go too far from the roots of the original game. For the modern setting, there will be some changes in the environment, locations, and missions, but the core elements will remain the same. If you’ve played the original Resident Evil 2, you probably started the campaign either as Claire or Leon. The Zapping System was in place so you could start as any of these characters and soon after completing the campaign, you play as the other character and become a part of a different storyline.

In the remake, the Zapping System is nonexistent. Technically, the original game offered four different scenarios to play, but now, you get only two scenarios in the remake. You can still choose your character when you begin, but this time, it will be a different experience.

New Features in the Resident Evil 2 remake

The camera system has been changed for the new game. According to the producer Tsuyoshi Kanda, creating scary zombies was a challenging part for the team as zombies have been shown in many ways in the mainstream media. The fixed-camera angles could have taken the thrill away from the gameplay. The team finally decided to keep the over-the-shoulder third-person point of view which is similar to what we have seen in the series’ Resident Evil 4 game.

As stated, many locations in the game are recognizable, but for some areas, new changes have been implemented. To make the environment scary, the design team behind the game has added a darker environment to conceal enemies. If you have watched the Resident Evil 2 trailer video, you have probably noticed that Claire and Leon use a flashlight to explore the darker areas.

The old techniques of taking cover or hiding behind objects may not help as zombies will continue to keep chasing you no matter how far you run away from them. The sound effects are terrifying and sometimes, you may end up being trapped because when the footsteps get louder, you feel the adrenaline pumping up and forcing you to make quick decisions.

The Difference

Capcom doesn’t call it a remake which you can notice in the game’s title which is Resident Evil 2. Despite being a remake of the original Resident Evil 2, the upcoming game feels different in many ways. The game will undoubtedly feel like a perfect horror survival shooter to the new players, but it will also give a fresh feel to the old ones. There are some new puzzles, an ammo tool, and weapon upgrades which you will find in the game.

Resident Evil 2 Remake Release Date

The Resident Evil 2 remake will be released on January 25, 2019, for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC. Capcom hasn’t completely ruled out the Nintendo Switch release, but we are still waiting for the official statement about the same.

Staff Writer; Jay Baker

Have any Gaming Tips? News? Hit up our Video Games Guru at; JayBaker@AfroGamers.com.

There were no first party games I wanted on Xbox and by that time since the bulk of the games on a console could be found on competitors. Then I saw State of Decay. It still wasn’t enough to move me to go Xbox but there was a particularly cheap one on eBay so I got it.

The first title I snagged was Saints Row 2 and NHL 10, two titles that were three or four years old by this time. I was so intrigued by State of Decay that I got it on launch. While not the best zombie survival game out, it showed a ton of potential.

Just Enough Plot

So, the game starts with two friends on a camping trip in a fictional valley town. It could’ve been a small rural county but the world—while large compared to your character’s scale—was fairly small. The zombies first appear during this trip and you have to make your way out of the camping grounds.

Once you do escape, you’ll arrive at a rural church that conveniently has a brick wall around it. Here, you’ll find other survivors who are banding together. This is when the adventure into this world really begins.

This opener obviously serves as the tutorial for game mechanics. A few other mechanics pop up later in the game but the bulk of the important ones you’ll need are explained here. Like most zombie games, the main objective is to not get killed by the flesh eaters and to eventually escape.

Meeting The Neighbors

There’s just enough story there and an endgame in place to keep you playing. Things are fairly routine: scavenge, craft, clear locations, set traps, and help your fellow survivors. That’s roughly it.

First thing, each survivor who joins you have their own skills as well as strengths and weaknesses. These are often tied to the occupation they held prior to the zombie apocalypse—as expected. On top of that, the condition of the settlement and the supplies situation all determine the overall mood.

Your radio dispatcher will give you missions to handle. Early on it’s mostly finding more survivors but she’ll tell you to gather more supplies as well. Basically, what you’re already out in the world doing. Bringing more survivors in typically means helping them with a situation such as boarding up their home and fending off a zombie horde.

This is implemented decently. The main problem is in that first time you get into these kinds of horde situations. They can seem to last forever and chances are that you’re running through medicine and being rough on your weapons.

After knocking that out, you have to get these survivors all the way back to your compound. So, make sure you have a car nearby. Don’t walk to these quests because it’s almost as if State of Decay will punish you for doing so.

Home Sweet Home

Developing your settlement or base is important. You have to be able to grow food and make weapons and ammo. Also, you’re going to need places for everyone to sleep and it’s a good idea to have sentries on watchtowers since zombies will occasionally climb over the fence.

If you’re running low on food, the mood is going to be low. Should other survivors die, the others will become depressed. Then again, some become depressed when everything is going well. Some of your survivors will decide to run away and lucky you, you’ll have to go and find them.

Now, if they don’t climb over the fence, consider it a good day because eventually a horde will be inbound. One of the best ways to thin out their numbers before they get to your home is to lay traps along any road leading to the base. The best way remains going into different places and clearing them out yourself.

Base building is one of the better points of State of Decay. If you’ve done your scavenging and gotten a bunch of gas, building supplies, and metal you’re in for a pretty chill time just setting up stations. It’s similar to settlement building in Fallout 4 only on a smaller scale and not as frustrating.

The story will advance once you move to a more “favorable” location for a base. I say “favorable” because the last location for your base is just trash. It’s almost as if it’s the hardest setting location since the design is so bad for getting in and out.

State of Decay: Better Than The Sequel

This game had a lot of flaws such as getting stuck, lag at unfortunate times and most importantly, bad AI. The zombies are going to do as zombies do but your survivors can get themselves into horrible situations and you’re the only one who can save them.

Oddly, this often occurs when you’re playing a favored survivor and this one scrub is often way out there and surrounded. This game would’ve benefited being able to tell survivors specifically what to do and how far to do it.

It also would’ve benefited from multiplayer since game was released in 2013 and there really was no reason for State of Decay, an Xbox title, not to have multiplayer. All of that aside, I played this game for hours and had a blast scavenging, building the base and developing my favorite survivors.

The game definitely needed more tweaking to make it less frustrating at times. I will say that for the most part, it delivers on what I want in zombie survival—more than most bigger studio zombie games. Plus, the DLC is great. Lifeline is really the open mode that should’ve been included with the game while Breakdown really presents a new, fun challenge.

You can get State of Decay on Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Steam on PC.

Staff Writer; M. Swift

This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.

R. D. Blackmore published his three-volume novel in 1872. The novel focuses on a two-year-old girl who reaches the coast of Glamorganshire in a boat. An old fisherman Davy Llewellyn finds the girl and leaves her at one of his neighbour’s house. If we look at the real events associated with the house called the Sker House, there’s a strong connection between the novel, the game, and the real world events.

The Sker House exists and it is located in Wales, United Kingdom. The 900-year-old building is said to be haunted by two ghosts Elizabeth Williams and a captain of a ship. Williams was locked up in a room by her father as the man wanted to prevent his daughter from running off with her lover. The lady died of a broken heart in that room and since then it is believed that the Sker House is haunted.

Fast forward to today, and we have an exciting survival horror game which is set in 1898. The game features a very different gameplay style focused on stealth elements. In Maid of Sker, instead of wielding weapons, players will be supported by an AI system to distract enemies. Players will control a character called Thomas Evans who is a musician and according to Wales Interactive, he will engage in a battle in an attempt to save the woman he loves.

As for how you will play Maid of Sker, the main focus of the game will be on stealth and exploration. The AI system we mentioned above is based on 3D sound and it will help players in survival. The developer is taking players away from weapons, but to fight the enemies, players will set up traps. Distraction will be an important element in the gameplay. Players will be able to distract those spooky spirits that haunt the house using certain features. As you progress, enemies will evolve and there will be a point where the only thing that can save you is holding your breath.

The real Sker House has been associated with hauntings and paranormal activities. The main area in the house is the Great Hall which was also shown in the Maid of Sker game’s trailer. It seems the entire building was designed around this hall as it occupies the entire width of the building’s first floor. The Great Hall is said to be the main service area and it gives access to the parlour area where private apartments of families were located.

In 1543, the Sker House was purchased by Richard Williams and later Christopher Turberville repurchased the property. Soon after Turberville left, Sker House became a home to many tenants. At present, the property is privately owned after it was listed for sale in 2003. Some stories suggest that Elizabeth Williams whose spirit still haunts the house was forced to marry and later she died.

The musician Thomas Evans, who was in love with Elizabeth, and is also the main character in the Maid of Sker game, planned to elope and made all the arrangements. He hired a coach and horses but when he reached the house to take Elizabeth with him, he had to return without his beloved as dogs in the area made so much noise.

People who have visited the house say that they saw mysterious figures and dark shadows in the room where Elizabeth was locked. Visitors have told that entering the house makes you feel physically sick and they also heard screams and wailing cries. Reports say that there’s an evil presence in Sker House that doesn’t want anyone’s presence.

Maid of Sker will be released in Q3 2019 on Xbox One, PS4, PC and Nintendo Switch.

Staff Writer; Jay Baker

Have any Gaming Tips? News? Hit up our Video Games Guru at; JayBaker@AfroGamers.com.

It all started when the details of a trademark registered by 20th Century Fox appeared online. The filing date for the trademark was November 22, which led many people to believe that the game will be announced at The Games Awards 2018 which were held on December 6.

There were some interesting coincidences as the game developer Hideo Kojima shared some pictures of himself visiting 20th Century Fox office and in the background, many things related to aliens were present. This led fans to believe that some announcement is coming soon. The host of The Game Awards Geoff Keighley also shared some cryptic images on his Twitter profile and also replied to Kojima’s tweet with the same cryptic message “Worlds will change”. Fans started connecting dots and according to their theory, the ‘W’ and ‘worlds will change’ are picked from a movie from the Alien franchise. The graphics shared by Keighley also share similarities with Alien: Isolation game.

Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the trademark application and the date of The Game Awards show were close. It’s unlikely that Hideo Kojima has something to do with Alien: Blackout game which we don’t know has any existence outside the trademark registration documents. At present, there’s no official statement available from 20th Century Fox as to what they are planning to do with the new game title.

Currently, Cold Iron studio is working on a video game which is based on the Alien franchise. According to the company’s official website, it’s a shooting game and they are hiring for multiple positions. The game will be based on Unreal Engine and it will feature multiplayer elements. Reports suggest one more interesting thing about this game. Alien: Blackout is being developed for the next generation of consoles.

Cold Iron studio was established in 2015 by former Cryptic employees. The team has worked on some noteworthy titles including City of Heroes, Neverwinter, Star Trek Online, and Marvel Universe Online (Cancelled). In January, entertainment giant Fox announced that it has acquired Cold Iron studios. The interactive entertainment division of 21st Century Fox, FoxNext Games confirmed the acquisition and announced that Cold Iron will work under its new parent on an Alien shooter game. During an interview, FoxNext Games president Aaron Loeb said that Cold Iron will start from an Alien shooter which will be available for PC and console players. He said that the kind of games the studio has developed in the past will help FoxNext further explore the world of their franchises.

While talking about the storied franchises, Loeb said that the team is working on areas of the universe that players haven’t experienced before. They are putting the game into that setting and it’s incredible, he said. According to Cold Iron’s website, they have a team of more than 30 developers and they are still hiring more people. Loeb didn’t say anything about the size of the team that’s working on Alien: Blackout, but he said that the studio is having a “full force of creatives” at Fox.

Some people who work at Cold Iron studio have a strong background in making MMO games. They have worked on games like Star Trek Online and City of Heroes so we can expect a lot from the upcoming Alien: Blackout game. Online multiplayer gaming is the hottest trend in the video game industry and since the game will be launched on the next generation consoles, it’s safe to assume that we will get to hear some solid details in 2019. Recently, two Twitter accounts have also appeared with Alien: Blackout name.

Staff Writer; Jay Baker

Have any Gaming Tips? News? Hit up our Video Games Guru at; JayBaker@AfroGamers.com.