Dead Island Riptide, and looking to the future...

Well I'm back again with another post.  Lately I've been thinking about getting back into school, but the problem with that is just how to go about it and what do I want to do?

I enjoy writing; its a hobby but its not something you can just translate over into a profession.

Things that I have going for me:

• I'm exceptionally creative.
• I enjoy writing.
• I can draw to some degree.
• I'm an analytically thinker. 

Things I got working against me:

• I have a GED.
• I have no past college experience.
• I need to do online - only - courses that allow me to work on things on my own time/terms.  This is due to the fact that I have a family.
• Because I have a family I need a loan/grant that gives enough money not just to pay for schooling, but will also handle living expenses.
• Everything I've seen about college courses don't jive with my wants.
• I also have no idea on how to go about doing things.

As my wife put it to me - what do I want to do with my life?

Well I'd like to be a writer.  But a job as a writer doesn't pay the bills unless I look for something in journalism.  Now this is an option that is starting to have a growing appeal to me as journalism does not necessarily mean I go out and interview people, though that is part of it.

A journalist can easily make a living doing what I'm doing now, writing a blog.  They can write for a newspaper, for a website, or do other things.  As I think about it it appeals to me more as a writer.  Sure its not writing a book or anything, but it would set me on a path.

As for money I'm likely going to end up having to take out a loan for paying for it all.  And from what I've learned I'll need to find something with a low fixed interest rate that would give me enough bank to pay for classes and living expenses for the duration of my time taking classes.  And classes all have to be online and not based on any sort of set schedule (as in the teacher posts the lesson and the students log in and view it when they are able to).

The reason obviously for this is that I can't sit in a class room.  Its not that I don't have the attention span, its just that I am easily bored when I am not actively engaged in some thing so I tend to fall asleep easily.  (I'm well known for falling asleep in church as a kid, and as a teen.  My family eventually decided to just let me stay home since I had no desire to be there anyway.)

But least to say that I've got something of an idea in place on how to solve my employment problems.

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Ok to get to the main topic.  I've been playing Dead Island Riptide for about a week or so now.  one of the best improvements I've enjoyed is the leveling up of your ability to use different weapon types.  This adds a bit of extra damage to what you can do and makes critical hits more likely.

I've been playing as Logan Carter, the ex-football player.  He's a carry over from the first game and all of his capabilities came with him.

The story, as many already know, continues on from the first game.  The first game ended with the survivors arriving via chopper to a ship for rescue.  Riptide kicks in at this point with them soon being taken in at gun point and put into a room with the new character John Morgan who is also immune to the virus.  This brings the playable character list up to 5.

As one would expect, the peace of captivity doesn't last long as zombies turn up on the ship.  You escape a midst the chaos as the ship ends up sinking and end up on the new island of game play.

The game introduces new banter as the characters go around doing their tasks.  But there are also a few other new things.

First there is the base defense part of the game that comes up.  These pop up as the story progresses and involves setting up defenses in your current home base to hold off a zombie horde as it attacks.  This involves placing mines, setting up fences, using miniguns (with limited ammo) and just trying to survive.  Now the other characters are present, unlike in the previous game, and actively help hold off the zombies, though they are not as effective as you are.

As for where I'm at right now, I'm in Henderson, just after the base defense on the roof of the cinema. 

Do I do coop?  Nope - I generally dislike doing coop with people I don't know.  Now this is less of a problem in Destiny, but then again I haven't played that game in months.

So one of my problems with the game is that there's no climbing mechanic that can help you to climb up on things or keep you from falling.  This was a lacking feature in first game as well and would have been a nice feature (something that was remedied in Dying Light).  One other thing that is lacking is a character who is more balanced than the other characters.  And by this I mean someone who lacks the focus that each character grants and allow a general specialist.

Logan - Good with thrown weapons.

John - Good with unarmed/claw/brass-knuckle attacks.

Purna - Good with firearms.

Sam B - Good with two handed/blunt weapons.

Xian Mei - Good with edged/blade weapons

Now for this generalist I figured maybe someone who was a little of the other characters but also their own beast.  For Fury, its hard to say, but the basic might be the ability to quickly move up to opponents when targeted and deal a powerful attack that sends the opponent flying back from the.

For Combat I'd say that they shouldn't have an area of focus but a broad focus on the use of all weapon types with maybe a better than normal capacity to trigger special effects for weapons than others.

And for Survival I'd build on improved movement, like being able to move faster on land and in water, maybe improved jumping, ranged attacks against the character have an increased chance to miss and so on.

I think that the only thing I'm disappointed are some instances when you are pushed back by an unseen force, or a surface is just slippery and you can't get on it because the character keeps sliding off.  These two problems combine sometimes to send you flying back off something you clearly should be able jump on top of.

The other problem is suddenly dying from a zombie one shot with a thrown weapon.  This shouldn't happen at all.  Yes it could do a lot of damage or kill you if your health is low...but not when your at full health.

Zombie AI also is a problem.  You can try and sneak up on them but they know your there already.  Another thing is the way they all seem to know right where you are.  Zombies should be dumb as a box of rocks, not all knowing of what ever enters into an area, especially drowners and infected types of zombies.  These guys home in on you in an instant which is irritating.  They should be more perceptive, yes, but a drowner should not be perceptive of where you are if you are not in water.  The infected should also have a reduced range of perception, but still keen none the less.

Now all this does make for a challenging game but from the stand point of a nerd who has played many table top RPG's and had long talks about zombies with other nerds its a little irritating to not see some degree of common sense at play in designing the different zombie types.

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Dead Island - A table top RPG setting?

Now I've mentioned the zombie thing in a previous posting but I wanted to retouch on the subject going over whether or not this video game would make a good RPG setting?  Well the answer is yes, but as long as the GM and Players are on board with the idea of there being a degree of ridiculousness involved.  For example, creating a sword that is electrified and can cause a zombie to become paralyzed and suffer ongoing damage is a bit out there.

First you have to create rules on crafting these unusual/exotic weapons.  Second there has to be a suspension of disbelief there.

Which Game system to use?

• Hero System - By far the best system to use as you can easily use the point system to craft the various mods for weapons.  The system also allows you to make talents like those of the characters from Dead Island.
• D&D 5th Edition - Not a good system to use for this setting unless translating it into a D&D setting.  Mods would just be enchantments, but if you have the GM's book you could work out a steampunk like setting where mods could be applies in the place of actual magic enchantments.
• Savage Worlds - This set of game rules could make a good place to start for a game.  Now the GM may want to add some new talents that could better emulate some of the things found in the Dead Islands game setting.  Mods for weapons could be worked at as well to some degree.
• Mutants & Masterminds - This game system is similar to hero system in that it makes use of points to build your characters with.  Feats are present as are super powers which could be used to simulate just improved mastery of combat.
• Star Wars - Clearly the appearance of zombies in the Star Wars universe would be a non-cannon adventure to deal with.  The setting does offer the technology for a man-made virus to exist that works like the virus in Dead Island.  Exotic weapons aren't really necessary since the ones in Star Wars are more efficient than the ones that exist in the game, but this shouldn't stop a player from coming up with creative mods that work with in the rules for the game system.

So in Dead Island you have a number of different types of zombies.

• Walkers - These are people who have been eaten to some degree, greatly harmed or have been dead for some time and sport decay to that effect.  Walkers are a slow type of zombie that does not give chase, but can lunge forward with some speed when someone is fairly close.  They stand up slowly as well after being knocked down.  Walkers can also lay motionless on the ground until someone draws too close.  Walkers cannot climb or open doors as they lack the mental capacity anymore that allows them to figure that much out.  Instead they will simply bang and claw at something until they break through.
• Infected - These are people who have just turned into a zombie.  Decay has not set in and they are thus faster and more intuitive than Walkers as they have not suffered any physical deterioration.  They can chase and climb after a character (and though they don't do this in the game it could be reasoned that they could open doors). Infected tend to look fairly normal except for their screaming and whole biting thing.
• Thug - This is a mutant type of zombie that is larger than normal and stronger than a normal walker, but is other wise like a walker.  These are the more common type of mutations that are found to occur from the virus.
• Drowner - This is a zombie mutation adapted for water.  They lay in wait in the water until someone draws close, then they animate.  Drowner's move quickly in water and on land functioning like an Infected.  They do seem to be as smart as an infected as they know to grab onto boats and climb up into them.
• Ram - This is a mutated zombie that is massive in size, but has its arms bound in a straight jacket and charges opponents attempting to ram them.  They are fast when running at an opponent but tend to be slow to react and often become dazed if they run into something.  In the game they are only ever shown being in straitjackets, but it is likely that if their arms were free they would readily use them  and be immensely dangerous.  Its implied that they were criminals with some degree of violent insanity that would cause them to be restrained like they are on a regular basis.
• Suicider - This is a mutated zombie that has an instinct to draw close to a living person and explode with the force of a bomb.  They are easy to spot as they are massively deformed, and are slow moving.
• Floater - This is a large, as in fat, zombie that spits out an acid like mucus (poison) at opponents.  Its not fast moving but perceptive enough to target people.  When someone is close up it can spew out a small torrent of the acid instead.  They are highly resistant to fire damage as well as poison damage.  However they are more susceptible to electrical damage.  Like Drowners, floaters tend to be near water sources.
• Butcher - This is a mutated zombie that retains the mobility of an infected, but has lost its hands and its face is nearly an exposed skull.  The bones in the forearm are unusually sharp or jagged as it they had grown longer and to form blades.  The butcher is a vicious opponent that attacks relentlessly, but since they lack hands they cannot climb or manipulate doors.
• Screamer - Another mutate type of zombie, in the game they appear to have been women who had open brain surgery as well as being older women due to their grayed hair in the game.  they are fast like an infected, but can also emit a loud scream that leaves the character stunned and unable to do much.  It also serves to call for additional zombies.  The metal neck brace of the screamer also helps to prevent it from taking a decent shot to the head as a means of taking it out.
• Wrestler - This mutant type is like a thug only they have a massively enlarged arm that they use as a massive club.  They move slowly and while they can swing the club-arm for a single powerful hit or for a more wild but larger number of swings.  After a swing they are often vulnerable to attack.
• Grenadier - This is a mutated zombie that removes bloated boils from its body (which regrow quickly) and lobs them at the character like a grenade of the same acid spit of the Floater.  They tend to be built like a thug but have the added trouble of having deal with their grenade like pustules.

One of the main themes of these two games is the immunity granted to the main characters against he virus.  Though not immune to getting killed, the virus cannot take hold of them, though it is noted that there is a mutagen (which is responsible for the various mutant type zombies) that can have an effect on your character.

Spoilers if you have not played or finished the game..

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Now while I have not finished the game I have read ahead and found out what all happens as it would seem I am close to the end.  The mutagen seems to give the character a boost in power and toughness, but does not necessarily make them loose their mind, at least not right away and become a zombie of some sort eventually.  Its not easy to tell from the ending if the heroes of the game survived at the end or not as there is a snarl of zombie before cutting to the credits, which doesn't mean that this is the case.  On the other hand this could be how the infection spreads to California in Dead Island 2.

But in any case the idea of the mutagen being this floating landmine that the PC's have to deal with is a good story like narrative component.  Now the GM should look at keeping any potential bad effects of the mutagen to a minimum and focus on the positive effects.  This way the characters can continue to be used rather than running the risk of them becoming monsters.  

On the other hand ending the campaign on the cliffhanger of this being a possibility is one option with the pick up of a new campaign taking place with new characters but in the same setting as another option.  That way the new characters may cross paths with the old characters who might be alive and fine and able to give advise, or they may be unique "boss" creatures for the new heroes to deal with.

In all the game makes for an interesting setting for a table top RPG complete with side missions to distract from the main mission.

The game itself is ok, but too short and should have been longer to offer more story or a better ending.