It’s been a few weeks now since my last daily gaming news item for Game Console on Techday.com.
My new-found spare time has enabled me to get on with tieing up loose end in the likes of Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Batman: Arkham City in preparation for the imminent arrive of their sequels. I’ve also had a chance for some quality time playing the fantastic Deus Ex: Human Revolution and The Witcher 2: Assassin’s of Kings, a game that I overlooked when first released.
As well as the odd missive on the pages of State of Play, I’ve also been writing a few words for Game Culture NZ. More that just another video gaming website, Game Culture NZ is celebration of the culture of video gaming in New Zealand and beyond. Offering up to the minute gaming news, insider interviews and informative features and reviews, Game Culture NZ is fast becoming one of New Zealand’s top gaming portals; especially since the recent addition of the vibrant and exponentially active Game Culture NZ forum.
My first published piece on Game Culture NZ was a review for the surprisingly good Toy Soldiers: Cold War on Xbox Live Arcade. This great little strategy game had me hooked for hours, even disrupting my Deus Ex: Human Revolution game-time, it’s that good
I’ve also reviewed an interesting Kinect Xbox Live Arcade Game, Hole in the Wall. It’s based on the TV show of the same name. It’s another party game for the Kinect, which seems to be all that the Kinect is good for. Hole in the Wall’s antics makes for a good after pub game, but that’s it really. I actually rated it quite high, but I’m not suggested that it is a great game, more that it is better that most of the Kinect offerings out there. A sorry state of affairs really.
Most recently, Game Culture has published my first impressions of Techland’s zombie game, Dead Island, released in New Zealand on Friday. I managed to get hold of a copy a little early and what was supposed to be a quick peek turned into a inpropmtu early morning gaming session that I found so enjoyable I couldn’t help but write it all down. I really wasn’t expecting much from the game and I was pleasantly surprises. It’s not as polished as the usual AAA titles but I’m able to overlook the game’s shortcomings because it’s so much fun.
I thought it was going to be FPS in the same vein as Left 4 Dead, but it isn’t. Dead Island is a first-person zombie RPG. In my write-up I compare it to Oblivion, which is probably pushing it a bit. It’s more like the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, great games rough around the edges. Another game that really did come to mind, as giving off a similar vibe to Dead Island, was Boiling Point: Road to Hell. I loved the game, buggy as hell- to the point of eventually becoming unplayable. I believe that I was the only person to ever buy it. Hopefully Dead Island, now it’s been patched, will continue to offer the same great gaming experience that it’s been treating me to so far.
Keep an eye out for me on Game Culture NZ and be sure to check out the forums, where I’ll be hanging about. Also don’t forget to check out Game Console at Techday.com, where I’ll also be writing the odd game review and feature.
****UPDATE****
Sadly my relationship with Game Culture NZ was to be short lived. Whilst I enjoyed writing for them creative differences meant that we had to part ways. The website have now all but folded and looks to only exist as a placeholder. A lot of my old articles can still be found on there, but not at the links that were previously published on this site. I will, in the future be republishing some my Game Culture NZ reviews on this site.