Recent reviews by Aemony

Dead Island 2 was in development hell for quite a lengthy period of time and was handed over between studios and developers every now and then, and so it is probably safe to assume that the game as a concept was restarted/reset too many times to count as well...

But despite all of that, the game we received is a damn fun zombie slaughter adventure and I'm having a blast playing! And the story is actually somewhat interesting, even, which I did not at all expect when I went into it.

Honestly speaking, having tested both this (14 hours atm) and Dying Light 2 (7 hours), I prefer and enjoy this game, Dead Island 2, the most out of both of them. The games are actually different enough from one another to the point where Dead Island 2 has shown that there is, in fact, room for both games on the market.

UPDATE:
Some 50 hours later, and I am finally mostly done with the single player experience. The DLCs had some surprising amount of content, and I must've probably spent some 10 hours at least in SOLA (it's a fun map, with fun elements).

The story, in total, across the main campaign and the two DLCs, ended up being quite interesting. It's a bit all over the place at times, but there's a ton on which can be built upon for a continuation of the story. And I really hope we do end up getting a sequel to this one !

I went blindly into it and was pleasantly surprised towards the end. Short but good that doesn't overstay its welcome. And it is insanely good when it comes to the UX/design department; the team really nailed a lot of those elements, to the point where I'd love to see larger games take notice and learn from this game.

It is in many games a modern game created for a modern audience, with many recognizable tropes and game designs popularized through other extremely popular games within the core gamer audience. But the game uses those elements in a fitting way, and never overuses them.

I'll admit that initially I really questioned this DLC and found it super frustrating, but the more I played the better I got the hang of it, and the more fun it became as a result.

The main issue with the DLC is that it lacks a proper tutorial to get used to the different motions, as well as learning or being reminded by the occasional downside of e.g. dashing (which can affect momentum to a stupid degree in some scenarios).

Both a refreshing continuation of the story as well as a nostalgic trip down memory lane, to my younger years playing surf levels in Counter-Strike.

Ultimately though I do recommend playing this. The gameplay, once you get the hang of it, can be quite enjoyable, and the challenge disappears at that point except for during combat sequences. The lore is extremely interesting, and is much, much, more in-depth than what you got from the main campaign. It is also clearly setting up for what a sequel game would focus on and why, as well as explains various previously unexplained phenomena you could experience in the main game.

A quite fun and different DLC, although hamstrung by the lack of a tutorial and its "into the depth you go" design straight from the start. It's a shame not more players give it more of a shot, but it is also understandable.

A continuation of one of the endings in the main game, Annihilation Instinct gives you more of the same core gameplay while also giving you more lore and insight into the events that transpired after the particular ending it is based on.

The combat is in initially times more challenging than the main game but once you get a few upgrades down the line you can still pretty much easily dispatch all but the boss fights quite quickly.

When I played through the main storyline I actually picked the other ending and not the one that leads to this one, but having played this follow-up, I'd actually more than enjoy another continuation along this path as it sounds like quite the interesting tale.

This ended up being an well made adventure with an interesting lore to boot as well. There are some shortcomings in the game, especially in how some of the game world seems to partially be unused in regards to main story segment (I missed out an entire area because no main mission brought me to that area), but all in all it was quite interesting and well worth the purchase.

Having played the game for an additional 15 hours through its two DLCs, I continue to be quite surprised and glad that this game got made, and that its developers aren't afraid to branch out and try new things. And so I am eagerly looking forward to the release of the final upcoming DLC as well!

This is a challenging one to review... On one hand, it's playable, and complete, and quite the achievement for a small team... But on the other hand there's other, better, mods out there, and the contents of this is in various ways a bit empty/basic...

Ultimately I do think this is an achievement for the mod team, but it is also an achievement that has not stand the test of time very well, and which is (rightly) overshadowed by its sequel, Entropy: Zero 2.

If you want a 2-3 hours short mod where you play as a Civil Protection cop, fight rebels, question your life's choices, and just in general questioning what the hell is going on, while simultaneously enjoying a couple of hours of some good ol' Half-Life 2 gameplay and combat, then this is the game for you. Though be aware of potential bugs, as there's quite some here and there. Even some enemy AI is weirdly broken, with for example the fast zombies being unable to even attack you if you stand on a staircase (???) for reasons I cannot understand... Oh well.

Anyway, in general I'd recommend playing the sequel, Entropy: Zero 2, over this one. The sequel has a much more in-depth and active storyline with different characters and a lot of dialogue, and an interesting narrative as well. It's combat is also more nuanced, and what they're doing with the Half-Life 2 lore is both immersive and works well. And best of all is probably that you don't need to play Entropy: Zero to understand or appreciate Entropy: Zero 2. In fact, I didn't even realize that game was a sequel to another game until after having finished the whole thing and looking it up online.

Quite the fun blast in the 8 hours it took me to play through it. It is a bit rough around some corners but it still shines quite a bit, and quite the achievement for so few developers. I had a memorable time with it!

Though... upon completing the game I realized this was a follow-up to another mod? Lol, I guess that explains the title -- I always assumed it was due to two clones running around. Well, definitely worth a play regardless!

This is a really fun game, but oh god why the hell haven't you fixed the stupid shotgun/DLC bug that leaves it inaccessible throughout the main campaign yet?! It's stupid that the bug still haven't been fixed, years after its introduction, and even various workarounds the player can try (e.g. console vars, restarting the chapter, etc) are unable to fix it for some of us. This means we are forced to play through the whole main campaign with a reduced arsenal, which also means some more ammo conservation needs to be taken into account at times.

I was almost of the mind to not recommend the game due to that stupid bug, but yes, the game is still quite fun. It would've just been even more awesome if I was allowed to use the stupid shotgun too, guys...

Oh boy, wasn't this quite the ride?! Awesome game and storytelling, and definitely recommended. It nails the teaching/difficulty curve as well for newcomers to the VR genre such as myself. A fantastic introduction to VR, and an awesome addition to the Half-Life series!

It's Half-Life 2. What more is to be said? It's still in 2024 an extremely solid FPS game and fun to play through.