Dead Island Stands on the Shoulders of Giants

Dead Island is the kind of game that's best explained by talking about all the fantastic games it borrows from. The open-world model is most similar to that seen in Farcry 2; with large, separate areas to explore. The leveling system (three skill trees) and old-school RPG mechanics (i.e. loot rolls, visible damage values, etc.) are extremely similar to those found in Borderlands. The four-player co-op is also reminiscent of that found in Borderlands. The huge variety of quests are a tribute to Bethesda's Fallout 3 and can be found all around the game's world. Different kinds of zombies from thugs to runners are taken from Valve's Left for Dead series.

All in all the game is very entertaining - especially with three friends. The radically different areas make sure nothing gets boring as well as a huge amount of side-quests. The RPG system is very retro and fun. You should definitely pick up this game if you were a fan of the aforementioned games.

PS Vita Launches February 22

Sony just announced at their Web 2.0 Conference that the PS Vita will launch in North America and Europe on February 22nd. The 3G and WiFi models will launch at the same time, though no word yet on the costs and conditions of 3G.