Dead Island. The name conjures up a harrowing, Tear Jerker of a trailer that was an Internet phenomenon. It's easy to be taken in by it and let it affect how the game itself plays. I'm not going to do that. Instead I'll focus on the game itself.
Despite the criticism leveled at the game there's much it does do right. For one the scenery is very pretty, with highly detailed and polished settings. The music and sounds of the infected is horrifying and really add to the feeling of dread. Speaking of which the game is not afraid to get it's hands dirty. It's a wonder the first game escaped an R rating, it starts with a beach that looks like a battlefield where you slice apart zombies with horrific mutilations and it gets worse from there. There are really dark, disturbing things in the game, short sharp shocks akin to the trailer. The analogue controls for combat is a nice addition and once learned work well. And whether you are working to play through the game or just playing around killing zombies the game is fun to play online with the drop in/ drop out system.
And that's the whole point. I had fun playing this. Despite the Grim Dark nature and promotion suggesting it would be too unsettling to be enjoyable I do enjoy playing alone or having others pop into my game and do quests or dick around. In fact my biggest gripe is not the game itself but the trailer, the gender wars issue, being released virtually ten years after 9/11. While it has an effect on my enjoyment of the game putting my prejudices aside it would be unfair to include this in rating the game.
Instead I can point out the characters are okay, but don't have the appeal of many in other similar games. The character and weapon models look off, very well done but not competing with the scenery and there are a few graphical bugs but even Mass Effect had those. Some of the characters and voice acting is not right. The controls are a little slippery and on default much too quick. Weapons break far too easily. And while the game is fun it works better playing an hour online than a session finding all the Tear Jerker moments in the game.
To sum up this is the Grand Theft Auto of zombie games. Putting the dark and graphic nature of the game aside it's clear this is a labor of love, and for that I award it 7/10. Just please, Techland, use more restraint in future promotion.
In no way does the trailer reflect my view of the game itself.
Dead Island. The name conjures up a harrowing, Tear Jerker of a trailer that was an Internet phenomenon. It's easy to be taken in by it and let it affect how the game itself plays. I'm not going to do that. Instead I'll focus on the game itself.
Despite the criticism leveled at the game there's much it does do right. For one the scenery is very pretty, with highly detailed and polished settings. The music and sounds of the infected is horrifying and really add to the feeling of dread. Speaking of which the game is not afraid to get it's hands dirty. It's a wonder the first game escaped an R rating, it starts with a beach that looks like a battlefield where you slice apart zombies with horrific mutilations and it gets worse from there. There are really dark, disturbing things in the game, short sharp shocks akin to the trailer. The analogue controls for combat is a nice addition and once learned work well. And whether you are working to play through the game or just playing around killing zombies the game is fun to play online with the drop in/ drop out system.
And that's the whole point. I had fun playing this. Despite the Grim Dark nature and promotion suggesting it would be too unsettling to be enjoyable I do enjoy playing alone or having others pop into my game and do quests or dick around. In fact my biggest gripe is not the game itself but the trailer, the gender wars issue, being released virtually ten years after 9/11. While it has an effect on my enjoyment of the game putting my prejudices aside it would be unfair to include this in rating the game.
Instead I can point out the characters are okay, but don't have the appeal of many in other similar games. The character and weapon models look off, very well done but not competing with the scenery and there are a few graphical bugs but even Mass Effect had those. Some of the characters and voice acting is not right. The controls are a little slippery and on default much too quick. Weapons break far too easily. And while the game is fun it works better playing an hour online than a session finding all the Tear Jerker moments in the game.
To sum up this is the Grand Theft Auto of zombie games. Putting the dark and graphic nature of the game aside it's clear this is a labor of love, and for that I award it 7/10. Just please, Techland, use more restraint in future promotion.