As gamers, most of us have experienced our fair share of zombie games. From Resident Evil to Dead Rising, Left 4 Dead to Call of Duty's Zombie mode, there's a very good chance you're familiar with what it takes to slay a being of the undead persuasion. Dead Island knows this, in fact, it's more than aware that you know that conserving ammo is crucial to survival and aiming for the head is the best way to take these bastards out. The game doesn't mess with this tried and true formula, so instead it builds a gorgeous world around it, throws in an engaging story, and sprinkles on a few RPG elements. How does all this work together? Let's find out.
The Baby Factor: If Fallout 3, Borderlands, and Dead Rising decided to get together for a Ménage à trios, Dead Island would be their beautiful, bloody baby.
I really don't want to bury the lead here, because Dead Island is a truly fantastic game. Sure, it's a little rough around the edges and could use a little polish in a few areas, but for an open-world zombie RPG with somewhere between 20-30 hours worth of content, this is a damn fine experience, and a surprisingly bug-free one at that.
No, it's not completely bug free, but when you compare it to other similarly lengthed games it's not bad at all. Occasionally, I'd have textures that would take their sweet time loading in, character models that would glide right through objects, or audio synching issues, but nothing that ever hurt the experience. I did see zombies teleport through walls only to start wailing on me. That was scary because I thought I was safe, then all of sudden I'm being raped very intimately by an elderly woman. Sometimes, no does mean no.
You're probably wondering aloud to yourself, possibly even in a Elizabethan accent, that a game of this length can't possibly maintain an intense pace throughout the entire game. To that I proclaim, in an equally as unfittingly chosen accent that it does in fact, keep up the pace. I dare say it improves over time. Dare I? Yes, I think I shall. Despite being in the 20-30 hour range (assuming you do the side quests, and you really should), it's an incredible frantic game the entire way through.
Dead Island manages to pull from a variety of sources while making everything it borrows its own. It takes a few pages out of Fallout 3's book, the weapon crafting of Dead Rising, the loot-whorishness/4-player co-op of Borderlands, and maybe a little combat from Condemned. Some of these things work well in the world that's been created, others do not. The characters look and act as strange and robotic as the ones in Fallout, but scavenging for items and completing quests for items/EXP/cash rewards is incredibly satisfying.
This game is definitely going to get compared to Dead Rising, but the comparisons end past your ability to craft weapons. This is one thing Dead Island managed to take and actually improve, because instead of your weapons breaking and vanishing after they're used up, you can just repair them. This means if you get a weapon you really like, you don't have to worry about losing it. There also aren't any time limits, so fuck you Dead Rising.
Did I mention this game has loot? It does, and while it might not be the greatest game for a loot whore such as myself, it's still insanely addicting getting as many cool weapons as you can. I was always immediately excited when I came across a random purple or orange weapon in the world, but sadly, that excitement almost always vanished when I realized the unique item I just found actually wasn't very good. This is rarely an issue because for the most part you're going to be using modded weapons you created yourself using one of the game's many recipes.
Then there's the 4-player co-op, which is obviously the game's biggest selling point, and it's been done incredibly well here. Playing online has been made as intuitive as possible; say you're playing the game alone and someone that's also playing in a joinable game comes near, all you have to do is press a button and voilà! You're in. I suggest playing with other people because this game is painfully difficult alone. I can't tell you how many times I died in the second area you make it to (there are three total), but thankfully, the punishment for dying isn't severe. You lose a little money and go back a few paces, leaving all the damage you dealt against the nearby enemies in tact.
As for the RPG elements, you can choose from four characters that are each experts in a certain field, including sharp weapons, but weapons, throwing, and guns. I chose the sharp weapons expert because I can appreciate a woman who knows how to wield a knife. Sharp weapons can sever limbs, blunt ones can break them (side note: it's never not funny watching a big walker zombie shuffling about, flailing his shattered limbs while he tries to headbutt you), and the guns shoot bullets. Adding to the customization are the skill trees, so you can tailor your character to suit how you play. This also means that even if you have multiple characters of the same type, there's a very good chance that you still won't be exactly like the other players in the game.
Dead Island isn't a perfect game, but it does manage to do everything that's important incredibly well. The loot is solid, the weapons are satisfying, the combat is surprisingly good, and the gore is top-notch. For a game that takes place primarily in the daylight, it's also really fucking terrifying. This is an unforgettable experience that's as addicting as it is well-paced. If you're a fan of RPG's, zombies, or sandbox games, or simply want a game to play with your friends.
The Final Word: Dead Island is a place you should definitely consider visiting. Just bring sunscreen, because sunburns suck so hard.
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