Who Knew Zombie Killing Could Be So Expensive?
The crumbling of society and the conflicts of survivors trying to maintain some degree of civilization amidst chaos makes for interesting stories, regardless of how many times we have played through such events. Zombies have repeatedly pulled us back in, whether they are in the form of Telltale’s The Walking Dead series, Call of Duty‘s wildly popular Zombie Mode, Arma 2‘s fantastic mod Day Z, or in the latest undead experience, Techland’s Dead Island franchise.
The set up for the first Dead Island game held great potential. A tropical resort off the coast of New Guinea becomes infested with zombies, leaving four survivors who are immune to the outbreak to attempt to escape the doomed island. Unfortunately, the dread and isolation associated with being trapped on a secluded bit of land with the undead was hard to capture due to the host of technical issues present in the game.
Despite the many problems in the first title, it sold quite well and was an enjoyable experience particularly when playing with friends in co-op. Techland and Deep Silver saw the support for the franchise and decided to bestow us with Dead Island: Riptide, and – for better or for worse – it’s more of the same.
Directly following the ending of the first game, Riptide begins with the survivors making it off the island and onto a ship. Upon meeting a scientist named Frank Serpo and a colonel named Sam Hardy, the group is thrown into the brig and experimented on. At this point, the group meets John Morgan, the new playable character, and the game begins proper with a zombie outbreak on the ship.
The story effectively pushes the player into new locales, and gives somewhat decent reasons for your excursions through the many zombie-infested areas, though it is incredibly weak in its execution and originality. Some laughable voice-overs and a plot line that takes itself too seriously when it should embrace its inherent cheesiness are just two examples of many where Riptide goes wrong.
To offset the less than stellar story, the gameplay proves itself to be incredibly fun. Like the original DI, melee combat is the focus here with guns and explosives as backups. Nearly everything in the environment is lootable, from garbage cans to fax machines, and weapons abound. The workbench makes a strong return, where weapons can be repaired, upgraded, and modified. Throughout my twenty-hour play-through, I found a ton of mod plans, effectively adding poison, electricity, and fire to my previously mundane weapons.
Combat comes down to kicking approaching zombies to stun them, and then firing off a flurry of swings to take them down. Blunt weapons shatter bones and blade weapons cut limbs off, reducing the threat of each enemy as you hack through the horde. Aiming still proves a little difficult, as the action is so intense, but as long as you are facing a zombie, you are likely doing damage. Each weapon swing, kick, or sprint lowers your stamina bar and when it is depleted, your character is easily thrown to the ground and unable to effectively do any harm. It wasn’t until my sixteenth hour or so that I started to find the combat repetitive and a bit boring, and began sprinting through hordes to get to my objectives.
The technical issues in the original DI were frustrating and inexcusable. Unfortunately, the very same problems shamble their way back into Riptide and prove to be just as annoying. I would randomly find my character dying while my health was full and with no zombies in sight, only to lose a chunk of my money for no reason at all. Clipping is a major issue as well, and I observed several zombies walking through closed doors and stretching their arms through walls. By far the most frustrating issue, however, would be the terrible frame rate drops, particularly on the ship in the prologue. I understand there is a lot going on on the screen, but some optimization certainly would have helped and made the game feel more polished. These problems were mostly passable in the first DI, but seeing the same problems in a new incarnation is incredibly disappointing and sloppy.
While they failed on the technical side, Techland does deliver on the open-world promise. A massive map full of many points of interest, collectibles, and survivors to save makes for a hearty campaign. My twenty-hour playthrough’s completion was at 65%, and I finished over one hundred different quests. Riptide could easily be played for over thirty hours, and likely still have secrets to find. For a budget-priced title, the quantity of side-missions and collectibles is very impressive.
More of the same is not necessarily a bad thing, but Riptide really feels like an expansion that could have been added on to the original. Upon starting the game, players can import their DI saves or opt to start fresh, though they begin at level fifteen, with skill points to allocate. To me, this seems almost like an admission that this is not a full game. Re-used assets from the first title, and copy-and-pasted buildings are not something one would expect from a retail release, but more a DLC-type situation.
It is incredibly hard to recommend Dead Island: Riptide without several caveats. The game was definitely a fun experience (particularly in co-op) but the array of problems I had to face throughout it was inexcusable. Riptide is essentially an add-on to the original DI and for fans of the series it certainly adds content and is worth it, but for anyone unsure about the game, it would probably be advisable to wait for a sale before picking it up. The game has such potential, but ultimately falls short in many key areas.
Well… Third time’s a charm, right Techland?
You’ve got one more strike. Make it work. Please?