Dead Island

Dead Island, though announced back in the age of Red Rings and COD4, came to prominence only recently, when a moving, original CGI trailer was released. This led many viewers to expect an emotive, compelling zombie game, one that focused on story and character instead of walking corpses. It's also for this reason many critics of Dead Island feel let down, although if they base their expectations of a game purely on the CGI bits then I hate to think how perpetually disappointing the Final Fantasy series is for them.

Released to very little fanfare and decidedly average reviews this week the world over, Dead Island will forever be seen as a disappointment by the gaming community at large. This in itself is disappointing because, although not the game many thought it would be, it is a decent effort by a development team that hasn't got any A++ titles to it's name. Instead of the emotive experience, we have wooden, hackneyed characters. Instead of focusing on story and character, we have a game which consists almost entirely of kicking zombies over then hitting them with something. However what we got instead is almost equally as enthralling. I won't waste time explaining basic gameplay, story or setting elements. You could get any of those things by reading one of the many other reviews on the internet. What I will tell you is why you shouldn't write this game off.

Dead Island recreates a zombie apocalypse in an almost perfect way at times. The walking dead are closer to the Romero creations that are considered canon by fans of the genre than in any other game. They lurch cumbersomely, unsteady on their feet as they rise, turn, and react to your presence. They are persistent, focused entirely on their prey. They are hardy, taking several well-placed blows to kill. Alone, they are quickly dispatched with a kick to the ground and a smash of a bat, but in numbers such efficiency goes out the window as you find yourself back-peddling and flailing your weapons wildly at the horde.

The combat, while criticised by some reviewers as being unwieldy due to the inclusion of a stamina bar that drains under activity such as sprinting, jumping or attacking, actually becomes a tool in psuedorealism. If people truly want to feel immersed by Dead Island, they should realise that if they were on the island of Banoi, they would get tired after 4 or 5 swings of a bat, and that it is harder to cave in a human skull than movies make it seem. The zombie combat is never dull. Whether going mano-a-mano with a single zombie with style and skill, or frantically beating away several of the faster variety with little more than the kick button and a prayer, it is visceral, responsive and fun.

There are some other positives to the game. The driving mechanic is solid, one of the best ever seen in the FPS genre. The island of Banoi is a star in itself, sprawling wildly through the jungle. The game manages to introduce a variety in environments despite the apparently monotone setting. Quests, given by fellow survivors, are varied and fair in difficulty. The levelling up system, almost directly stolen from Borderlands, is easy to understand and feels well-used as you gain experience and put points into new skills.

However Dead Island obviously didn't recieve such generous reviews as a 6/10 on Eurogamer

or a 3/10 in EDGE for nothing. It is a game of numerous faults, both minor and serious. Minor faults include a decidedly unhelpful minimap and run of the mill graphics, to massive flaws such as appalling voice acting and many, many, MANY bugs.

It's certainly rough around the edges and won't appeal to everyone. However anybody that likesBorderlands, Fallout games or Dead Rising should feel right at home. Dead Island nicks the best bits from it's contemporaries and glues them together under one big FPSRPG hub that is packed full of things to do and zombies to batter.

Written by Ashley Chittock. Read more http://ashleychittock.blogspot.co.uk