Dead Island

Earlier this year, Dead Island – a zombie sandbox first person game – released a cinematic trailer which you can see above. It went viral and exploded over the internet, lots of people calling it the best trailer ever made. I must admit it’s very good, check it out.

 A couple of weeks ago I made a post about cinematic trailers and how little they really say about the game. My argument just got a little stronger as Dead Island – released in September -  is a pretty shitty game. It takes place in a tropical island resort after an outbreak of “oh my god, it’s the zombies again”. Not that there’s anything wrong with zombies, I’m a bit of an enthusiast myself. In essence, the concept of a tropical paradise resort turning to hell might work pretty well. However, the gameplay is weak and seems half-finished.  For example, most of the game is built around melee fighting and melee drains your character’s stamina. Which means is that a lot of time is just spent waiting for stamina to return while furious zombies bash your eyes out. It’s possible to simply jump in to other player’s game, if their progress is similar to yours. Again, good idea, poor execution. And the graphics are just awful.

However, Dead Island has potential. Nice soundwork manages to pull you in at times and I get the feeling that there is a good game director behind this, who has sincere love for the project. Sadly, the means for making that vision a reality have been very limited. I hear that Dead Island has sold very well, so maybe with their next project they have the funds to do it properly. Meanwhile, I guess I have to play more Left4Dead…

Saiko