Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Mixed reactions"

Zombies. Apparently they like to take vacation just like everybody else. Who knew? At least the atmosphere of Dead Island puts zombies into new territory by locating them on a resort island. If whacking board short and bikini wearing undead upside the head with random detritus is your cup of tea then this is the game for you. While technically this game would be called an action FPS you don't actually spend that much time with guns (although they are more abundant later in the game). Pretty much anything you can grab: boat oars, planks of wood, knives, machetes, baseball bats, etc. becomes fair game for bludgeoning or hacking the undead to... well, um death... I suppose. Back to death... whatever. The game starts off at a fairly slow pace. You awaken in a hotel room having apparently partied a little too hard the night before. Stumbling into the hallway you find signs of utter chaos. Luggage is strewn about, the hallways are dark, and no people are too be found... well no one "alive" anyway. You soon are contacted by a lifeguard who works at the hotel who has gathered a group of survivors on the beach. He gives you directions to lead you to his location. This all basically functions as a tutorial to get you familiar with the game controls. Once you finally reach the lifeguard the game begins to open up, allowing you more freedom of movement about the island. Apparently you (that is collective you since the game has 4 protagonists, even though you only play as one) are immune to whatever is causing this zombie outbreak. You begin a series of fetch quests to retrieve some item or clear an area of undead, all with the ultimate goal of helping everyone still alive to safety and eventually off the island. Items take damage with repeated use so managing your resources is important. Workbenches allow you to repair damaged items and with schematics either found in your travels or earned from side quests you can modify items for even more destruction or status effects. You spend time between zombie slaying collecting items you find either to use as a weapon, modify your weapons, or to otherwise aid in your questing. As you progress you gain access to vehicles which makes moving around the island much quicker and simpler. Plus mowing zombies down on the road in your truck is just fun. Following the story quests moves you further inland to other areas of the island that were previously unreachable. The games story is told mostly through dialogue and journals and recordings that you find in your travels but there is the occasional cut scene that fills in some details about your "party." The cut scenes can be a bit jarring if you're playing single player since they always show your party of 4 as though you have been traveling and fighting together. Each of the 4 protagonists is a fairly one dimensional stereotype character only really differentiated by a degree of greater skill in one type of combat over another. If you are interested in this game based on that backwards trailer of the little girl zombie then you might be disappointed. This game is really nothing like that trailer presented. The games graphics are so so but they also don't have any notable glitch issues. The atmosphere is pretty effective. For the most part you're in a sunny warm inviting looking place but the evidence of zombie apocalypse is also unmistakable. If you enjoy fetch quests, item collecting, RPG elements, and bashing zombies in the head with random objects then this game is for you. It does present a sort of been there done that feel after a while because of the sameness of fetch quests. And the zombie slaying can become a bit frustrating if you find yourself overwhelmed and low on good supplies. But overall it's still worth at least a play through.