Reviewing: Dead Island

Source of the image: https://www.techtudo.com.br/review/dead-island.html

Feeling in the mood to slay some zombies? Let me introduce you to one of the most fun and open-world apocalyptic games that I ever played!

 “I got a zombie army and you can harm me…” – It´s not a quote, but one of the lyrics of Sam B’s famous song of the game “Who Do You Voodoo”, I strongly recommend for you to hear it, as its lyrics match the entire theme of “Dead Island” perfectly.

Side note: So… I normally like to put some badass quote to describe the game better, but the thing is I couldn´t find one… because, in the end, Dead Island isn’t meant to be described in just one line. The game is huge, either in terms of gameplay and storyline, as you can also play it with several different characters, so I will just jump into the rest of the review to show you the strongest and weakest points of this Techland’s zombie classic.

Source of the video: Uploaded by IGN (YouTube channel)

The first cinematic trailer from the game, released in 2011

Developer: Techland

Publisher: Deep Silver

Director: Aljen Juchefskey

Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One

Release date: 6 September, 2011

Genre(s): Action role-playing, Survival Horror

Mode(s): Single-Player, Multiplayer

Source of the image: http://www.apertestart.com.br/dead-island-20-minutos-gameplay/

Xian attacking a group of infected and a floater with a hammer

Synopsis (with no spoilers):

The game occurs during the summer of 2006 in a fictional island called Banoi, where after several party night hours in the tropical resort, a group of characters/survivors (that can be chosen by the player) are woken up in the next morning to find the hotel completely empty of people. While they travel through the halls, a “Voice” coming of an emergency intercommunication device appears, telling them to get out of the building. These characters then learn that there is a contagious virus that is infecting most of Banoi’s population, turning them into a zombie like creatures and after being attacked by one of them, they are rescued by John Sinamoi, a lifeguard of the resort. Despite being bitten, the survivors also learn that they are immune to the virus and are taken by Sinamoi to a place where they can stay. Due to these disease immunity, they are quickly overcome with tasks and quests, in which they need to find supplies, kill certain zombies and save people to progress through the island. Some of these side quests being, obviously, optional. The player first starts in the beautiful part of the Island, the resort, but then needs to travel to suburban decadent areas of the city; the dark sewers; the unexplored jungle of Banoi and, finally, the prison (located in a smaller island). Upon going through all these nightmarish adventures, can the survivors find the secrets behind the epidemic and put a stop to it all? And, also, discover the identity behind the mysterious “voice” that appear to them in the beginning? Only upon 18 hours of gameplay or more will tell…

Source of the video: Uploaded by moviemaniacsDE (YouTube channel)

Gameplay trailer from the press release, shown at E3 (2011)

Review:

Characters - Dead Island follows the story of four main characters that the player can select when commencing a “new game”, these are Xian Mei (an employer of Banoi’s Resort, she was sent there to work as a spy); Sam B (a rap singer from New Orleans, who’s fame is gradually declining); Purna Jackson (a former police officer, that works as a VIP bodyguard in the resort) and Logan Carter (previously a famous football player, he is the “Jack of all Trades” of the “heroes”. There is also some side characters that are important to refer, such as John Sinamoi (a lifeguard and the leader of the "Pool House" survivors); Jin (daughter of Earl, a mechanic that worked in Old Marina Workshop); Kevin “Charron” Barrister (a survivor located inside of the island’s prison); Ryder White (a colonel with the Australian Defense Force) and his wife Emily White (a chief medical officer of the prison’s hospital).

Gameplay - The game offers a big open world experience in first person view, the player has a massive map to explore and lots of main missions, plus side quests to do (ps: they can be quite repetitive sometimes), that give XP to the selected character. This XP is also gained while killing zombies (the more damage you put into it, the more XP you receive, so have fun with it!). When you earn enough XP to level up, you gain skills points that can be spend strategically in a “skill ramification”, to gain more health; stamina or combat experience. During night time or in darker parts of the Island, the character needs to use a small flashlight to explore the surroundings, that helps adding an intense experience to the gameplay. To buy or sell things, you need to go to certain NPC’s that are marked on the map, and if you need to storage items just go to Jin (this is only available when you complete all of Old Marina’s Workshop missions). If you want to play with friends or other people, online options are always available (despite me not using them at all) Also, it is important to refer that the game is divided by IV Acts and subdivided by 16 chapters, that can be progressed just by doing the main missions. 

Source of the image: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/09/07/impressions-15-hours-with-dead-island/

The gruesome world of Dead Island

Combat - The games focuses a lot in melee combat and physical attacks, but upon many hours spent playing, the player can also use firearms. Melee weapons can be modified/upgraded with blueprint mods (examples: nails; fire; electric; saws and poison) and thrown at enemies to make them slower, but, depending on their quality, they can be severally damaged and even unusable. To repair them, the player needs to find a workbench and spend lots of money, which can be a little disadvantageous. Weapons are spread around almost every part of the map, and they can only be used if the character has the required level to do so. The chosen character also has a stamina bar that can run out easily with certain actions such as sprinting, jumping and attacking. To fill the stamina bar, the characters needs to rest and “take a breath”. Low stamina bars can be dangerous, as it can leave the character vulnerable to zombie attacks and be killed quickly. When your character dies, you also lose some money (if you have it, of course) so be careful, because money can be a precious thing to buy more powerful weapons later on.

Zombies - There are many types of zombies in Dead Island, including the Walkers (occupying majority of the zombies, they are generally decomposed in some parts of the body); Infected (new reborn zombies that are much more faster than the walkers, but more weaker); Thugs (much more larger than common zombies, they are stronger and can take you down with just one punch); Suiciders (severally mutated zombies that when approached, kill themselves and everyone around them); Rams (really strong and gigantic zombies that charge any survivor with their super strength); Floaters (zombies that were submerged underwater for a long period of time, they use their toxic vomit as a weapon) and the Butchers (super tough and hostile zombies that tear apart any weak human with their deformed forearms).

Source of the image: http://www.dadsgamingaddiction.com/dead-island/

The breathtaking resort landscape in the amidst of chaos

Environment - The game starts in July of 2006 in the beautiful and exotic resort of Banoi’s island, a fictional place situated in east Coast of Papua New Guinea, north of Australia. The resort grew a lot in recent years, due to being a big tourist attraction. However, the paradisiacal waters and blue sky sometimes hide the reality behind its real nature. Banoi also has a big, depraved, city called “Moresby”, where poorer people live under horrendous conditions; the mysterious and unexplored jungle “Mingende” and a Maximum-Security Prison located in smaller island off the coast of Banoi.

Ryder White’s campaign - I recently heard about this campaign in the game, but I honestly never played it, but it seems interesting enough o give it a try, as it not only can give us a story background about one of the most important characters in the game, but also, possibly, explain why the virus outbreak occurred in the Island. Of course, this is just a supposition, because I never truly played this campaign, but I hope that it sparkled a little bit of your interest!

Final analysis in lots of lines: “I was really young when I first learned about Dead Island and the thought that always remained when I saw or heard something about that game was… «Wow this game, looks genuinely awesome!!!» There were some, obviously, bad aspects in Dead Island, like the misleading strategy marketing of the cinematic trailer and the millions of bugs present during its gameplay, but to be honest those bugs kind of made the game more fun to me… Despite all of these things, Dead Island is a really good game and a “must play” for zombie fans like me!”

My Final Score: 7/10

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Island

https://www.imdb.com

http://deadisland.wikia.com

My Gaming Experience

A.K.