Dead Island

By Tristan Tancredi

Techland's First Person Horror Action Adventure game, Dead Island brings a new angle on the Zombie Survival game and its a hell of a lot of fun.

Taking place on an ideal yet fictional holiday destination, Banoi Island, located off the border of Papua New Guinea. Surrounded by picturesque beaches, relaxing bungalows, resort bars and pools. Sounds pretty cruisy doesn't it?  

As you would expect from the title 'Dead Island', it's not going to be the peaceful getaway that holiday goers were after. The island has succumbed to a virus infestation that mutates amongst humans and turns them into the walking dead. A plot line very common amongst Zombie games.

The virus is not just contained to the island. Gamers are taken on a journey to the city (and the sewers) of Moresby, to the jungles and to a prison off the island of Banoi. 

The scenic views are great and the environments are spot on. Although the city of Moresby looks nothing like the real city of Port Moresby (If thats what Techland was going for).

This Zombie game is an open-world free roaming game. Gamers have the choice to follow the main mission quests or mingle with the other survivors and help them with their troubles. 

The main storyline is bloody long and will keep you busy for hours so you will probably find yourself leaving the side-quests the first time around.

The characters are vast. First off you have the choice of Four Main Characters:

- Xian Mel - Employee of the Royal Palms Resort.

- Sam B - A One-hit wonder rapper from New Orleans.

- Logan - A former NFL Star.

- Purna - A former officer of the NSW Police Force.

Besides the main four there are a variety of characters that are spread throughout the script. Sinamoi is a lifeguard that plays a major role early in the game. As does Jin who becomes very important as the game progresses. 

The development of each character was exceptional as the storyline weaved this way and that and progressed steadily to its stunning finale.

As you work your way through the game, the plot twists and turns so i'll be careful not to ruin the story in any way. 

Basically, the plot follows one of the four characters (whoever you chose at the start of the game) on a journey to save the island and themselves. You meet different people, perform jobs for them, so as to progress in the game.

The main method of combat in Dead Island is Melee combat. There comes a time when you get hold of a few guns when eliminating the Rebel Humans, but for the majority of the game its machetes, axes, knives and metal poles needed for the job.

This is where the fun starts. Beating the crap out of a Zombie with a fresh machete is great as you leave a trail of limbs and decapitated heads in your wake. Weapons aren't invincible and slowly wear down over time. Its a good thing workbenches are scattered throughout the vast maps to upgrade or repair damaged weapons.

Sometimes the graphics are a bit crummy in close combat. Zombies will sometimes disapper through doors or walls (sometimes even getting stuck).

The sounds and music is eery and very effective. Playing the game with the lights out is spooky and creepy as Zombies growl from the distance or sneak up from behind scaring the crap out of everyone.

What frustrated me the most about this game:

I loved the first 3 Acts. They were enjoyable and challenging. Act 4 is frustrating and annoying. I lost count of the amount of times I died in Act 4. It becomes more a matter of sprinting to the next checkpoint rather then fighting your way through.

As the weapons deteriorate throughout the stages, the zombies become harder to kill, add that to that fact that by this stage the Zombies are at their highest level. Its not fun running through an entire level hoping you cant get caught.

There are a variety of different Zombies, the coolest of which are:

- The Suicider - Zombie with boils all over his body that blows himself up.

- The Butcher - Long haired, freaky looking thing thats really hard to kill.

- The Thug - Just a bigger then normal Zombie that takes more blows than normal.

- The Floater - A fat, slime covered thing that spits vomit or gas at you.

- The Ram - A big zombie in a straight jacket (Near impossible to kill).

A Co-Op mode allows up to 4 gamers to team up and complete missions online.

Dead Island is a terribly fun game with a good storyline, great characters and a fun combat system. I'll tell you one thing, i'll definately be looking carefully at my next holiday destination, that's for sure.

Game: Dead Island
System: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows
Developer/Co-Developer: Techland
Publisher: Deep Silver

Rating: 80%

(Ratings Key/Explanation)