But if you're after something a bit deeper, smarter and better – well, perhaps the Dead Island franchise will finally live up the promise of its trailer next time (don't hold your breath). So, if you're hankering for a mainstream game that's mostly knockabout zombie-hacking fun, enjoy. That demonstrates a serious lack of ambition on the part of the developers and delivers a game that offers few reasons to wade all the way through.Ī few new enemies, a new main character and the ability to get in and out of incredibly annoying and hard-to-control boats – that's the new meat on the bone of Riptide. Worst of all though, there's a serious lack of variety to the actual play – missions are the worst offenders here, they're either "get this thing from across the island" or "protect our base from another wave of zombies". Those are: copious bugs, glitches and errors (although nowhere near as many as in the original game at launch) an incredibly over-complex weapon crafting system that's less fun than jabbing yourself with your own hand-crafted electrified fish knife while trying to scroll through gigantic and nonsensical spreadsheets and plot and character writing that makes Michael Jackson's Thriller video look like 28 Days Later in comparison. Rams are tough, strong and ferocious undead. If you know that your kid is not going to be further affected by something they are already used to. In Dead Island: Riptide, it is first encountered in front of the Old Town Cinema in Henderson and is rather uncommon in the game. The game is rated for Violence, Alcohol Usage, and Language. In Dead Island, it is first encountered at the Church in the city of Moresby in Act II during the main quest Ram on Heavens Door.
And it's still got pretty much all the bad bits held over from the original. The Ram is a special zombie found in Dead Island and Dead Island: Riptide. It's still at its best when played four-player rather than solo. It's still a dumb, enthusiastic run-and-stab/gun/run over action game. Because in every other detail, this really is a very direct and simple sequel to the original. After all, gamers have seen the little guy behind the curtain now – they won't be fooled again.
Now its makers are back with a sequel – a new island, new zombie types and a new hero to take on the shambling undead. Because while the trailer was emotional and elegaic, Dead Island was a scrappily bolted-together affair that cut-and-shut together a paradise island setting, four-player cooperative action and ludicrous weapon crafting for a very dumb, action-oriented take on zombies. And when the game came out it sold over five million copies, despite middling reviews and, worse, despite the fact that the game bore no real resemblance to the trailer.įive million people had been misled by a very smart marketing campaign. It made people cry – for a game trailer, that's unheard of. The original trailer (see it here) used some beautifully heart-tugging music and a time-running-backwards schtick to pick apart a holidaying family's descent into zombie armageddon.