(Geeks of Gaming) Dead Island Video Review

Kevin Jones writes: "Dead Island, is a game that is popular off of the hype of a CGI Trailer. Many people believed that Dead Island’s trailer would somehow create a powerful, emotional storyline for a zombie game. I was not one of these people. In fact, when I see trailers of this magnitude… I often wonder if the real game will be any good. Now that the hype wagon is over, it’s time to see what Dead Island is really about. Can it bite through the speculation, or are we destined to be let down?"

[RedDead]

Sounds to me like only the first few hours were played.

[jeseth]

I've put quite a bit of time with Dead Island now and I was actually shocked that a reviewer finally had the balls to come out and say all the things that really take away from what this game could have been.

Would I give it a D, no . . . more like a C or 7.5/10 or so.

The game gets painfully repetitive. All the flaws he points out are galring issues that people are choosing to keep a blind eye too. Dead Island does a great job creating the environment and all, but the characters are downright laughable (especially the 2 male characters...), the combat system gets very tiring, weapons degrade too fast (you could break hundreds of skulls with a steel pipe and the thing wouldn't even dent), and the side missions become annoying and repetitive.

I really do like Dead Island but I won't make it more than it is or give it credit for things other games get torn apart for. I feel like people wanted Dead Island to be so good that now that its out and people spengt their money on it they don't want to admit it is an average game after all the dust settles. There are games in its genre that execute better and there are Zombie games with better stories and characters. That is why I don't think this game can be elevated above a 7.

[duger]

yet another geek review. leave the trailer alone. play the game and review it once again as if the CGI doesn't exist.

[wallis]

I enjoyed the game. Rough around the edges but the sheer fan dedication to fixing bugs and questionable design choices gives clear evidence that objectively the game is not a "D" rated game. A lot of people are out there playing and enjoying the game. There are some things wrong with with it but it's still very enjoyable.

I agree with the issue of enemies levelling but the idea of character progression still occurrs with loot. Even when facing a same level enemy you'll find that they won't hold up against a fully upgraded legendary machete with a short circuit mod. They'll drop much easier than a level 1 enemy being hit by a level 1 human with a level 1 bat. Difficulty arises due to varying enemy types, larger numbers, and more difficult level design.

I don't consider it a mediocre mess at all. The story actually surprised me in parts and although it's a bit touch and go there's nothing in the game that can't be fixed with a little bit of DIY patching and modding. If anyone is interested the following thread provides a good number of reliable fixes to most if not all the issues that might be grinding your gears - http://forums.steampowered....

Everything from weather to mouse lag to weapons degrading and even analog mode with a keyboad and mouse is enabled. This game has a certain charm, I highly reccommend you don't dismiss it solely because of launch issues. The combat is fun and if you persist you'll find that not only will your character level based on in-game mechanics, but you yourself as a player will develop your own personal tactics that let you play in your own unique style. I've seen about eight different ways of tackling suiciders in co-op mode alone.

I know reviews are about personal opinion but there should still be some objectivity. While you may not like this game the fact that there are a large number of people enjoying it clearly excludes it from D/A territory. A D-rated game should be unplayable by all but a tiny minority. It's particularly bad considering you've only mentioned the same problems everyone else is dealing with but just getting over and still enjoying the game. The issue here isn't the game - it's clearly the critic.

[MARKUS_MAX1MUS]

- You mentioned there is usually a creative way you can get through the different enemy types which keeps the game fresh and interesting, its a contradiction that you said at the beginning "it has this like dead rising" when talking about the weapon modding then later in the video you mention "there is usually some creative way that the game engages you through it all" "dead rising lets players mix and match weapons". Dynasty warriors isnt repetative? the defence rests.....

- Dead Island was obviously NEVER meant to be a story driven experience looking at the gameplay.

- The Trailer was overated and id much rather an open world co-op RPG zombie game thats just great fun than an emotionally driven game like Heavy Rain. Theres still a bit in there, a guy asks you to kill his zombie family, why does a little girl need to be involved to convey emotion?

- your enemies leveling with you is a bad thing? so its a bad thing that a game remains challenging and having all the zombies at your mercy would just be boring as hell.

- judging by his health bar seen in the top left its clear he didnt even play past the first area which is a starter misson area really teaching you about different aspects of the game, it really begins to pick up when you re enter the hotel and progress on to the city of moresby.

- Combat dull and uninteresting? opinion fair enough but i think its easily the best combat seen in a zombie game, you have to strategically take down zombies due to the stamina bar and mix up your strategies for each zombie type and that feels rewarding. Theres nothing like disarming (literally) a Thug and watching him try to headbutt you. plus every weapon is different and has its own feel, sledge hammers feel heavy and weighted, so do axes and knives feel light and fast. Its much better IMO than button mashing in Dead Rising or the bullet spamming found in left 4 dead.

- the stereotypes seem to be put in place on purpose, i could be wrong but Sam Bs back story is off the charts stereotypical. Dont see why or how that contributes to fun.

- "Dead Island isnt an incredibly deep game by any means" yet in your "review" you failed to mention ANYTHING about the various characters specialities or even the fact they have their own skill trees which contribute towards various stats including weapon durability, stamina, health, run speed, cost of items. Thats as deep as anything found in typical RPGs like the witcher 2.

- Voice acting & story isnt its strong point but who gives a crap when its fun?

- Quests are reasonably varied and are alot of fun and present a good challenge.

-"gallabanting around the island helping people" as you do in an open world RPG

What a shoddy review....completely forgot to mention the RPG aspects of the game, namely the skill trees, the damage indicators and the modifiers. Half assed gaming? couldnt have said it better, dont quit your day job.

[geeksofgaming]

I'm going to go over a small bit of what you've just said.

The reason I mentioned "Dead Rising, Borderlands, and Dynasty Warriors" was because they are repetitious but find ways to be fun. In fact I make a point of saying that Dead Island has all of these aspects, but somehow lacks the fun that each of those separate game has.

- Dead Island was obviously NEVER meant to be a story driven experience looking at the gameplay.

This is an assumption that is obviously not true, since the game tries to engage you in a long storyline. If it wasn't about storyline, then I guarantee you they wouldn't have made it so dialogue/quest heavy.

Now the combat on the other hand, comes down to how good you are at using the kick button. Most of the enemies are victims to it, and anyone smart enough to use the "sprint" button will never die. I found it odd that I ran for like 2 hours, but I swing a knife 3 times and I get tired.

Now when speaking of stereotypes, and the voice acting associated with them. When you're listening to it constantly, yeah it isn't fun to hear some lame voice acting associated with a race. Especially when it is obvious this person doesn't speak with that accent natively.

Do you know why I excluded these so-called.. "RPG" trees? Because they aren't that amazing in the first place, and while they seem to give some sort of bonuses. I didn't even feel like I needed to go down them, due to how little gain was associated from actually using them. In fact, every time I hit a new level I would do more damage no matter what.

Voice acting & story aren't its strong point... but who gives a crap? Huh? Why wouldn't we care if story and voice acting are good? What's wrong with a zombie game having good voice acting and having an interesting story for a change? Why should we purpose ignore this for the sake of "fun". When there obviously was a trailer that fooled us all into thinking there would be more to it?

It's an open world RPG, you're right... but not really an interesting one. I wouldn't play it over Fallout or anything, just saying.

I appreciate your critique, but that's what reviews are my friend. Sometimes people have different opinions, you may love the game but that doesn't mean I have to. I actually hope that you enjoy Dead Island, but I still think it deserves a D.

[MARKUS_MAX1MUS]

The fun comes from progressing in your characters skill tree and building them up as you play and also finding and customising new weapons. The melee combat is extremely satisfying and reminds me of condemed.

ive played 26 hours of the game so far and ive never once felt like the game is trying to rope me into a larger more complex story, rather it feels like "the walking dead" series were we are just a small group of survivors fighting for survival on the island by gathering supplies and so far it doesnt feel like there is some overlaying "gripping" plot and nor do I feel the game needs one.

THe game is dialogue heavy because its an RPG, you have a role to play within that world and quests need to be explained by NPCs. It was an assumption in the first place to even assume it was a story based game as most people did from the trailer.

"comes down to how good you are at using the kick button. Most of the enemies are victims to it, and anyone smart enough to use the "sprint" button will never die. I found it odd that I ran for like 2 hours, but I swing a knife 3 times and I get tired."

The kick is effective in the early part of the game but when you progress it does absolutely no damage what so ever and is only good for a momentary stun leading to a follow up attack. And also later on in the game you cannot outrun Infected or butchers who run faster than you (depending upon character) and they will also outlast you stamina wise and not to mention if you are ontop of somethign they can jump and climb to get to you.

I find the cheesey B grade voice acting actually adds to the game and just because something is a stereotype doesnt necassarily mean its bad.

How little to gain? they make a big difference in combat regarding weapon durability, stamina and damage recieved aswell as damage given. Also you mentioned earlier about how its odd how you can sprint and slash a knife 3 times and get tired....well part of the skill tree upgrades stamina. Also increasing the chance of a critical strike comes in very handy against the tougher zombie foes.

Well only a fool can be fooled, Thats exactly why I dont make assumptions or assertions from any given trailer at all from any type of media, game trailers are always entertaining, Its not a story driven game so I dont see why the voice acting has to be perfect, infact look at similar games on the same scale as this game such as fallout, oblivion & borderlands etc. Most of those have poor voice acting if any at all.

I find the game is more fun than fallout being more action orientated and having a more entertaining and visceral combat system but the big reason I prefer it is due to co-op.

Also glitches are neglible at this point because every new release game has glitches and bugs, especially open world games of this scale. "A multitude of patches is coming" according to the devs twitter account and if BF3 or Skyrim dont have glitches or launch problems il eat my PC.

Its a solid new IP that went into an already crowded market, picked the best bits from the average and suceeded. Im looking forward to see what they do for DLC or for future releases.

[strange1986]

You really need to cover something like the skill trees in your review. If you didn't like how they work, that's fine, just point it out and state why. Leaving out a particular game mechanic from a review completely just because you aren't particularly impressed just seems lazy to me. I don't have a problem with your score. That's fine if you disliked or even hated the game. I just don't think this review is particularly well thought out or comprehensive.

[strange1986]

He say that the "zombie gameplay is at its finest" towards the beginning, but then complains about it being "pretty mediocre" later on. Huh.

[Dropdeadll]

zombie gameplay gets frustrating towards the middle there's just to many zombies for one player to handle i think the game is more suited for co-op then singleplayer even the cutscenes show the four players traveling together even though i am playing alone.

[MacMeaties]

Is this review a troll? Fair enough if you didn't like it but don't make up a feeble argument to convey personal taste as fact. You spent the whole review contradicting points you'd previous made.