Holidaying at Dead Island

Mike Bantick
Monday, 01 August 2011 13:05

Opinion and Analysis

Radioactive IT spent a relaxing five minutes sipping cocktails and enjoying the sights and smells of a luxury beach side holiday resort before being thrust into the horrors of paradise lost as the zombie apocalypse descended upon our vacation time.

Developer Techland has some explaining to do; we came here for a relaxing holiday after all. Just some time in the sun, reading books, perving on the other holidayers and sipping cocktails.  In reality, all we got were the cocktails (the Melbourne Mana Bar being the host venue for a preview of Dead Island).

The tech demo showcased the first hour of game play giving us some hands on close up visceral action in a small part of the Royal Palms island resort, now overrun with uindead beach goers.

The game was going to struggle to live up to the awesome emotional trailer released earlier in the year.  The instrumental backed short film of a young family battling against a hoard of undead, tugs at the heart strings exacerbating the desire to play the associated game.

So it was with built up anticipation our character regains consciousness after an unexplained outbreak of zombieitus.  Seems I am one of four playable characters, each with their own combat specialities, despite being an everyday holiday- maker only moments before hand.

After some panicked scrambling through the hotel pursued by surprisingly fleet of foot ex-humans, we work our way to a safe room and a small outpost of survivors.  Dead Island takes some leads from many games before it, above and beyond the stench of death, there is a waft of Dead Rising with its home-made weaponry, Left For Dead with the four player co-op and first person perspective, and even Bethesda's games such as Fallout 3 with the way NPC's interact with the player.

At the safe home we can accept missions, to venture out and clear an area of zombies, attempt to fix a radio transmitter and so forth, those common everyday tasks a former sun-bather must take on post zombie apocalypse.

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