Dead Island Review

By Dan Whitehead Published 5 September, 2011

Smack your beach up.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Remember the Dead Island teaser trailer? Of course you do. It "went viral" as marketing people with spreadsheets like to say. That means everybody saw it, posted it on Facebook, emailed it to their friends and said, "Hey, what's this Dead Island game all about?"

Played in reverse, we saw how a pretty young girl's fatal plunge from a hotel window was not the result of exorbitant room service fees but a zombie outbreak at a tropical resort. The mystery was almost unbearable. What was this game? Where had it come from? Was it a shooter? An adventure? The trailer wasn't saying. It was simply slick, artful, intriguing and loaded with promise. Remember it? Good. Now forget it, because Dead Island the game is nothing like the trailer.

It is, in fact, almost the complete opposite. Much like the moaning corpses that you're destined to spend a lot of time hacking to pieces, Dead Island is a shambling, lurching thing, falling to bits in important areas and frankly a bit whiffy up close. It's also strangely compelling, provided you're a forgiving sort who doesn't flinch at wonky coding and weird design decisions.

Now that we've established that Dead Island is a ramshackle B-movie rather than a streamlined blockbuster, let's clear up another misconception. This is not just a horror action game with occasional RPG bits glued on. It's a full-on openworld horror role-playing game, complete with crafting, side quests and skill trees. In fact, I'll put money on the fact that the conversation at developer Techland's Warsaw HQ started with the question, "What would happen if Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead went on a holiday to the Far Cry island?" That, in a blood-stained disembowelled nutshell, is Dead Island.

The original Dead Island trailer captured a lot of imaginations. The game doesn't really resemble it at all.

The first order of business is to pick your character from a selection of four. Each has their own nominal speciality - blades, melee, firearms and throwing - but in gameplay terms the difference is minor. Each has their own "Fury" attack, activated by accumulating hits against enemies, but otherwise there's no discernible advantage. Having picked the firearms specialist - a feisty female Australian cop - I felt no particular handicap while restricted to sticks and knives in the opening act, nor did it seem like there was any noticeable benefit once guns entered the arsenal.

Character choice doesn't really affect the story either, as the quests unfold in the same way regardless of who you control. As you're mysteriously immune to the effects of a zombie bite, you find yourself sent all over the island in pursuit of possible rescue plans, or just retrieving things for fellow survivors. Family heirlooms, siblings, even bottles of champagne - all are in demand, and rewarded with bonus XP, cash and unique objects or blueprints for powerful weapon mods.

That's all further down the line though. The big hurdle where Dead Island is concerned are those first few hours where you're not entirely sure what sort of game it's supposed to be, and all you can see are the ugly technical problems.

1

True fact: zombie slaying rapper Sam B is voiced by Marvin from Pulp Fiction.

Graphically, it's a bit of a dog. The Chrome 5 engine conjures up the same jagged Duplo jungle foliage as it did for the wretched Sniper: Ghost Warrior, and constantly struggles with textures, edges and frame-rates. Character models are downright disturbing, with marionette animations and distracting staring bug-eyes. The zombies, at least, are supposed to look horrible but even they're blighted by crude skins and spurting blood that looks like it's been added in MS Paint.

Control feels stiff at first, and finding the measure of the melee combat takes some patience. Judging your reach is problematic, not helped by flaky collision detection that leaves you swearing that your machete just whizzed through a zombie's head without leaving a mark.

It's in the opening sections where the immediate desire to mash zombies to bits grinds most awkwardly against the restrictions of the RPG framework. Playing as a cop-trained firearms expert, only to be told you can't actually shoot a pistol because you're not level 10, is about as immersion-breaking as you can get. It also gets tiresome, constantly foraging around for pipes, planks and kitchen knives with which to defend yourself as you jog from poolside bar to lifeguard tower to gas station.

Weapons degrade rapidly with use, and it's only once you gain access to the obligatory workbenches and can start making your makeshift arsenal more robust that things settle into a more agreeable rhythm. Once you're able to tape some batteries to a machete to create a weapon that slices and fries, or a vicious cudgel that delivers flame damage, or a cruel sickle dripping with poison, everything becomes more fun. Maintenance is still an issue, but options on your three-pronged skill tree can make weapons more durable or reduce the cost of repair.

There are guns in the game, of course, but ammo is scarce and it's not until the last of the story's four acts that you'll be able to start blasting away with any consistency. This isn't a bad idea, since the shooting mechanism is basic at best and wouldn't look out of place in a 1998 title. For the most part it's melee all the way, and despite the struggles with collision detection, when enemies are really close it's a decent enough system. Frantic arm-waving is made impossible thanks to a stamina gauge, depleted by each swing as well as sprinting, while distance and angle are both taken into account for each attack.

Bladed weapons show things off to their best advantage. Zombies lose flesh with each slash while arms can be lopped off with a well-aimed (or lucky) hit. Reducing one of the tougher "thug" zombies to a bloody skeleton, with stumps at the shoulder, still desperately trying to bite you, is undeniably fun.

2

Medkits are scarce. You'll get most of your health from guzzling energy drinks.

You can also throw any weapon, at which point it sticks out of your target's corpse as it roams around. You can lob a machete at a zombie, then yank it out as it approaches and use it to slice their head off. Alternatives include turning them into a pincushion with multiple throws, or attaching explosives to a knife for a savage spin on the sticky bomb.

Even more vital is the kick move. Easily forgotten in the early going, it proves essential later on, useful for pushing zombies back but more importantly able to knock them over. Once a zombie is on the floor, you can unleash particularly brutal hacking and battering moves, or unlock a foot stomp that crushes their skull instantly. Saving wear and tear on your best weapons, it's a skill worth mastering as soon as possible.

More bizarre is an alternative control system that lets you direct your arms with the analogue sticks in combat. Credit for trying something different, but after just a few minutes its clear why this facility was buried in the options menu. Suffice to say, it gave me nightmarish flashbacks to Jurassic Park: Trespasser.

3

Being set on an island, of course there are Lost references galore.

You can also use vehicles to get from place to place in relative safety, though limited visibility, rudimentary physics and Tonka truck handling means that it's easy to get lodged between scenery items. Speeding into a group of the undead and sending them hurtling to their doom is worth the aggravation, for a while at least.

The vehicles all have four seats, a reminder that this is very much a co-op game. Those playing solo are in for a tricky ride as certain encounters and "special infected" zombie types are clearly designed to be tackled as a team. There's no game over screen, but each death is punished by the deduction of a large chunk of your cash reserves. Not too troubling at the start, but once modified weapons become indispensable and the price of repair and upgrading runs to thousands rather than hundreds of dollars, you see why they made your penalty a financial one. It's the tools that matter here, not the quaint notion of "lives".

Respawning after each death puts you randomly in the same area where you died. Sometimes this will be right back in the middle of the fray. Sometimes it will be somewhere else entirely, often facing the wrong direction. At one point I died in the shallow water on a beach, and reappeared on a rooftop 50 metres away.

The only time the game forces you to reload and tackle a battle again is during escort missions, of which there are rather too many. Here you'll find that enemies are reset, but your weapons and items are not. Use up your Molotov cocktails and break your best weapon in a failed attempt and you'll have to try again with those handicaps already in place. Hoping for a herd-thinning fury attack is the only way out of this cycle of inevitable failure.

Elsewhere, you can see how the need to work around the requirements of co-op play has boxed the design into awkward corners. The game has no manual save, so once the story is completed there's no way to go back and finish off any quests you didn't tackle. Like an elderly driver navigating a tricky roundabout, all you can do is start over and go around again, playing the story from the beginning with your items and player level intact.

The sense of escalation, at least, is well handled. Enemies level up alongside you, so that encounters with zombies remain tense and challenging right up to the end. The engine clearly can't render more than 10 or so at a time, certainly nothing to compare with the crowds of Dead Rising, so this seems like a reasonable compromise. Loot drops are typical of the genre, and combined with the impressive modification options ensure that the drive to constantly improve and add to your arsenal provides compelling momentum even when the game itself struggles.

4

Dead Island has already won the 2011 prize for Most Bizarre Accents in a Video Game.

Co-op play makes the engine work harder, resulting in some hilarious puppet-like animation, but it works in a rudimentary sort of way. Players in the same game are free to roam the map, tackling different side quests, but story progression and fast travel demands all players gather at the same spot. The matchmaking system works not on player level but chapter checkpoints, putting you with players who are at roughly the same place in the game. Progress is automatically saved should other players quit, and your solo checkpoint is restored. It's a clunky and graceless system, but mostly workable and the game is considerably more fun with a full complement of players.

I didn't encounter anything game-breaking in the 26 and a bit hours it took to complete the story solo, or during my forays into co-op play, but it would still be all too tempting to fill this review with complaints about the flaky game engine, the weird floating objects and distracting animation spasms, and annoying glitches like inactive quest points, inconsistent navigation markers and the general air of a scrappy half-finished game. All that stuff is in here, and can easily dominate the experience.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the experience though. Dead Island is a deeply flawed game, but it's also clearly a low-budget game and one that has interesting ideas, often under-served by the bargain-basement code. Finding the diamonds in the rough demands a lot of patience, and enough investment in the base joys of zombie slaughter to tolerate the laundry list of flaws.

I suspect this will be one of those games that will be justifiably mocked by the majority for its many flaws but embraced by a forgiving minority, and passionately defended for its underdog status. Neither response will be entirely wrong. Much like gnawing on human flesh, Dead Island's clumsy horror-action role-player is the definition of an acquired taste.

6 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Dan.

About Dan Whitehead

Dan has been writing for Eurogamer since 2006 and specialises in RPGs, shooters and games for children. His bestest game ever is Julian Gollop's Chaos.

Read more articles from Dan by visiting the Dan Whitehead archive page.

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Comments (157) Latest comment 7 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • The-Jack-Burton #1 9 months ago

    "I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the experience" - that is the point; the only point actually

  • Charlie_Miso #2 9 months ago

    Lost me at 'escort missions'.

  • Timotei #3 9 months ago

    Which platform was it reviewed on, Dan?

  • Rogueywon #4 9 months ago

    Lost me at "enemies level up alongside you".

  • Tyronne #5 9 months ago

    I was dead set to get this but now isle wait and see what other people think.

  • Ged42 #6 9 months ago

    /Sticks on the rental list

  • mrpon #7 9 months ago

    360 Tim as per the heading next to the title.

  • riceNpea #8 9 months ago

    I hated that trailer. As a father of a little girl it made me very uncomfortable. From that moment i knew this game wasn't for me.

    EDIT: Negged? tough crowd. I don't enjoy seeing kids suffer in any form of media but this has been intensified by being a parent. I know it's a games but the scene in the video where she's attacked by a zombie and turns on her father left me mildly upset. I know i'm being sensitive but it's because i have a daughter of a similar age and can't help thinking i'd never want anything horrible to happen to her. You either understand what i'm trying to say or you don't.
    Edited by riceNpea at 05/09/11 @ 08:01

  • UncleLou #9 9 months ago

    So it's one of those screenshot engines - only looking great in stills.

    Anyway, mildly interested, but I am not going to pay full price for a low budget game, not at this time of the year.

  • The-Jack-Burton #10 9 months ago

    @Dan W

    Do you really need to state 'True' before you say 'Fact' ?

  • Shikasama #11 9 months ago

    I've never seen a game go from 'Jesus christ this is so interesting I might have to shoot myself in the head to relieve the excitement' to 'oh...ok' so quickly.

    It went from a Zombie cinematic experience, to a zombie open world surival game, to a first person melee zombie brawler to...an FPS with special infected. The recent gameplay trailers look to seriously mislead people if gunplay isn't really an option until later levels. Regardless of what the game IS they have chosen to present themselves as an FPS. I doubt I'll play this for a while but after LA Noire this surely has to go on the biggest dissapointments of 2011 list.
    Edited by Shikasama at 05/09/11 @ 07:48

  • Der_tolle_Emil #12 9 months ago

    Glad I did not pre-order. I have to admit it looked quite interesting but in the end it probably just tickled my lust for more Left4Dead. Some of the elements sound like they were trying to get in that special Dead Rising vibe as well but reading through the review it sounds they didn't get it quite right. Too bad, this could have been great.

  • Dizzy #13 9 months ago

    Phew... saves me some money. Pity.... I was excited by the ideas, but I don't really have time to play diamonds in the rough with all the games coming out the next few months.

  • Tonka #14 9 months ago

    I had nothing to do with the truck handling.

  • the_dudefather #15 9 months ago

    six on the beach

  • Graveland #16 9 months ago

    Moooon pig.com

  • Anciegher #17 9 months ago

    I'll get it once it's at 80% steam sales for 5€ in maybe a years time.

  • RedPanda #18 9 months ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • Ares42 #19 9 months ago

    Sounds a lot like burnt expectations, which should mean after reading this review it won't come off as bad :p

  • Darren #20 9 months ago

    After all the hype about this game I'm surprised that it only got a 6 from EG. I was honestly expecting at least an 8. I have to admit this wasn't on my To Buy list anyway but I was hoping it would be good enough to make me change my mind. Oh well. I hope there will be a demo as I'm not willing to buy something that is potentially only a little better than mediocre.

  • prudislav #21 9 months ago

    Darren: 8 from Dan Whitehead??? no way - he is a man of 6 :-)

  • overcorpse #22 9 months ago

    Eurogamer is fast becoming a joke for their reviews and scores,every other review ive seen for this game has consistently hit 8's or 9's.

    And why havent they reviewed the new Driver game yet,not been sent the review code yet then EG?

  • CaptainQuint #23 9 months ago

    @riceNpea

    I have a daughter as well. I had no problems watching the trailer at all.

    Anything featuring zombies allows me to differentiate between fantasy and reality. That, and I'm very manly.

  • ruslan74 #24 9 months ago

    Well, I have the required acquired taste for this. Since when was a 6/10 a bad game anyhow you spoiled 9/10 bunch of hoodlums! :)

  • bodypopper #25 9 months ago

    Might get this... for a tenner after the pre-Xmas games rush.

  • CaptainQuint #26 9 months ago

    Anyway, I betcha this quickly becomes a cult game beloved by its fans in the sort of way Deady Premonition is.

    Looks and sounds like a good game to me, after I've done all the other big releases.

  • Gearskin #27 9 months ago

    Might trade Deus Ex against this. Deus Ex don't have no zombies so far.

  • orangpelupa #28 9 months ago

    mafia 2 got 4/10 and i llike it
    this with 6/10 sure will be better!

    or not...

    btw may we know this is reviewed in what platform?
    im considering getting the PC version but if it still have too many tech problems and.....

    i guess i'll just wait for DF article...

  • bad09 #29 9 months ago

    6/10 from Dead Space Dan is a good recommendation! :)

  • Cadence #30 9 months ago

    5 from Gamecentral.

  • G-Lord #31 9 months ago

    A diamond in the rough then. Guess thats my kind of game, as I also enjoyed Boiling Point and its sequels.

  • Bradach #32 9 months ago

    Any game where you can kick zombies in the face with your mates is a winner for me. I'm in.

  • Ceatlan #33 9 months ago

    @overcorpse : They reviewed driver about 2 weeks ago here http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-0...
    Edited by Ceatlan at 05/09/11 @ 08:39

  • Darren #34 9 months ago

    Seems to be faring better review wise Stateside with IGN and GameTrailers both giving it 8+. Both say the game is scrappy and glitchy though so I think I'll either wait for a demo or just pick it up cheap in next year's Steam sales. It's sounds interesting but the review mentions a lot of issues that would annoy me, especially as I'd only be interested in playing it as a solo RPG.

  • Wyrm #35 9 months ago

    Lost me at the gameplay videos. I expected a serious zombie survival game, instead we got more cartoon Dead Rising nonsence. More Project Zomboid atmosphere, less stupid electrified knives.

  • LeChuckie #36 9 months ago

    What I expected.

  • KDR_11k #37 9 months ago

    If it's a low-budget game, is it at least priced accordingly?

  • Gearskin #38 9 months ago

    @KDR_11k

    How do you figure that out? The solo game took Dan 26 hours to beat with an RRP of £39.99.
    You can beat the solo game in any Call of Duty in about 4.5 hours with an RRP of £49.99.

    We don't go down this route.

  • ZizouFC #39 9 months ago

    Well at least the trailer was cool..

  • Goodfella #40 9 months ago

    If it's a low-budget game, is it at least priced accordingly?

    Not at all, it's £30 on PC, £20 would have been about right.

  • jonc24 #41 9 months ago

    Low budget isn't necessarily about game length though. Deadly premonition was quite long and released at budget price. With the flaws taken into consideration and the fact that there are tonnes of major releases on the horizon they probably should've gone the budget route with this.

  • iamtheoneneo #42 9 months ago

    alot of hype for a pretty average game , just goes to show that all a company needs to do is knock out a half decent trailer that shows nothing of the actual game and everyone starts jerking off like their in a strip club.

  • spekkeh #43 9 months ago

    ...yeah I was afraid this was going to happen (and relieved, too many good games as it is). That trailer was truly something else, made you dream of a heavily story driven and touching game amid the chaos of the zombie apocalypse. Then the screenshots started appearing and it was suddenly a pretty standard survival horror game, then it looked like something of an action shooter, and it finally turns out it's a traditional RPG with its genre trappings working against it. Oh and an engine that can't really accommodate the vision to boot. Seems like a lot of individuals have been working on the same game.

  • Grayvern #44 9 months ago

    Disappointment for those Dead Set on Dead Island being a new Dawn for the genre which entails the Dead Rising.
    Edited by Grayvern at 05/09/11 @ 13:33

  • arcam #45 9 months ago

    Really not enough talk about the co-op. For me, that's the whole point of this game.

    I expect it will be best if you have a group of four in mind, willing to play the whole game together. Matchmaking for a couple of levels with randoms seems like a bad choice.

  • Doi-Oing #46 9 months ago

    I think people are forgetting that it's only EG that have marked the game a 6. So far, every other site is at least an 8. No reason for it to be a 'budget release' at all.

  • username84 #47 9 months ago

    How come stuff costs money? who's running a business in the middle of a zombie apocalypse?
    Would have thought food, clean water or medicine would have been better currency.

  • Dave52 #48 9 months ago

    Wow, IGN must be in the favourable camp then as they gave it an 8. I was quite tempted by this after that amazing backwards trailer, but I think I'll be waiting for the price drop.

  • metalangel #49 9 months ago

    @username84: it's just the island you're on. Rescue is all but inevitable, and then those merchants will be rich, RICH they tells ya!

  • Seoh #50 9 months ago

    Oh god i remember Jurassic Park: Trespasser, awful, horrible game.

  • darkmorgado #51 9 months ago

    Strange, because all the gameplay videos have displayed some rather gorgeous graphics and perfectly adequate animation.

    In fact, I'd say its far better looking than Deus Ex, and certainly better than the dated Oblivion or Fallout 3.

    Day one purchase for me, been looking forward to this for four years.

  • kinky_mong #52 9 months ago

    Well I've been looking for an excuse to cancel my pre-order and this review is just the ticket!

  • SpaceMidget75 Verified Senior Software Developer, Minerva Computer Services #53 9 months ago

    Read that through again but replace the name Dead Island with Fallout 3.

    (Fallout is a great game, and I haven't played this obviously, but it does seem, sometimes, like we're happy to forgive some franchises for issues and not others based on our prejudices that this isn't a AAA title.)
    Edited by SpaceMidget75 at 05/09/11 @ 09:44

  • darkmorgado #54 9 months ago

    This does smell strongly of a deliberately contrary review. Its by far the lowest score the game has received.

    Oh, its a Dan Whitehead review. That explains it.

    /adds 2 points to score to compensate for the whitehead-factor.
    Edited by darkmorgado at 05/09/11 @ 09:54

  • marmaduke #55 9 months ago

    OH GOD NOT ESCORT MISSIONS

    I really hate escort missions. They're worse than zombies.
    Edited by marmaduke at 05/09/11 @ 09:47

  • neilqpr #56 9 months ago

    So the game is undeniably fun, but seems to have been deducted points for all the bugs? The fallout games seem to have all the bugs listed in this review plus game breaking bugs in many cases, but this scores far worse? I dare say the story doesn't compare to fallout but the 6 seems a tad harsh.

    Reckon I might still pick it up.

  • carlitoswagon #57 9 months ago

    When will someone give these poor zombies a fucking break. Wondering around all smelly and some c**t hits them in the face with an electrified baseball bat.

  • BillMurray #58 9 months ago

    Anyone thought maybe he gave the game a 6 because he didn't like it and not for anyone other reason?

  • darkmorgado #59 9 months ago

    Yep. This is the guy that gave Dead Space a 7 and Mafia II a 4 after all.

  • Mr_Pole #60 9 months ago

    Sniper:Ghost Warrior runs on Chrome Engine 4 NOT 5.Anyway,i'm buying Resistance 3.Dead Island got to wait.Too many AAA games coming soon.

  • rudedudejude #61 9 months ago

    Mafia 2 4 LOL ahahahahahahahaha!

  • DeSelle #62 9 months ago

    Hmmm...think I'll wait for more reviews. Baseline seems: Good experience but troubled by bugs and a mediocre engine.
    But 2011 seems to be the year where game don't live up to the hype (LA Noire, dragon age 2, bulletstorm, Duke Nukem, ...) So now my hope shifts to Skyrim to be the first good non-shooter game this year. (ok the witcher was good and dead space 2 was a one trick pony but it was a great and scary trick)

  • mrpon #63 9 months ago

    Lost me at Dan Whitehead.

  • ninjanutta #64 9 months ago

    AH,the eurogamer fashionable low score strikes again.What a load of crap.the game is far better than the foolish reviewer says,he slags it off but really likes it?
    also,hes a liar,he said he played it with all 4 caracters then said it took 26 hrs to complete,you telling me he played for 104 hrs and thought it was crap?
    Do me a favour eurogamer,stop this silly scoring that makes you all look stupid in the internet review stakes.does acti pay you to only score their stuff high or is it rockstar?

  • JHo #65 9 months ago

    Hey guys, at least this is a halfway proper review. It actually mentions how the graphics hold up and spends some time going into detail about the game play experience. Three entire pages! Blimey!! Not like the God-awful "Deus Ex" review last week. (shudder)

    I still really want to play this game, but I really find framerate issues ruin immersion for me.

  • thedaveeyres #66 9 months ago

    No. More. Zombies. Ever.

  • Wendelius #67 9 months ago

    @darkmorgado "Yep. This is the guy that gave Dead Space a 7 and Mafia II a 4 after all."

    Just like for movies, reviews are opinions. You will find some reviewers who have similar tastes to you and others who don't. Just like for movies, you learn to decide which reviewers often align with your tastes and you take other reviews with a grain of salt (Are you a Kermode guy, Roger Ebert? The Guardian? ...). But what score was given to what movie or game is hardly an indictement of their reviews.

  • Seafort #68 9 months ago

    I guess someone didnt get a pay check for the review. :p Most reviews are between 8 and 9.5 that i've seen so far.

    If u look on metacritic EG is the lowest score for dead island to date.

    I'm getting this game for the coop like this game was designed for. A bit like borderlands in how its set up. That sounds great to me :)

  • kinky_mong #69 9 months ago

    Its by far the lowest score the game has received.

    Wrong. Gamescentral gave it 5 out of 10.

    This is the guy that gave Dead Space a 7 and Mafia II a 4 after all.

    WRONG! John Teti reviewed Mafia II for this site.

  • DevilFire #70 9 months ago

    IGN gave 8/10

  • RedSparrows #71 9 months ago

    Dead Space IS a 7 anyway. Wonderful production values, average-to-good everything else.

  • Seoh #72 9 months ago

    It seems that Dead island is one of those games that if you "get it" it's a lot of fun but if you don't then is a mess, reviews seem to be quite mixed. I've seen 8-9/10 and 5/10, think i'll stick with space marine this week.

  • WeakOrbit #73 9 months ago

    According to Game trailers there will be a day one patch for this that fixes the spawn issues. I'm still looking forward to playing it with a few mates rather than soloing through it. I'm sure patches further down the line wil fix other issues like the texture pop in and whatever else.
    Edited by WeakOrbit at 05/09/11 @ 10:53

  • apoc_reg #74 9 months ago

    Hmm so fallout with zombies sounds awesome... and i assume the graphics being bad is just a console thing.

    So PC version is still good then?

  • Velvetmeds #75 9 months ago

    So, i did the right thing by buying Space Marine instead of this? Good to know

  • Haloboy #76 9 months ago

    See I remember that little game named Boiling Point from way back when. I remember the manic AI. I remember the vanishing vehicles. I remember bugs that made me go wtf lulz!? I remember floating old ladies. I remember grenades that stopped in mid air when thrown. I remember cut and paste areas which confused me greatly. I remember being laid out prone on a rock till it went dark and the rain belted down as I waited for the perfect moment to snipe some poor sod.

    But most of all I remember the fact that even with all of the above combined I found it utterly immersive, engrossing, genre changing and fun.

    You know what else I remember? KG's 8 out of 10 review and this bit in particular:

    Me? Despite everything, I like it a lot. When talking to someone about this, he asked how can you give something this broken a fairly decent mark? Well, if you still enjoy it.

    Me? My pre-order is still set in stone.

  • QotSAfan #77 9 months ago

    It isn't just the bugs marking down the review score, it is the eccentric game design. The level ten gunplay, the random spawning, too many escort missions and the limitations imposed on a single player playthrough by too much emphasis on co-op.

    Say what you will about Fallout 3's bugs but it's game design and the way its narrative was structured around it was extremely well done.

  • darkmorgado #78 9 months ago

    Good thing this wasn't made by the people who did boiling point then.
    Edit: why the negs? It isn't. Its made by Techland, the Call of Juarez guys.
    Edited by darkmorgado at 05/09/11 @ 11:49

  • TONYgr #79 9 months ago

    Guys guys this game SCREAMSSS Local Co-Op!4 screens,4 360s and 4 good friends in the same room.Anyway that's how i will play it.

  • JensonJet #80 9 months ago

    The biggest disappoint for me, after reading the review, is the lack of shooting. I expected some melee combat, but the lack of guns puts me off. I don't want to spend hours running around throwing kitchen knives or bashing zombies around the head with planks of wood. Maybe a decent demo might change my mind, but I'm already starting to give up on this now.

  • Spekingur #81 9 months ago

    I'll betcha Skyrim will get 9/10 - even if it crashes at startup everytime.

  • Monkey_Puncher #82 9 months ago

    To be fair though Skyrim will be an amazing game with or without bugs, the scope and variety in Bethesda's games makes the bugs easy to overlook. While this game does look interesting, all the game play videos I've seen look super repetetive and rather dull.

    Definitely gonna wait for a price drop and save my money for Gears 3 or Rage me thinks.

  • FortysixterUK #83 9 months ago

    Shame. I was hoping this would be more of a shooter than a brawler.
    I noticed riceNpea's comments earlier on about the trailer being disturbing to him because of the little girl being the victim.
    Agreed, the first time I saw it it shook me, but then after a few days I realised I really wanted this to be another version of left 4 dead. Guns, grenades and melee weapons optional. This would appear not to be the case.
    Also, if you clear an area of zombies, said area should then be safe to explore to find all the hidden goodies in the level, not lots of respawns. Ho Hum. ...maybe when it's on the bargain shelf...this is a sub £20 game for me now. Maybe sub £15 now I think about it.....

  • bratmandu #84 9 months ago

    "enemies are reset, but your weapons and items are not"

    Few things annoy me as much as this. I'll pass.

  • Nephirion #85 9 months ago

    No mention of what this is like on PC? After all Left4Dead 2 is amazing on PC compared with the gimped 360 version. As for lack of ammo can easily be modified on a PC. While I realise games are often multiplatform, platform specific features that are available on PC can make all the difference to the experience, the screens dont look that bad to me probably look even better in DX11.

  • Spekingur #86 9 months ago

    @Monkey_Puncher: I am sure it will be, which is why I am going to buy it. The point was though that Skyrim might get reviewed on heritage alone - no matter how it played. Or not played in case of constant crashes at startup - unlikely though because it will most likely be reviewed on a console rather than a PC.

  • Iain815 #87 9 months ago

    @overcorpse

    Ouch. You must be embarrassed.

  • Bravestinsane #88 9 months ago

    hhmm... im not to bothered by the score.

    Eurogamer is the WORST score on metacritic, so i will probably still get it, hopefully the PC version is a little more polished (one can hope)

  • technotica #89 9 months ago

    So its really fun but has flaws. I will still buy it so that hopefully the developer can make Dead Island 2 which will be even more fun and with less flaws . :)

    I mean this is the only zombie rpg besides that indie one that looks really great (gameplay wise) but is till pre beta.
    Edited by technotica at 05/09/11 @ 11:50

  • ninja368 #90 9 months ago

    It's getting an average of 8.5 from various sites, this is the lowest rating it's gotten. Here's a tip though, whenever a reviewer says something along the lines of This is terrible, it's clunky and bad and buggy! Awful! and then says and I quote "I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy the experience". They're full of crap and are obviously looking for something to bash. Major contradiction there, and I take this review with a grain of salt because of it.

  • MarketZero #91 9 months ago

    I've been playign this for a week and it's bloody brilliant. EG get things SO wrong sometimes. I'm fully expecting a 10/10 for Burnout Crash.

  • DirectAim #92 9 months ago

    6/10 is a lil low.

    Read IGN's review before wiping this game off your list.

  • FanBoysSuck #93 9 months ago

    I fancy giving this a go but the lack of local coop killed it for me. I'll pick it up once I can get two copies for the price of one new one.

  • mkreku #94 9 months ago

    Why must Dan Whitehead review every game I'm interested in?! That Risen review taught me not to believe a word he writes.

  • Retro_ #95 9 months ago

    Why do i get the feeling that the PS3 version is the better of the two. Looking forward to DF proving me wrong.

  • peteb #96 9 months ago

    @FanBoysSuck

    The game has local co-op, just as system link.

  • the_dudefather #97 9 months ago

    Every review website should get together and agree on a score that they will give to a game, that way I don't have to trouble myself with the possibility of different opinions

  • FanBoysSuck #98 9 months ago

    @peteb : ah, so two people can play with one copy?

    That's my issue here.


    I'm pretty sure you need two.
    Edited by FanBoysSuck at 05/09/11 @ 13:39

  • mukki #99 9 months ago

    well wait till it's cheap and get some copies to play with friends...

  • bigtechno #100 9 months ago

    Cancelled buy it in a couple of weeks once it's down to £15-20

  • Tryhard #101 9 months ago

    With the game industry walking a very thin line economically,these game dev's still throw out games in this state.Shocking.

  • peeps #102 9 months ago

    Interesting read. I was looking forward to this game but did have my fears. Will certainly give it a rent though

  • Pikol #103 9 months ago

    knew it

  • Snake_2011 #104 9 months ago

    it will only cost me 31 & I get a tshirt plus DLC so happy. why some of you buy games of the back of what someone else feels is crazy imo.
    Edited by Snake_2011 at 05/09/11 @ 23:31

  • jetsetwillie #105 9 months ago

    i can see this very quickly dropping to less that £20. i will pick up for the PC then.

  • hardtech #106 9 months ago

    Is it just me who is glad that eurogamer are one of the few sites to recognise that between the numbers of 1-10 there are more than 3 or 4 numbers?

  • Monsieur_Blade #107 9 months ago

    Ahhh nuts :-(

    I had really high expectations for this after seeing the trailer and all the preview hype but it looks like I might pick this one up in 6 months or so when its sub £20.

    I still think it could be one of those games that you just fall in love with though e.g. like I did with Mafia on the PC.

  • Primatori #108 9 months ago

    IGN has given this an 8/10. I have it on pre order and still intend on getting it for the pure fun factor. I like coming home from work and sitting down with a beer, cutting off some heads to unwind :). IGN covered off some more of the Co-op aspects too. Its not going to be a perfect game, but then again, i was never expecting it to be. This game to me will be all about the experience rather than how it looks.

  • Miths #109 9 months ago

    I think I'll just take another run through Deux Ex: HR instead. Or dig out Fallout 3.

    I was really looking forward to this, but while I sounds like the gameplay might still be enjoyable, the engine problems and the harsh conditions for solo players are definitely putting me off.

  • darkmorgado #110 9 months ago

    Game Informer gave it 85. It's getting pretty high marks across the board. EG's score is a bit of an anomaly.

  • FanBoysSuck #111 9 months ago

    @darkmorgado : not really, metacritic shows a few 6 & 7's.

    It sounds like a rough gem and your enjoyment of it hinges on if you can look past the shotfalls.

    Either way dude it's one person's opinion ;)

  • iamtheoneneo #112 9 months ago

    "IGN gave it 8/10"
    well fuck me , bend me over sideways and call me roger - IGN will slap an 8, 9 or 10 on most games out there, they have very little journalistic credibility as it is - the most shocking thing is that people will take their review over EG's. Still wont make the game any better, you bunch of crybabies. Just accept it - the game is AVERAGE at best and you were duped by a CGI trailer. shock horror.

  • Kaminari #113 9 months ago

    This game sounded like shit right from the get-go. What I don't understand is how the journos failed to aknowledge it after previewing and hyping the game hundreds of time before its release.

    Oh, wait... I almost forgot the paycheck factor.

  • Vergis69 #114 9 months ago

    Well EG gave Dragon Age Origins 6/10 and I thought that was one of the best games I played that year. This is a winner for me then lol

  • darkmorgado #115 9 months ago

    Just accept it - the game is AVERAGE at best

    Except that the majority of reviews are rather positive.

    Not to mention the fact that assertions in this review - the consistency of melee, the graphics, etc - are contradcited by pretty much every review out there.

  • Collymilad #116 9 months ago

    Still getting this.

    Wouldn't be the first time one the Dan's reviews has been way off..

    :p

    @spacedelete - yeah it's almost as bad as your fucking whining about people whining. Maybe take your own advice.
    Edited by Collymilad at 05/09/11 @ 17:12

  • shortyluke2010 #117 9 months ago

    I have this game pre-ordered and I won't be cancelling it. This is a low-budget game and compared to other low-budget games it looks decent enough to play... I have been a big fan of this game since I heard about it and maybe if they somehow done a sequel they could have a bigger budget with a new engine.. All games have to start off some where?...

  • cowell #118 9 months ago

    Thought this would be a solid 7, so I wasn't far off. Still an above average game if its a 6. Still definitely worth checking out

  • itsfuzzy #119 9 months ago

    My 1st pre order in years and a bit disappointed with the 6/10 but the reviewer also enjoyed it so i hold out hope. A Fallout, Far Cry , Dead Rising mash up also sounds good to me!

  • rIchba5tard #120 9 months ago

    6/10,really! you are fking douche dan.

  • niteninja #121 9 months ago

    I got to play this today and 6 out of 10 is really kind, its trash imagine a cross between farcry2 and an old pc game called kingpin with zombies.
    Both of those games were miles better than this rubbish get warhammer 40k instead.
    To even compare this to fallout3 and oblivion is an insult.
    Edited by niteninja at 05/09/11 @ 18:16

  • niteninja #122 9 months ago

    I promise you this is a boomerang game, you will buy it play it for an hour and take it back to swap it for warhammer.

  • PearOfAnguish #123 9 months ago

    I'd be more interested if it wasn't for those escort missions. They're fucking horrible in any game, the fact you lose your weapons after a restart makes it even worse.

  • stryker1121 #124 9 months ago

    Fair review, if a disappointing one. Would be playing this solo so the singe-player problems are putting me off a bit.

  • ajaxpliskin #125 9 months ago

    Look foward to the sequel!

  • soviet_ #126 9 months ago

    All the actual gameplay videos pointed to the fact this game was going to be pretty average and needing a good old polish

  • randyronald #127 9 months ago

    Still want.

  • WeakOrbit #128 9 months ago

    Here is a list of patches for dead island so far.

    [link url=http://www.destructoid.com/here-s-the-list-of-fixes-in-dead-island-s-day-one-patch--210646.phtml
    ]http://www.destructoid.com/here-s-the-li...[/link]

  • SpaceMonkey77 #129 9 months ago

    Well, I'm still getting this game. Here's are my reasons.

    1: Its a zombie game that isn't Left4Dead or Dead Rising.
    2: Achievements and fun.
    3: Co-op
    4: Techland are a smaller developer.

    Building on that last point, Techland tried their own take on the zombie genre, a risky prospect when it might seem we are sick of zombies, dedicated games or otherwise. However, despite it perhaps not being the most polished diamond (get it, polished diamond, lol.... polish), I can see this game becoming a sleeper hit of 2011.

    Let's cut to the chase. Who are Techland? Few of us know, so despite the awesome spectacle of their trailer, and while it got us all talking, it was always obvious this games was from a lower budget studio. And while this first game might not live up to what the trailer blew our minds with, I think that if Techland get a fair chance of success with Dead Island, we might yet see what that trailer might have offered, in a sequel. After all, we all loved Left 4 Dead 2 and Dead Rising 2/Case West/Case Zero. I short, we love zombies.

    I pride myself as a seasoned gamer, to buy the best games possible for my collection and fun. Occasionally, I'll get a game that's less than perfect, but still provides hours of fun. Case to point, I hated Dead Rising's some what cheesy story, but loved its psychopath bosses. I hated that games stupid save system with passion, but loved just going apeshit and getting my Dawn of the Dead demons some sweet exercise (zombie carmageddon in the underground car park is shear heaven). In fact, were it not for the zombie joy of Dead Rising, I wouldn't have purchased an Xbox 360.

    Eventually, despite reviews, we all have to ask ourselves, how badly do we want to play a certain game. Dead Island has zombies and an aspect of rpg survival, plus co-op icing on its cake. Cheer up, people. If you buy and don't want it, by all means trade it in when you are done. Plenty of other games in the pipe. I'll be keeping my copy, while supporting a smaller developer, and hopefully we'll get a bigger budget sequel, with vast improvements. Perhaps I'll even give Techland some feedback, to help them, as I feel there's still plenty that can be done with zombie games.

    I'm still be playing the upcoming Project Zomboid, and the lesser known Dead State indie zombie games on PC, which offer their own takes on the genre. But kudos to Techland, you've got to hand it to a smaller euro developer, to push out a game like Dead Island, when Left4Dead is so popular, the latter being a smaller mod game, which did well from Valve coffers of investment.

    Anyway, I think Deep Silver, Square and and polish devs Techland will be happy with this game, and I'd love to see an improved sequel. I'd rather have more of Dead Island, than more Call of Juarez. How bizarre, seems fortunes are getting better for Square, with Deus Ex and Dead Island. Guess it shows western games are good to invest in, if you choose wisely. Perhaps Square should buy Techland too.
    Edited by SpaceMonkey77 at 05/09/11 @ 22:01

  • darkmorgado #130 9 months ago

    I guess EG wouldn't like to comment on the numerous factual inaccuracies in the review or the fact that the reviewers statements are contradicted by nearly every other review out there?

  • Turbotim3 #131 9 months ago

    and do we care what this person thinks about this game? no not really. videogame journalism is dead, it has slowly pissed away its credibility and now it is all gone.

  • ShiroBen #132 9 months ago

    "Playing as a cop-trained firearms expert, only to be told you can't actually shoot a pistol because you're not level 10 ..."

    Pass.

    "...escort missions, of which there are rather too many."

    Double pass.

    "Enemies level up alongside you..."

    Double secret triple pass. Sounds like instead of actually designing the game they just threw a bunch of mechanics from other, better games together in the hope of creating something passable.

  • TheGuvernor #133 9 months ago

    It's all so subjective though, isn't it?
    Personally i think FO3 & FONV are two of the most over hyped games I've ever played.
    They bored the tits off me but most loved them.
    Still was really looking forward to this.

  • bosseye #134 9 months ago

    Hmmmm, whilst 6/10 does suddenly dampen my enthusiasm for this one, I have to keep telling myself that I don't trust Eurogamer reviews these days and as such the score means nothing. After Mafia 2 (4/10! really? That bad?), Dead Nation (6/10! really? awesome zombie shooter that cost £10 brand new?) and LA Noire (9/10! average shitfest).

    So I'll still be buying on Friday. I'll trade Human Revolution, thats hardly lived up to the hype.

  • bad09 #135 9 months ago

    @DaddyBrown73

    You are not buying the game purely because of a well made teaser trailer???? Wow...

    Have to laugh at those distrubed by that trailer. I'm a father to but didn't see any bad taste in it whatsoever, thought it was well made and did what it was supposed to do just like every misleading CGI trailer out there (get everyones attention on the game) and quite honestly I don't see the fuss. People didn't get all disturbed and upset when a child takes a chunk out of her father (or the zombie baby for that matter!) in the Dawn Of The Dead remake. Did anyone cry bad taste at Pet Sematary when little Gage comes back from the dead and goes after his parents? Why does no one get upset at movies?

    It's not real folks no children were harmed in the making of that trailer and I'm sure in the real zombie attack when it happens they would not turn to each other and say "leave it Dave, she's only a little girl look there is a big chested blonde lets get her instead...brains.......".

  • IronCladChicken #136 9 months ago

    Why does everyone keep mentioning IGN's review?
    They went seriously downhill after being bought out by Murdoch a few years ago - Are they good again now?

    Am I going to be negged for asking a question about IGN?

  • asphaltcowboy #137 9 months ago

    "The only time the game forces you to reload and tackle a battle again is during escort missions, of which there are rather too many. Here you'll find that enemies are reset, but your weapons and items are not. Use up your Molotov cocktails and break your best weapon in a failed attempt and you'll have to try again with those handicaps already in place."

    That sounds truly awful. Why would you design it like that?

    Anyway, I'm still vaguely interested - Will wait for the bargain bins!

  • Haloboy #138 9 months ago

    EDGE gave it a 3. Gamespot a 7. It's like a roller coaster strictly for zombies. Height restrictions apply obviously.

  • bad09 #139 9 months ago

    @DaddyBrown73

    Not really sure what you are on about with the "knee jerk" thing, we are all gamers here why would I want other gamers to leave "my" hobby alone?.

    I was merely pointing out how funny it is that people are getting all sensitive over a CGI video game trailer just because a child is in it, I'm a parent to but don't get all queasy over make believe.

  • FlipC #140 9 months ago

    "Playing as a cop-trained firearms expert, only to be told you can't actually shoot a pistol because you're not level 10" and that's killed it for me.

    Seriously if they can allow something that dumb for something that basic how more screwed up is the rest of the game going to be?

    "At one point I died in the shallow water on a beach, and reappeared on a rooftop 50 metres away"

    Oh that screwed up.

  • bad09 #141 9 months ago

    @DaddyBrown73

    "Moral values"???? Jesus over-react much? It's a make believe zombie game FFS! :)

    The trailer shows a family fighting the zombie attack (an attack that's kinda what the game is about), it didn't show any gameplay whatsover to give a "wrong idea" as to what the game was about it was just a CGI scene from the actual attack rather than the aftermath to "tease". No more misleading than any other CGI teaser.

    Was it "questionable" to use a family enjoying their holiday with the child becoming a zombie or was just a really cool way to highlight the whole "holiday paradise resort gone bad" setting in the game (which personally I thought it did pretty well)? In all honesty I couldn't care less, all I thought when I watched it was that it was one of the best made teasers I'd ever seen, getting all upset because a kid was in it didn't enter my mind until people started the "as a parent..." crap but like I said kid zombies, monsters, vampires isn't something new it's just the first time we've seen it in a game trailer and I find it really funny how some are touchy about it.
    Edited by bad09 at 06/09/11 @ 15:48

  • elrasho #142 9 months ago

    So will EG do another review once they get a proper build and not the Dev build?

  • Spong #143 9 months ago

    "Remember the Dead Island teaser trailer? Of course you do."

    Actually, no. Never seen it. The first I heard of it was after Techland said it didn't represent the game's content at all. So why would I want to watch it if it meant jack shit?

  • thebuttonz #144 9 months ago

    @Spong it was an awesome short, but in relation to this game? Nah.

  • DeSelle #145 9 months ago

    Important note: I actually own the game and have played quite some hours already. I think that reviewers should support little producers a bit more as this young industry already needs some fresh blood (since most games turn into a franchise quite quickly). This game has clear flaws but not a lot that I really care about (voice acting is bad, graphics are mediocre,...) So yes, on a technical level it's not the best game but after having played 15 hours, it's still fun, a lot of fun even and for that reason only I think it deserves a 7. I hope this one becomes a sleeper hit.

  • CaptainKid #146 9 months ago

    The game has no manual save

    Que???

  • jamieleng #147 9 months ago

    This is never going to be anyone's dead island disc.

  • Grayvern #148 9 months ago

    I actually found the analog controls great rather than just swinging wildly, being able to double slap zombies with the paddle early on or chopping thugs arms off is great.

    The key is quickly releasing the left trigger to change view after attacks.
    Edited by Grayvern at 09/09/11 @ 04:42

  • nanogasm #149 9 months ago

    6/10 this is not. At least a 7, and in some respects pushes it further with raw ambience. I'm having a lot of fun with it. It's simple, yet luring. I get the urge the go back and play despite it having an incredibly predictable formula.

    The devs hit the nail on the head of what zombie games 'should' be about. The mechanics are rough, but people are forgiving it because it wreaks of cool.

  • Liquidoodle #150 9 months ago

    This game is awesome! It's an 8/10 at the least! Especially with 2 mates in toe smacking the living.... un-living shit out of zombies.

  • Vergis69 #151 9 months ago

    I think EG should have a little chat to themselves about this one... 6/10?..

    The game isnt perfect by any means but its FUN and ENTERTAINING. Which is what a game is supposed to be if im not mistaken?

    probs 8/10 in my book. Would be a 9 if it wasnt for the odd bug and bad voice acting.

    Edited by Vergis69 at 12/09/11 @ 16:13

  • connorhowe123 #152 8 months ago

    Nice review but i enjoy it alot and this is my youtube play through if anybody would care to watch it :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At8wrlQnQCY

  • connorhowe123 #153 8 months ago

    Nice review but i enjoy it alot and this is my youtube play through if anybody would care to watch it :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At8wrlQnQCY

  • kinggibbon #154 8 months ago

    They gave this a 6/10 which is the same score as Divinity 2. Dead Island is way better than that piece of crap. Everyone who has played it that I know has gven it a good 8/10. I think Dan White played it for 10 mins, couldn't get the hang of it and cried in a cupboad for 2 hours. It takes some getting used to. Longer than 10 mins. The collision detection is fine. But I do find the shadows funny when punching.

  • Vistrix #155 8 months ago

    Give Dan a break - a review is one person's opinion - and Dan spent the time to review the game and thought it was a 6.

    It's stupid to get angry over that.

  • Retro_ #156 8 months ago

    About 20 hours in and am really enjoying this flawed gem. The melee based combat is actually really good once you get the hang of it and once you reach the 'Town', the game's mood darkens hugely which is exactly what it needed to do.

    It's not perfect but it's a solid 7.5/10

  • Inertia #157 7 months ago

    This is a boring game after a short while. The response from players seems to be collective delusion to rate this higher than say gears 3. It's interesting at first but when you get to the corridors and more restricted environments things really creek and groan with bad decisions from the developer. 6/10 maybe if feeling generous a low 7/10. If cheap though worth a shot as some people seem to really get something from it.