Dead Island

 PC
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
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  1. Ten Ton Hammer
    Sep 15, 2011
    74
    Dead Island is a wonderful concept and the core gameplay is executed beautifully, but it really doesn't do anything new or interesting.
  2. PC PowerPlay
    Oct 3, 2011
    70
    Incredible potential squandered by a focus on action and dull quest design. Still a decent romp in co-op, but it could have been so much more. [Nov 2011, p.54]
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  3. GameSpot
    Sep 6, 2011
    70
    A schlocky, gruesomely fun action role-playing game awaits you on Dead Island. Bring three friends.
  5. ActionTrip
    Sep 15, 2011
    68
    Dead Island's saving grace is its open-world approach, cool custom weapons and fun coop. Nonetheless, Techland created a perfect foundation for a cool, RPG-flavored survival horror game, but forgot to polish it, in addition to providing a dull narrative.
  6. Absolute Games
    Sep 18, 2011
    65
    Dead Island is yet another tombstone upon a grave of excessive ambitions. Our condolences to those who fell for that excellent cinematic trailer – it has nothing to do with the actual game.
  7. Thunderbolt
    Oct 9, 2011
    60
    It's the mission design that proves most disappointing. Its scale is highly ambitious but Dead Island's population of living dead aren't enough to compensate for its barren lack of variety and an increasingly tedious structure.

Awards & Rankings

46
#46 Best PC Game of 2011
16
#16 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
36
#36 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.9

Mixed or average reviews- based on 1659 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 816 out of 1659
  2. Mixed: 578 out of 1659
  3. Negative: 265 out of 1659
  1. Heaviermetal
    Sep 6, 2011
    10
    Loving this game so far! Its fun, different and what I hoped L4D would have been more of. I have had no problem with controls and any issuesLoving this game so far! Its fun, different and what I hoped L4D would have been more of. I have had no problem with controls and any issues other trolls have problems with. If u like survival horror, rpg and fps melee you will like this game. If you like games being a movie, then go away.… Full Review »
  2. metalhead980
    Sep 6, 2011
    9
    Dead Island is a Open world, first person view, zombie survival horror with item collection and character skill advancement trees. Its as IfDead Island is a Open world, first person view, zombie survival horror with item collection and character skill advancement trees. Its as If Borderlands and Dead Rising got together and had a baby, that baby would be dead Island. This game has rich four player co-op, simple yet effective story, a deep weapon crafting and character customization system. Do you love zombies? Exploration? character advancement? item collections? co-op? then dead Island is a no brain-er. The only reason this game doesn't get a ten is due to a slightly bugged user interface that should be fixed this week with a patch.

    I would like to add that Dead Island on a high end pc is the ultimate zombie killing experience. This version has no texture loading issues, great control and much better graphics over all.    … Full Review »
  3. applethin
    Sep 7, 2011
    0
    To summarize in one sentence, this game is borderlands with zombies and like no guns. The midnight release play was absolutely terrible. TheTo summarize in one sentence, this game is borderlands with zombies and like no guns. The midnight release play was absolutely terrible. The game stutters every 3 seconds for no reason. Everyone's mic is open and there's no way to mute them. I only got to play first three chapters before Techland decided to wipe my save without warning. Apparently they uploaded a console version to steam (DOH!) and considering how it still hasn't been fixed, the issue goes much deeper. The graphics looked absolutely terrible compared to what I was expecting from trailers. The character animations are hideous. Honestly, I've seen half life 2 mods with better animations. The inventory is a pain in the ass to use. Interface was made for consoles and it's absolutely baby-punch-frustrating as a PC gamer to slowly click through things because they were too lazy to change it. Honestly it wouldn't be so bad if weapons didn't break so quickly and I have to access item menu every 3 minutes. You shuffle through 10 diff containers and get 50 dollars which you'll have to spend to repair a knife that breaks after 5 swings. But seriously though, YOU SPEND MOST OF YOUR TIME OPENING CONTAINERS AND PUNCHING BABIES THROUGH BAD INTERFACE MANAGING ITEMS RATHER THAN KILLING ZOMBIES AND SURVIVING.

    The characters are also horrible. The models are hideous and it's really hard to take a liking to a character and level them when they're not likable at all. While they call this game an RPG the characters have no story behind them other than a tiny paragraph intro where they basically prove the developers are bunch of racist white men who never seen a non white person in their lives or something. The asian woman sometimes sounds super asian and sometimes just sounds white. The 'sure' and 'yes's that they say when accepting a quest are sometimes totally out of place and kills immersion. I will say that I liked the zombie animations and their ragdoll mechanics. It's pretty hilarious to stand on some stairs and watch zombies fall down the stairs when you kick them.
    When I was buying this game, I was expecting more L4D element but I was very wrong. This game definitely has borderland written all over it. It even has aimless driving. Btw, Why does a truck have infinite health in a survival game? It needs to get damaged and stalled by zombies. It's pretty ridiculous you just go godmode-run-over-everything.

    Am I mad bro? I think so bro. I just spent 50 dollars on this.    … Full Review »
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