Dead Island

 PC
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
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  1. GLaDOS
    Sep 18, 2011
    6
    In a nutshell: It's entertaining, gory, and addictive.
    Aside from that, it's hit-and-miss. The story-line is (quite frankly) missing almost entirely. This isn't the first game to put you in a quarantined area with unexplained zombies, give you a weapon and say "go to town," but aside from gathering supplies, you're never really given a reason for having to move from survivor camp to camp.    In a nutshell: It's entertaining, gory, and addictive.
    Aside from that, it's hit-and-miss. The story-line is (quite frankly) missing almost entirely. This isn't the first game to put you in a quarantined area with unexplained zombies, give you a weapon and say "go to town," but aside from gathering supplies, you're never really given a reason for having to move from survivor camp to camp. If the summary is true, and you're trying to find a missing wife, then I apparently wasn't paying attention at all during the introduction, because I have no idea what that's referencing. This game has many bugs, and they can be crippling. Running V1.2, some of the bugs I've encountered include:
    1) I occasionally have to toggle between full screen and windowed and back to re-enable the sprint feature, which is crippling (It took me awhile to figure out something was definitely amiss)
    2) I lost a very powerful weapon into thin air after I had just spent a couple thousand repairing and upgrading it, which isn't crippling, but just plain disappointing
    3) A horrible, HORRIBLE UI port from what was PLAINLY a console menu to the PC. The mouse is incredibly slow on the menus, everything has to be clicked on because the arrows are very clunky, and some options are simply grayed out for no reason (usually because you have to have an Xbox 360 controller plugged in)
    4) Weapons on your "quick select" menu tend to be replaced by whatever you pick up off the ground, with the most popular being alcohol. This tends to result in irritation if you notice it in time, or at the worst, you find yourself charging into a fight and then quickly downing a bottle of Jack instead of slashing a weapon. Definitely not a fun brawl.
    This game is still fun, and definitely worth a rent for its sandbox environment, collectibles, upgrade and deterioration systems, weapon modifications, and the intense firefights (when you face human enemies). The zombie slaying doesn't really get stale, but it does lessen in excitement from the beginning of the game. As of where I am right now, I have seen about 5 different classes of zombies, and each definitely had their own unique attacks and corresponding player strategies I needed to use. A good rent (assuming you stick with the PC version, Xbox version might be better).    … Expand
  2. tyrannis
    Sep 6, 2011
    7
    Like most people Dead Island's trailer pulled me in. From there i was excited, and decided to pre-order on steam. The night game goes live i let it run the opening day patch and than try to play. That is where i encountered my first hiccup, the game was incredibly fragmented. I am not sure if its my computer or the files, i have never had this issue before. Once i get in the game there wasLike most people Dead Island's trailer pulled me in. From there i was excited, and decided to pre-order on steam. The night game goes live i let it run the opening day patch and than try to play. That is where i encountered my first hiccup, the game was incredibly fragmented. I am not sure if its my computer or the files, i have never had this issue before. Once i get in the game there was some issues changing my graphic settings and such.. than i start playing. It was an amazing amount of fun, really engrossing, just a flat out great time. Yes there was the clipping issues i noticed a few times. Than all of a sudden when im driving around my game just crashes, and the night goes downhill from there.

    Game Receives a 7.. and i feel i am being incredibly generous there. It is an amazing amount of fun but they release a game that to say its buggy really understates the point. Friday they are suppose to release a patch, so wait till after Friday to pick up your copy.    … Expand
  3. drSpockwa
    Aug 17, 2012
    6
    I love zombie games. There is something fun about fighting against zombies that is better than fighting people. They're scary, they leap at you, they are gory, they don't have guns, they're usually slow and they make noise to announce their position.
    This game is an excellent zombie game. The graphics are beautiful, and the story is great. It's an open world island with fast travel    I love zombie games. There is something fun about fighting against zombies that is better than fighting people. They're scary, they leap at you, they are gory, they don't have guns, they're usually slow and they make noise to announce their position.
    This game is an excellent zombie game. The graphics are beautiful, and the story is great. It's an open world island with fast travel points, quests, driving vehicles, lots of weapons (melee blunt & sharp, firearms) and a neat weapon upgrade/mod system.
    I haven't tried the multi-player yet, but it got good reviews as well.
    I had to give this a lower review though because it's got some horrible bugs that don't appear to be going to get fixed. Most notably, when you exit the menu from inventory/quests/skills, if you click the back/exit button it performs an attack (I guess since left click is also the attack). Well, this seriously sucks if you are holding a grenade (i.e. you just made one at the mod/upgrade bench) cuz you end up tossing a grenade against a wall 2 feet in front of you, and dying. Workaround: press escape instead of clicking. Another annoyance is the randomness of picking up new items. Sometimes they bump the current item out of your hand into your inventory. Most annoyingly - when you pick up alcohol (quest/mod component) sometimes it replaces your weapon and when a zombie charges you, you end up drinking it and getting drunk instead of chopping a zombie. Being drunk makes it hard to fight cuz you are wobbly and your vision is fuzzy.
    I assume these issues are due to a poor port from console to PC so things probably are better on consoles.
    All in all, if you like zombie games, you'll appreciate this one. You just have to train yourself to work around the issues.    … Expand
  4. Cyntax3rr0r
    May 22, 2012
    5
    I really wanted to love this game. However, to be honest, I'm surprised it has such a high Metacritic score. The graphics are nice and the combat is standard. After the L4D games you really need to bring something unique to the table to set yourself apart. This game tried but the gameplay mechanics didn't lend itself to the campaign.

    This was the buggiest game I had ever purchased from    I really wanted to love this game. However, to be honest, I'm surprised it has such a high Metacritic score. The graphics are nice and the combat is standard. After the L4D games you really need to bring something unique to the table to set yourself apart. This game tried but the gameplay mechanics didn't lend itself to the campaign.

    This was the buggiest game I had ever purchased from Steam day one. Connection issues to host or join in a game with my friends. No excuse to release this half cooked. Maybe spend less time on your ad cinematics and more time polishing the game?

    I understand it was trying to be a zombie survivor RPG, a novel concept, they just fell short. Weapons constantly breaking and needing repair would slow down progression through the story. You need to amass a fortune, find a plethora of weapons lying around on a resort island, and MacGyver recipies is silly. The quests are tired and absurd. "The chosen one" storyline is used more than...just play L4D.    … Expand
  5. jim109109
    May 28, 2012
    5
    As a console game it's alright, shallow, lacking in features, repetitive gameplay. Great graphics and immersion. As a movie or something to watch it's not bad (apart from the horrible story). As a game experience, it's not great.

    I just feel like a retard killing zombies the same way, over and over, for hours. The game never changes and is extremely repetitive. Hardcore RPG gamers, stay    As a console game it's alright, shallow, lacking in features, repetitive gameplay. Great graphics and immersion. As a movie or something to watch it's not bad (apart from the horrible story). As a game experience, it's not great.

    I just feel like a retard killing zombies the same way, over and over, for hours. The game never changes and is extremely repetitive. Hardcore RPG gamers, stay off of this, you won't experience anything new or satisfying. Casual console gamers, have a blast! Enjoy the brainless fun.

    Graphics: 7/10
    Gameplay: 5/10
    Story: 3/10
    Sound: 3/10

    Rating: 5/10 [Mediocre]    … Expand
  6. zaninif
    Nov 26, 2011
    6
    First off, full system disclosure: I have an i7-2600, 8GB RAM, Win7-64, Creative SB X-Fi Titanium and GTX-580 with 1.5GB VRAM. One would think that this should suffice to play this game as the recommended system requirements are Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz, 4 GB RAM, Win7, GeForce 9600 with 1 GB VRAM. However, the game stutters all the time even when I change the graphic settings to the "MaximumFirst off, full system disclosure: I have an i7-2600, 8GB RAM, Win7-64, Creative SB X-Fi Titanium and GTX-580 with 1.5GB VRAM. One would think that this should suffice to play this game as the recommended system requirements are Core 2 Duo 2.66 GHz, 4 GB RAM, Win7, GeForce 9600 with 1 GB VRAM. However, the game stutters all the time even when I change the graphic settings to the "Maximum Performance" preset. I had to install a third-party helper (i.e., EXE file) to tweak the graphic settings in order to make the game stutter-free. This was not a successful port to PC as the code was not optimized for PC and the graphics look dated (circa 2007). The good news is that the gameplay can be fun at times. A word to the wise: don't pay more than 20 bucks for this game: at the current state, it's just not worth it… Expand
  7. scott_wa
    Sep 25, 2011
    5
    Techland's quality control standards are the reason why Dead Island isn't a "great game". The whole thing felt rushed, incomplete and unpolished. From glitches to stereotypical characters (that you never develop empathy for) Dead Island and it's story fall very short from the game it could have been. Maybe next time.
  8. namDa65
    Feb 5, 2012
    6
    Very bland, feels like an mmo without the mmo. The combat is ok, and it is much better in co-op, however there is zero to absolutely little story. Lots of typical fetch and collect quest abound.
  9. YodaOne
    Oct 29, 2012
    5
    After ten hours of Dead Island, I'm losing interest.
    Too much scrounging, searching, sneaking, retreating, and repairing.
    I thought it was kinda cool to have a mission-based game in a zombie setting. It is cool that you can upgrade weapons several times. What's killing my interest is the nagging weapon maintenance. The wear is remotely believable for the wooden weapons. But something    After ten hours of Dead Island, I'm losing interest.
    Too much scrounging, searching, sneaking, retreating, and repairing.
    I thought it was kinda cool to have a mission-based game in a zombie setting. It is cool that you can upgrade weapons several times.
    What's killing my interest is the nagging weapon maintenance. The wear is remotely believable for the wooden weapons. But something like a heavy pipe wrench or a crowbar would "in reality" split a thousand zombie skulls with at most cosmetic damage to the weapon itself. It gets old gathering money constantly and delaying quests with trips to a repair bench. How does a workbench take money, anyway? If Dead Island didn't have this weapon maintenance aspect, I'd give it a 7.
    Throw in healing, or maybe less damage from zombie punches, and I might say 8.    … Expand
  10. SQG_Slasher
    Jul 9, 2014
    7
    Sure, it has some bugs here and there, but this is only a minority of a well-rounded game. The story is a little boring at times, but the game compensates for this by allowing you to leave the story altogether and focus your sick mind on forging together weapons of much carnage. Not one of the best zombie games, but it is good.
  11. SPARTACVS
    Jun 5, 2016
    6
    Unimpressed. The game has a good potential but its is flawed by drawbacks. They are all pretty much minors but I found there is too many. To the point that I found the game to be too much balanced between enjoyment and...frustration. I hesitated to give it a 7 btw.
  12. vahn
    Aug 22, 2012
    6
    I got this game on discount and I got interested in this game for a while. I installed it and finally started the game...and now after 20 hours and more of gaming, I really notice why this game wasn't all that greatness they mentioned in the past. The best way to describe this game is that it's a hybrid between Skyrim/Oblibion and Borderlands, even though it doesn't completely work at itsI got this game on discount and I got interested in this game for a while. I installed it and finally started the game...and now after 20 hours and more of gaming, I really notice why this game wasn't all that greatness they mentioned in the past. The best way to describe this game is that it's a hybrid between Skyrim/Oblibion and Borderlands, even though it doesn't completely work at its finest. However there are positive things: I actually like the fact that you're a survivor against a zombie infection and the fact that you're basically stuck on a island and you have to kill any zombie you cross even though the scare factor completely dies because this island is never in the dark and the zombies never stop coming, meaning that you won't have any growing tension or unexpected meeting. The 4 characters aren't extremely different with the exception of their main weapon skills (blunt weapons,blades, thrown weapons and guns) but they differ enough to be interesting to play all of them. There's also a story but I hardly followed because I was focusing on the game itself and the quests (like in any WRPG). The island isn't "huge" but it's big enough that you'll take some time to explore it all, especially when you need to find materials for making your modified weapon, which is a nice addition...but it's extremely hard to make those weapons. However, I do have 3 big complaints in this game and, to me, they are BIG flaws that ruins my game. A lot. First of all, the controls are clunky...I understand they tried to make this as much realistic as possible but I'm pretty sure I can move and walk AND fight better than them! The combat for instance is very harsh because you don't have a huge range, understandable since your main weapons are melee weapons, but you don't feel in control of your swings and you can easily miss zombies because of the slow pace the characters have! Without mentioning that you can't parry (at least I never could, if there is one) and your dodge is hard to use and has a really weak range...plus it's useless since you need to be in melee range ALL the time and you'll only use it once in a while to avoid sudden attacks from the zombies. Maybe I'm nitpicking, but the controls aren't my favorite part here. And no, I can't try analog controls, so I can't say if that's good or not. Second: your energy never recovers in time....really? I don't get why I don't recover my health, especially when they just hit me with fists! Yes there are some zombies that hit with weapons and you'll sometime fight men with guns, but this is still a big problem because the zombies HIT HARD! I've died a lot of time because they can easily 3-4 shot me, and add the fact that you're always in numerical disadvantage, you cannot parry and dodge sometimes it's useless since some zombies can run faster than you you can see big problems on the way The only way to recover health is to eat and drink food or use first aid kits, which are rare to find but luckily not costy to buy, but I don't get why our energy never gets back with just resting or waiting (and no, it's not because we're infected): it basically says "gunshots can be easily recovered with few seconds of resting (the general fps idea), but fists? They hurt you more, so you need a lot of cheap food to recover!". I don't know, maybe I'm taking it too seriously. And third: the game seems a lot short: I've played for almost 23 hours and I'm at 70% of the game...and I've done PLENTY of quests, so that means that the game itself it's even shorter! Of course the game will be longer if you manage to do all the quests and the problems I've mentioned will disappear if you play in co-op, which is very well implemented, without mentioning that it makes the game a lot longer too, but even Borderlands had a longer main quest! It's still longer than the average game but my guess is that if you want to make it last long, you have to do quests or else it won't last very much, which is a pity. I liked the game though but It's not the best I've seen: it looks like an attempt to copy both Borderlands questing system and Oblivion combat, but making one weird hybrid that doesn't really shine in either side...so my advice is to stick with either those 2 games (which are ten times bigger also) or you can give this game a try if you want to play something different...… Expand
  13. Socializt
    Sep 8, 2011
    7
    Alright, this is gonna be a long one. All in all, this is a fun game. I'm gonna give a LOT of negatives and few positives, but the positives I give are really big, and the negatives are very minor. So while at first glance this is gonna look like a hate speech, in the end, I do enjoy this game. Before I start off I'm just gonna say - this is a long review. to sum it up - Combat is great,Alright, this is gonna be a long one. All in all, this is a fun game. I'm gonna give a LOT of negatives and few positives, but the positives I give are really big, and the negatives are very minor. So while at first glance this is gonna look like a hate speech, in the end, I do enjoy this game. Before I start off I'm just gonna say - this is a long review. to sum it up - Combat is great, tons of minor things that will annoy the hell out of you if you're half as nuts as I am. If you want more examples, then let's get started.
    Positives: The combat in this game is downright fantastic. I love it. every weapon has an individual feel but they all feel weighted and realistic. when I smash a zombie with my oar or stab it with a kitchen knife, it feels like an actual weapon. the graphics for combat are much better than the graphics for everything else, and the engine really shines when the player cuts a limb off. (excuse the graphic details-who am I kidding, you guys are here for a zombie killing game). I feel compelled to play the game simply so I can kill some more zombies. Another large positive is the world. It feels alive and dynamic, in that there's places you can go that have their own minor stories that aren't (so far) connected with anything regarding the plot and are just put in to give the world flavor - coming upon a room with a zombie tied to a bed and a dead man next to the struggling zombie comes to mind, for example. People (most, anyway) react realistically for an apocalypse, and the large majority of the people in the safe houses are terrified because *guess what*, they're just average people, not everyone is a zombie killer like it feels sometimes in other zombie games. Anyway: The Negatives: This game is ABSURDLY unpolished. Like, really unpolished. I play as a female character, and several conversations have the other person refer to me as a he. Shadows in the game are blocky and odd, and I have all of my settings turned to maximum. There's a certain part in the hotel where I could literally see a dark part of the hallway - it was cut off from the rest of it, there was an actual line of darkness. that's just basic phasing to make the shadow bleed into the rest of the world, a weird graphics problem. Yes I know these are minor gripes, I said in the beginning that most of my negatives are very picky, remember. Another minor gripe - and this one is really pointless. You pay for repairs, which is understandable...but you're paying a repair table. Not a person. What? Like just...where does the money go? Driving in this game also, was designed by a team of people just learning to drive. Because it's very realistic, in that it's the view of being in the car. That's great, until you have to go in reverse and smash the car into the wall behind you. I feel like an imbecile when driving simply because I can't look all the way behind me like I would when *actually driving*. Also the car makes skidding noises....regardless of the speed you're going. Which is weird. Another thing (slightly more important) weapon durability is really, really frustrating. An average weapon breaks in about thirty swings, which is at most ten zombies. Less important - two odd things with the female characters. First, they're all in bikinis. Sure sure, they're on a beach vacation. Fine. Five hours into an apocalypse and they can't grab a shirt from somewhere or something? Seriously. Also, almost every single one of the female avatars have an mp3 player on their arm. Random I know, but it freakin' weirds me out. Another thing: Voice acting. Terrible. Also it seems like it's on a different audio channel from everything else, when I say yes or no to a quest. Strange. So yes, my negatives section was much much larger than my positives, but the positives were much more important than the negatives. In the end, I suggest one of two things: If this game sounds like the perfect match for you, get it. GET IT RIGHT NOW. Otherwise, wait a few months for the price to drop a bit - I definitely suggest anyone who loves zombie games to get this, but unless you reaaally hate zombies, you may want to wait for the price tag to drop. If you do buy it, good luck killing the infected, and maybe I'll see you guys in game. Cheers =]    … Expand
  14. Chaziltasm
    Apr 14, 2012
    5
    A game that could so desperately be so beautiful, but fails at so many turns. The trailer that got everyone talking was the teaser trailer containing a slow motion emotional trailer, of a family stuck on an island in a hotel, infested with zombies. This emotional trailer suggested that the game could be about the back story to these people, and how there lives met such a tragic end.A game that could so desperately be so beautiful, but fails at so many turns. The trailer that got everyone talking was the teaser trailer containing a slow motion emotional trailer, of a family stuck on an island in a hotel, infested with zombies. This emotional trailer suggested that the game could be about the back story to these people, and how there lives met such a tragic end. However, the characters in the main game itself have absolutely nothing to do with the actual game, the game opens with a mediocre rap song about zombies, before you are introduced to the shallow and stereotypical characters in the game. The combat is slow and slightly dodgy, and "The Infected" run at you so fast, unless you can kick like a donkey you are screwed. This game is Left For Dead, meets Borderlands, except a version where everything went wrong. It tried to be original but ended up being a shallow and unimaginative game that leaves you unsatisfied. Don't even get me started on the weapon combat system either. There are so many problems that the only thing that I enjoyed, are the beautiful graphics, and driving around the island running over zombies. Don't play it on your own, it's pointless, having a friend makes all the difference in the world. Over all a bland game that did not seem worth splashing out money for.… Expand
  15. Psy_pmP
    Oct 5, 2011
    6
    - many,many Bugs, perpetual respawn NPC is too close to player (It is a lot of places where npc eternally respawn near to the player ), dizbalans, booring missions.

    + open world, action rpg It could be a great game...
  16. Swadhams
    Oct 12, 2011
    6
    I got this game looking for a button-mashing, mindless fun, weekend of zombie killing and that is what i got and i have barley touched it since. It suffers from several graphical glitches and a lack-luster story. Towards the end of the game it starts to feel tedious as you are required to run from point A to point B and then back again.
    In summary if you spare cash and time to kill i would    I got this game looking for a button-mashing, mindless fun, weekend of zombie killing and that is what i got and i have barley touched it since. It suffers from several graphical glitches and a lack-luster story. Towards the end of the game it starts to feel tedious as you are required to run from point A to point B and then back again.
    In summary if you spare cash and time to kill i would recommend it especially if you have friends who want to play the co-op with you, but don't expect this to win Game of the Year.    … Expand
  17. Bedlam
    Oct 26, 2011
    6
    It has a neat system for assembling custom weapons, and a large environment to explore. Truly a gritty and gory melee game. However the storyline is rather drab with highly predictable quests. It has a terribly clunky interface. Developers need to stop releasing games with so many bugs, then working on a fix. I don't pay $60 to beta test bugs.
  18. squidgee
    Aug 5, 2012
    6
    Dead Island was heavily flawed on release with game breaking technical issues and though I managed to fix these afterwards, I still wasn't impressed with the game. Although I was entertained for the most part on my first playthrough, the game was littered with bugs and glitches that proved annoying and I felt the story wasn't very engaging either.
  19. Minsk
    Jul 20, 2012
    6
    Not half bad for a zombie game. It tends to get a little repetitive and at some points I found myself getting irritated and running through certain areas without attacking a single zombie. The story is a little generic but that doesn't take the fun out of slicing a zombie's head off with a machete. The stamina system works well but also gets a little irritating when fighting off a goodNot half bad for a zombie game. It tends to get a little repetitive and at some points I found myself getting irritated and running through certain areas without attacking a single zombie. The story is a little generic but that doesn't take the fun out of slicing a zombie's head off with a machete. The stamina system works well but also gets a little irritating when fighting off a good amount of zombies. The melee weapons degrade quickly but luckily there are workbenches scattered throughout levels to repair your gear. A pretty solid game with a few glitches. Most of them have been fixed and I haven't run into any game breaking glitches yet. Co-op is fun especially if you have friends to play with. It can get a little challenging with one person.… Expand
  20. TheGamer31
    Nov 20, 2012
    6
    This game is awesome! Although the characters are slightly stereotypical. But you can forgive that with the open world, weapon selection, the physics, and the gore...
  21. Dethstar
    Jul 23, 2012
    6
    I got this game at launch and stumbled through it despite the bugs. Some friends bought it on steam sale recently so I thought I would have another go so we could play it together. New super PC with 12 core (hyperthreaded) intel etc. One of my friends has been unable to play it at all and despite all the many many fixes I tried I am unable to stop the graphics drivers on my machineI got this game at launch and stumbled through it despite the bugs. Some friends bought it on steam sale recently so I thought I would have another go so we could play it together. New super PC with 12 core (hyperthreaded) intel etc. One of my friends has been unable to play it at all and despite all the many many fixes I tried I am unable to stop the graphics drivers on my machine restarting every few minutes. The other guy has performance issues. I tried taking out all GPUs except one in this machine and it runs between 200-300 fps. Trying to lock it to the Vsynch of my monitor at 120fps makes no difference as it does nothing at all. I dont know how I got through it the first time. The gameplay itself is great but this is one of the worst console ports I ever saw. Competes with Rage for the worst all time ports. On the upside, it will run on anything if you can get past the really bad use of PC resources. A great game let down by terrible porting. With a worthy port this would of been one of the few good games to crossover. I am stunned that it seems to be in even worse shape than it was at launch when I first played it with people complaining of new bugs introduced along the way. What a shame. Unless your on an Xbox, dont bother.… Expand
  22. CastleFox
    Jan 9, 2012
    5
    Before you accuse me of just being another hater, know that I REALLY, REALLY wanted to like this game. The entire idea of being stuck on a island when an outbreak happens and trying to get off of it, sounded fun! However, the design was just as dead as the zombies. This game feels like it was designed and developed by a couple of college kids fresh out of programing school with noBefore you accuse me of just being another hater, know that I REALLY, REALLY wanted to like this game. The entire idea of being stuck on a island when an outbreak happens and trying to get off of it, sounded fun! However, the design was just as dead as the zombies. This game feels like it was designed and developed by a couple of college kids fresh out of programing school with no knowledge of good gaming design. Setting aside all the bugs, glitches, and errors this game is filled with, not to mention poor graphics even on the highest setting, this game is just bad. In some areas you can break glass. I've seen better glass and glass breaking visuals from Games created in 1999. The marketing and hype made this game out to be a serious horror zombie game, yet the mission in the game are out of Sesame Street. Example - You are stuck on a zombie infested island fighting for your life and a woman asks you to go find her Teddy Bear. (WTF MOMENT) right there. Another lady asks you to get her necklace. WTF AGAIN. The game starts by giving you no real reason as to how or why you got on the island other than it looks like a Holiday resort. There's no story line between any characters. The game just dumps you onto a sandy beach to start hacking zombies and figure out what the heck you are doing. After hours of playing this game I found myself making comments to myself like "WTF, I'm stuck on this island about to be eaten by zombies and this fool wants me to get him beer?" Or "Gee, that suitcase must have been restocked with cash since the last time I checked it, 10 seconds ago" Or" Wow, everybody in this island keeps cash in suitcases and dressers?"
    Not to mention just about every zombie owns some sort of knife or weapon. I wonder how they got those past TSA. Any interaction you have with characters is an experience you want to just ran away from. Bad choice of voice actors, bad cut scenes and scripting. I could go on and on about the very bad design, programing and graphics, but I think you get the point. This game was released in what seems to be the ALPHA version. To the credit of the creators, the idea was a good one. The zombies AI is good, ability to break arms, legs, or cut them off, and not just hack and slash until they fall is good as well. I'm running this game on a custom system with an intel I-5, Windows 7 64, 16GB or Corsair Ram, the NVidia GTX560 video card, a 1TB system drive, and the graphics still look bad set to full resolution. Sorry guys, I would have turned the game and mission design over to Professionals and let them take your idea and make it great. If you plan another episode of this game, please put your money and effort into the following.
    1: GAME DESIGN
    2. TESTING, TESTING, TESTING.
    3.STORY TELLING. 4.Hire a good copywriter 5.Invest in good audio design and sound effects
    6.Programing
    7.Quality Control 8.Beta Testers    … Expand
  23. Astralis
    Dec 18, 2011
    5
    If you've watched the sublime trailers to this game and want it because of what you saw, then do NOT buy this game. This is because you will end up purchasing a game that has nothing to do with what you saw. This game is simply an arcade button smasher. There is no story, skill or character development that is part of this story. While the trailers alluded to a story with meaning thatIf you've watched the sublime trailers to this game and want it because of what you saw, then do NOT buy this game. This is because you will end up purchasing a game that has nothing to do with what you saw. This game is simply an arcade button smasher. There is no story, skill or character development that is part of this story. While the trailers alluded to a story with meaning that you'll participate in, the game is so divorced from the trailers that it actually has as much meaning as Pac-Man.

    While some may find this game entertaining, you will not find anyone thrilled with it. If you're looking for a button smasher with team-play and no story, stick to Team Fortress 2 -- it's at least free and has higher quality gameplay.

    As for the company that created the trailer (often a different company that produces the game), there are three things:

    1. You should develop games. You clearly understand how to tell a story and the meaning of life. 2. You should be fired. You presented a game that doesn't exist.
    3. The developers who approved these trailers should have stepped back and realized that they do not represent the game whatsoever.

    So this game is a definite miss for me, as much as I really wanted to enjoy it.    … Expand
  24. flashdz1
    Sep 10, 2011
    7
    Good game at best, not great. This is from single player experience and am disregarding bugs for the rating. I give it a 7 tops maybe as low as 6.5 based on the gameplay and story alone amongst other things

    I finish the game. This game is largely melee based with a few gunplay moments Let's talk about the good things first -Lengthy game, can't beat in one day. -Good challenge, sorry no    Good game at best, not great. This is from single player experience and am disregarding bugs for the rating. I give it a 7 tops maybe as low as 6.5 based on the gameplay and story alone amongst other things

    I finish the game. This game is largely melee based with a few gunplay moments

    Let's talk about the good things first
    -Lengthy game, can't beat in one day.
    -Good challenge, sorry no easy mode. I died sometimes during certain main quests
    -The graphics are good, however lacking more advanced graphical options. A bit too much bloom.
    -Good skill tree for each character; helps create a "build"
    -Lots of weapons and mods, some only attainable through sidequests
    -The city and jungle environment looked good, reasonably detailed
    -Driving is fun
    -Combat is good. Can cut off limbs or break limbs, creating a use of strategy when fighting.
    -Always zombies around, endless population
    -Can carry infinite misc items that are not weapons,heath and throwables
    -Never safe, doesn't matter what level you are; if you get swarmed and surrounded you are dead
    -Stamina ensures that most people cannot just run around and spam attacks.
    -Great zombie sounds
    -Weapons durability rate is fine; encourages the use of different weapons

    Now the bad

    I dislike the fading health bar; it's always important to see the health bar because life and death well, depends on health...

    -The story is not exactly compelling. The things you do in an hour before the end of the game was not exciting at all; there is no climax point at all. That's it? Really?

    -The characters are very simple, little to no history. Players don't really get to be immersed in their struggles on the island.

    -Not enough unique zombies, only 5. Most of the time it was just walkers and the raged infected. I like to fight strategically, and I found myself bored before half way of the game. I became very bored of fighting walkers and infected; I started to avoid zombies all together whenever possible. The combat was great but the limited zombie types made it very repetitive.

    -Sidequests have nothing to do with the story and don't reveal anything. Not only that, they are very tedious and boring because it's always fetch X item for Y person. -Auto saves are very bad especially for the quests that involve escorting a person. If the person dies and you choose to load the last save, the zombies come back but your ammo and weapon durability stays the same right before the npc death AND the game AUTOSAVES AGAIN which makes absolutely no sense; If you don't pass the point of struggle, eventually you'll have a "save" where you have no weapons left because they'll all be broken by then. It didn't exactly reload in time, the games just places you back where the "save" location was which was ridiculous. Sometimes I was stuck in a very bad situation which I could not fight through, luckily I made backup saves but I had to play up to the point where I was ruined by the autosave. -The facial animations are poor, little to no expression and sometimes even the wrong expression during cutscenes and conversations. Their eye movement was a little robotic and looked lifeless.

    -Thinking back through my playthrough, there's not too many memorable moments at all. Again, story is weak

    -Main quests are similar to one another, not enough variety

    -This is a preference but the lack of hectic events and the overall intensity of the game was not as high as I expected. No real exciting moment other than the regular uh oh I'm swarmed or oh no here comes the raged infected.

    Side notes:

    The experience may be better when playing online; you'll kill less zombies playing with someone else and less strategy is required. I think I probably would not be bored as fast playing with a friend but now that I beat the game on my own I think I had enough of this game; I can see where people are coming from when they say it is tedious,boring and repetitive because there were times I felt that way. At the same time, near the beginning of the game it was fun and enjoyable. As the game dragged on, I felt it became a chore to continue on. It's a decent game and I may replay again in the future with friends if things get patched up.    … Expand
  25. MikeMaximus
    Sep 11, 2011
    7
    After playing through the whole campaign it's hard not to ignore some of the glaring console port flaws, lack of polish and obvious missed opportunities to make the game so much better. But even so it's still a great game, there hasn't been a zombie survival game like this for a long time that actually creates an environment that can creep you out and scare you a little. The areas areAfter playing through the whole campaign it's hard not to ignore some of the glaring console port flaws, lack of polish and obvious missed opportunities to make the game so much better. But even so it's still a great game, there hasn't been a zombie survival game like this for a long time that actually creates an environment that can creep you out and scare you a little. The areas are well designed, very detailed and fun to explore. The melee combat feels "right" and while firearms take a backseat until late in the game they are fun to use too. It's also a great looking and extremely well performing game if you have the ability to do a few configuration file changes. The co-op mode works great after a few launch jitters, i've never had any crash or even any type of technical hiccup while playing co-op for hours on end. Anyone that enjoys zombie games should check this one out.… Expand
  26. Rime
    Sep 18, 2011
    5
    What is there to say about this game? For the price tag of $50, it is hardly worth it. This game was hastily designed, obviously. It is a decent looking game graphics wise, but it is filled with game ruining bugs. Invincible mobs clipping through walls, my upgraded top tier weapons disappearing into THIN AIR, rooms being literally black. I think they only recently announced the release ofWhat is there to say about this game? For the price tag of $50, it is hardly worth it. This game was hastily designed, obviously. It is a decent looking game graphics wise, but it is filled with game ruining bugs. Invincible mobs clipping through walls, my upgraded top tier weapons disappearing into THIN AIR, rooms being literally black. I think they only recently announced the release of this game, it wasn't in development for very long (AND IT SHOWS.)

    Hopefully they address these bugs in the next patch. As I am pretty upset that both of my orange weapons disappeared.    … Expand
  27. DameLCFC
    Jan 29, 2012
    5
    Without doubt, the official trailer to this game is astounding - THE best trailer ever produced.
    It also worked aswell as it made me part with £30 via Steam - even pre-ordered as I do like an occassional zombie-fest - I played the resident evil series since the beginning + silent hill + left 4 dead so I hope my opinion is valued in the genre.
    Review; Simply the worst of all    Without doubt, the official trailer to this game is astounding - THE best trailer ever produced.
    It also worked aswell as it made me part with £30 via Steam - even pre-ordered as I do like an occassional zombie-fest - I played the resident evil series since the beginning + silent hill + left 4 dead so I hope my opinion is valued in the genre.
    Review; Simply the worst of all the games mentioned above and I sooo wanted to like it. The graphics are better than average, controls simple enough, story is ok, its just gets very very boring very very quickly. Initial novelty wears off fast, the first part of the game adjacent to the beach is rather nice, the next level - the city, is not as appealing and then the sewer, less appealing. Its almost like the Dev's started to get bored half way through as well. I have not completed this game and doubt I will as its just not worth booting up. Shame it could have been much more with a little more commitment as it only does 60% well what it could have done at least 90%. Atmosphere is good, voice acting is shocking. Quests v v repetative. Although I do not hate this game, so far its the lowest scoring of all my reviews.    … Expand
  28. Mike_0x
    Nov 10, 2011
    5
    Extremely visceral mighty foot simulator. I was really looking forward to this game's release, however, it has shown to have several gameplay and graphical issues. There are times when you feel totally immersed in a world devastated by a zombie apocalypse, yet, with it's many and in some instances game breaking glitches serves to pull you right back out. All in all it's a decently mediocreExtremely visceral mighty foot simulator. I was really looking forward to this game's release, however, it has shown to have several gameplay and graphical issues. There are times when you feel totally immersed in a world devastated by a zombie apocalypse, yet, with it's many and in some instances game breaking glitches serves to pull you right back out. All in all it's a decently mediocre game, with mediocre gameplay. I just love killing zombies though.… Expand
  29. v00d00m4n
    Jan 5, 2012
    7
    Potential gem, flawed by some bad design decisions and rushed release of beta or even alpha version.
    This game was announced long before Left 4 Dead, it started as zombie mod for Call of Juarez 1, for almost 5 years it was in development Techland managed to release Call of Juarez 2 and 3 and started Chrome 2. I was waiting for it for a long time and was impressed by screenshots, promises    Potential gem, flawed by some bad design decisions and rushed release of beta or even alpha version.
    This game was announced long before Left 4 Dead, it started as zombie mod for Call of Juarez 1, for almost 5 years it was in development Techland managed to release Call of Juarez 2 and 3 and started Chrome 2. I was waiting for it for a long time and was impressed by screenshots, promises and dramatic trailer with music which reminded LOST tv series music a lot.
    When game was finally released i was dissapointed - instead of full open world steaming island it have zones with loading and some realy weird map, i still cant get how one zone alligned to another and where on island it should be, worst thing - even many in-doors done as seperate zones with annoying loading. Despite game looks pretty good and optimised pretty well - it lacking advanced gfx settings and have object pop-in issues, aslo some ugly things like VIGNETTE EFFECTS (red blood corners and general darkned corners and upper side of sreen) cant be turned off, most of NPC are copy-pasted and number of animations is pretty limited which makes them repetitive. And gameplay areas are pretty limited and you will have annoying "you are leaving gameplay area" messages and respawns in so many places which you could and should explore without problems. Also resort area dont have any weather or day-nigh cycle, while other areas have.Thats all about tech-gfx.
    As for gameplay - oh its troubled, this game is another victur of curse of checkpoint, but its worse case i saw this year. This is freaking open-world RPG, in games like this you need to save like every 5 minutes to keep your progress, but this game dont have quick or manual saves, only checkpoints, very little number of checkponts with very big number of bugs related to checkpoint, starting from broken quest progress, like dissapearing or repeating quests (i mean regular quests, not infinite), ending by the fact that text "checkpoint" doesnt mean that your progress since previous checkpoint was really saved. Lost of progress, inventory items, skills, upgrades etc is regular issue in this game, and the only way to save game is to get through scripte checkpoint of some story-quest or to get quest or finish it - despite you cant die in this game, it gets really repetitive and borring, when after your death and respawn all the zombies in cleaned area just gets respawned at same places and your weapons almost demaged, and you want to quit this game because it annoyed you too much for today, but you cant, because you need to finish quest to save progress and you dont want to lose hour or progress - at times like this i really want to trow gamepad in my display! Game really needs patch with proper savings and at least need to trigger checkpoints every 5 minutes and after every time you buy, mod, sell, upgrade ot openclose your inventory! Another big problem - respawn of everything, even cars that wrecked some bungalow. Game really fails in saving game world state and turns into endless Boringlands (Borderlands) style grind and looting. Co-op gameplay flawed too - all the cut scene designed with appearance of 4 different chars, but you can play alone or with 4 same charactes in team and this really seems annoying, why there are no 3 bots when you play alone like in l4d? Why not show other players as unique characters? Its realy weird when you have clones in team. When you play at different levels, most of weapons dropped of zombies belongs to higher level players and lower level players cant use it, only sell (again same problem as in Borderlands), also sync is pretty lame, flashlights of others players not visible, if some of players will initiate dialog with NPC and start quest, other players will miss this part of story etc. Also progress save in co-op is even more broken than in single.
    And the story itself, well - trailer cheated a lot of people, we are all expected dramatic hearbreaking expirience and a lot of LOST influence, while we have a lot of LOST influence in game (actually it in every corner, you will even have Oceanic airplain) it not very dramatic, it dull mostly, because most of npc stays in one place and just giving you orders, and most of cut-scenes dont have anything that can brake your heart, except for only very few scenes.
    And game doenst really have solid story and cut-scene kinda screwed and make no sence - especially intro, the guy in intro was not any of 4 characters, since he saw them all, but you start game exactly at place this guy have fallen asleep and i havent seen any point where all 4 characters meets together for the 1st time.
    And actually cut-scenes are pretty rare, most of times you will have borring NPC standing in front of you and telling what you need to do.
    This game have even more flaws that i described, however these flaws cant ruin game totally, generally its a good game which needs really good patch with a lot fo gameplay changes and bugfixes.    … Expand
  30. Victel
    Sep 14, 2011
    7
    The zombies and environments look great, melee combat is great. In other reviews I see some saying the graphics are bad, honestly, they're not bad at all, especially for an open-world game the models and textures are actually very well done. With that being said, I'm not ignoring the fact that the AI in this game is extemely terrible, with its bad story, quest design, poor in-gameThe zombies and environments look great, melee combat is great. In other reviews I see some saying the graphics are bad, honestly, they're not bad at all, especially for an open-world game the models and textures are actually very well done. With that being said, I'm not ignoring the fact that the AI in this game is extemely terrible, with its bad story, quest design, poor in-game cinematics, and slow-loading textures, the game actually has some redeeming qualities. I observed all of this in the singleplayer, I'm not reviewing anything I haven't experienced. I was also not impressed with how the game treats new players. As stated many times, we're stuck with crappy weapons for the beginning hours of the game without any idea how to work many of the inventory, item, and shop features before really experimenting with them. The game really lacks a polished feel. All the driveable trucks are all the same and they don't seem to ever break down. Unlike L4D zombies who can actually find and hurt you, these zombies are straight up dumb. Most of the time you have to find them because they wont hunt you down like real zombies should. All you have to do is close a door and you become safe.

    The trailer for the game really was a teaser, it barely displayed the real game. What I saw in that trailer was an emotional, scary experience with aggressive zombies that will actually hunt your family down and kill you. Sure, it was a fantastic display of phenominal Cg Design, but here in the real game I'm stuck with zombies too dumb to climb out of swimming pools that barely seem to care about eating you. Yeah, the zombies will eat you but they lack the motivation to.

    Honestly, this game is good entertainment simply because it looks good, has a good combat system, and I personally love killing zombies.    … Expand
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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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
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
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 19, 2011
    91
    Dead Island is maybe rough around the edges, has things that could have been better and has some strange solutions to gaming mechanics, but really, who cares? The main thing, close combat with zombies on an open environment, is both exceptionally well done and most importantly, great fun. Even alone. In the land of blindingly pretty, but simplified tubeshooters the ugly zombie game is the king. [Sept 2011]
  2. Computer Games Online RO
    Oct 17, 2011
    88
    Dead Island has plenty of reasons to be likeable: a satisfying duration, enough freedom and interactivity to create addiction and enough potential to become a classic. And although it isn't what the elitists would call a mandatory title, I think it's infectious enough for me to pull my friend's sleeve to buy the game too.
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  3. 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.
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