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. Charleh
    Sep 10, 2011
    9
    I really wanted Dead Island to be a good game, but I had my doubts. I was very pumped after that infamous first trailer, but my faith in the game went down from there. It is hard to screw up an open-world zombie game - and Deep Silver almost did. Luckily, Dead Island turned out to be an addictive and well-rounded RPG. I can tell that this game will be a strong guilty pleasure of mine forI really wanted Dead Island to be a good game, but I had my doubts. I was very pumped after that infamous first trailer, but my faith in the game went down from there. It is hard to screw up an open-world zombie game - and Deep Silver almost did. Luckily, Dead Island turned out to be an addictive and well-rounded RPG. I can tell that this game will be a strong guilty pleasure of mine for months to come.… Expand
  2. shikamarunin
    Nov 26, 2011
    3
    I was greatly disappointed with this game. Honestly this game could do with another few months in development before it's in anyway fun. It is a shame as the game has so much untapped potential but the developers obviously rushed it and that is where things go wrong. Firstly the graphics are fairly good, amazing normally but there are several things that stand out. Faces are renderedI was greatly disappointed with this game. Honestly this game could do with another few months in development before it's in anyway fun. It is a shame as the game has so much untapped potential but the developers obviously rushed it and that is where things go wrong. Firstly the graphics are fairly good, amazing normally but there are several things that stand out. Faces are rendered terribly and the supposedly sexy bikini models sometimes look really old. The pick-up truck is also badly rendered. Game-play is quite good but the characters and level system is pretty much a direct rip-off to Borderlands. When I heard of this game I thought I would be able to create a character to escape the zombie apocalypse but no, each character is pre-designed and offer very little customization. Also their background stories are far from average every day people creating some distance from the zombie game most were expecting. The sound and music are not impressive either. Can't really say much else. The voice acting is terrible, the music is practically non-existent and the sound is buggy. Overall the game is terrible and barely playable. i suffered a bug for 2 weeks on my game where I actually couldn't save the game at all. This game needs taking back to hte drawing board, taking apart with a chainsaw and put back together with time and patience. Then, maybe, we could have the amazing game that we should have got.… Expand
  3. McDiddles
    Sep 10, 2011
    8
    Very very fun game with friends. If you can get past some of the game breaking bugs, ugly HUD, terrible voice acting, hilariously bad "tragic" moments then its worth a purchase.
  4. Proxy711
    Sep 9, 2011
    8
    Dead Island started out pretty rough. A developer build was released for steam users in NA that was incredibly buggy, and had developer tools like no clip and third person view. A quick patch was released the next day to update steam to the right build, but in the process corrupted game saves, created micro stuttering , and other graphical issues.

    Once 1.1 and 1.2 patches were released a    Dead Island started out pretty rough. A developer build was released for steam users in NA that was incredibly buggy, and had developer tools like no clip and third person view. A quick patch was released the next day to update steam to the right build, but in the process corrupted game saves, created micro stuttering , and other graphical issues.

    Once 1.1 and 1.2 patches were released a lot of the problems were fixed, not all but enough for the game to work as intended. However soon afterwards the stress on the multiplayer servers caused them to be overloaded and the awful in game multiplayer join system stopped working or just became super unreliable.

    On top of the techincal problems with the game there's a lack of graphic options that are easily changeable. No menu options for AA, FOV, filtering options, vsync, etc. The settings you can change in the menus don't have enough options. like shadow quality for example: high setting in the menu is pretty low at max, now if you go into the games files and make changes to video settings setting shadow map size higher the shadows are much better quality. The menus also exclude setting/changing options that the engine supports. Like FOV you can find workarounds to change FOV in the games files but the menu lacks these options. Why Techland doesn't allow users to set these options through the menu is a puzzling question.

    The game also lacks default support for modern game technology like SLI, crossfire, and multi-monitor setups. SLI and crossfire can be enabled with tweaks, but doesn't work from the start. When using a 3 monitor setup the game uses one monitor to display a huge mini map. While Dead Island technically works multi monitors the UI and way its displayed could have been done far better.

    So I've explained a lot that is bad about Dead Island, but whats good? Well for one once the game is tweaked and working, the game does look good. Animations could be a lot better, but you normally don't see the weird moving unless looking at your shadow.

    The game is a ton of fun and that's ultimately the most important factor. I had a lot of fun playing multiplayer with friends running and exploring an island full of zombies that want to take a bite out of your face. Killing zombies with melee weapons really never gets old. The ways to do so are also many. Want to smash a zombie with a paddle? no problem. Jump kick them down, then smash their head in? You can do that as well. Want to rig a baseball bat with a circular saw? Go for it! Which brings me to crafting.

    Crafting in the game revolves around finding or being rewarded with a blueprint, find the items needed and make a weapon, the quality of the main part(s) define the quality of the new item. every item has stats. so if i used a crummy bat to make a mace, that mace is going to be worse then if i used a superior bat in the design.

    Another well done thing in the game is the damage system. Like fallout 3 body parts have HP and can be destroyed. For example I walked up to zombie hit her arm and broke it. then I kicked her down, she attempted to get up but because of the broken arm she fell flat on her face again. When she finally managed to stand back up i broke her other arm, so instead of hitting me she attempted to bite at me.

    Game play is advanced through a quest system like an RPG there are quest hubs that you move in between and every now and then you'll discover a quest how in the world, like a man trapped by zombies you must save. Each hero you play has a unique back story and talent tree, and although you are playing a hero that is a gun expert your not forced only to use guns. The classes are flexible and unique in different ways. While not as dramatic as the trailers for the game, the sense of urgency and "zombie apocalypse" feel is done well, survivors are disturbed and scared by the nights events. You feel like danger is all around you as you explore the island.

    Despite the games draw backs, issues, and rough release, Dead Island deep down is a great game. Once you can overlook the bad and see the good the game is a blast, multiplayer is definitely a huge part of the game. With support for 4 player co-op that scales in difficulty and a length of around 25-30 there's a lot of fun to be had with this game.    … Expand
  5. 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
  6. Rashaan87
    Sep 12, 2011
    8
    I dare to say I am one of the few lucky people who could get this baby go well. Played many hours now without bugs. And it is FUN. Much more realistic than any zombie game this far. Combat is reasonable, hit boxes too, damage system as well. My only problem is that sometimes repairing weapons with money becomes boring and frustrating. Bit of a cycle. But all in all, don't listen to trolls,I dare to say I am one of the few lucky people who could get this baby go well. Played many hours now without bugs. And it is FUN. Much more realistic than any zombie game this far. Combat is reasonable, hit boxes too, damage system as well. My only problem is that sometimes repairing weapons with money becomes boring and frustrating. Bit of a cycle. But all in all, don't listen to trolls, this game is fun, balanced and beautiful. Cheers!… Expand
  7. noobr
    Oct 2, 2011
    2
    Once you get past the novelty in the first hour or so, it becomes a brain dead trudge to victory **** you dont even have to know what your doing half the time. Not to mention the plot is of the calibre of an 11y/o's attempt at creative writing. Total waste of money :(
  8. 123ocelot
    Sep 10, 2011
    10
    this game is so epic i dont even know were to begin its simply awsome people just diant like this game cause there were whinning its great :)..th this does not deserve such a low user score. you can mod weapons and create in all sorts of way rag and galss on a batton is my favorite and the story and side quests make it very long plus using the diffrent character classes
  9. Curt
    Nov 2, 2011
    1
    Dead Island is your basic hack & slash with a tolerable main story-line. I wouldn't bother with the side quests, because the quest tracking system is very frustrating with map waypoints and paths showing up or glitching and showing nothing. Also the quick-travel locations are so far apart you will find yourself hacking and slashing your way up and down the same paths over and over toDead Island is your basic hack & slash with a tolerable main story-line. I wouldn't bother with the side quests, because the quest tracking system is very frustrating with map waypoints and paths showing up or glitching and showing nothing. Also the quick-travel locations are so far apart you will find yourself hacking and slashing your way up and down the same paths over and over to complete multiple side quests. The side quests are nothing more than your basic retrieval, kill this zombie, or button pushing in multiple locations. The Auto-Save feature isn't adjustable and you can't save before quitting the game so you will likely lose progress each time you quit the game. There is also no real penalty for death so you can just flail around bashing zombies heads in till your health hits 0 and repeat. I jumped more in Minecraft when a zombie jumped out from behind a corner and hit me... But hey if you have severe OCD and get a kick out of bashing zombies heads in over and over until the next cut-scene then this may be the game for you. I gave this game a "1" because at least the graphics looked nice and gory.… Expand
  10. daimmonr757
    Jan 10, 2012
    3
    Attempts to developers to make the game too well, has led to the fact that the game was really quite boring. Personally, I do not really like it and go on a huge island in search of the next quest, met for a total time 10 zombies, breaking with his favorite subject of close combat. And how do metal pipe can bend specifically on two strikes?
    Boring, no paddle
  11. Johnny_Boy
    Sep 13, 2011
    8
    Loin d'être parfait, Dead Island a ce "petit truc" qui en fait un jeu accrocheur. Avec des référence évidentes et assumées à des jeux comme Borderlands ou Dead Rising il nous offre de bon petit moment de jeux. Ultra-gore, ambiance de films de série Z, environnements plutôt jolis, lesLoin d'être parfait, Dead Island a ce "petit truc" qui en fait un jeu accrocheur. Avec des référence évidentes et assumées à des jeux comme Borderlands ou Dead Rising il nous offre de bon petit moment de jeux. Ultra-gore, ambiance de films de série Z, environnements plutôt jolis, les geek fans de zombies devraient adorer!… Expand
  12. jmills
    Sep 12, 2011
    8
    This game is basically Borderlands with zombies, and bits of Left 4 Dead and Grand Theft Auto are mixed in for good measure. If you enjoy any of these games, you'll probably enjoy playing this too. There are some nagging problems, such as terrible voice acting and poor animations for the non-zombie characters. These don't ruin the experience, but it does cause Dead Island to fall a bitThis game is basically Borderlands with zombies, and bits of Left 4 Dead and Grand Theft Auto are mixed in for good measure. If you enjoy any of these games, you'll probably enjoy playing this too. There are some nagging problems, such as terrible voice acting and poor animations for the non-zombie characters. These don't ruin the experience, but it does cause Dead Island to fall a bit short of the usual standards. If you're thinking about buying this, you probably should go ahead and do it.… Expand
  13. 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
  14. SoulReaver934
    Sep 11, 2011
    8
    Dead Island is a unique game that takes an overused genre, and completely redefines it. With the primary focus of the game being melee based combat, you'll get your hands on various things you can use to fight the undead. From the common pipe to the sharp as hell katana. Throughout the game, you assist other survivors in 'quests' and try to figure out how to get off of Banoi. The result ofDead Island is a unique game that takes an overused genre, and completely redefines it. With the primary focus of the game being melee based combat, you'll get your hands on various things you can use to fight the undead. From the common pipe to the sharp as hell katana. Throughout the game, you assist other survivors in 'quests' and try to figure out how to get off of Banoi. The result of that is an adventure of epic proportions. Single Player or Cooperative, you'll still have fun playing this game, as Techland makes sure fighting each individual Zombie is special. And even though it has some bugs and issues, it's still a great buy.… Expand
  15. MrSniker
    Feb 3, 2012
    4
    Perseverance, that's what it took to complete this game. Let's start off with the good, nice open world with zombies and combat is fun albeit repetitive. The bad, the game has numerous bugs, awful character development, boring quests, awful leveling structure and a checkpoint system. Lets start with the bugs, which are still pretty bad even after half a year of release. The game hasPerseverance, that's what it took to complete this game. Let's start off with the good, nice open world with zombies and combat is fun albeit repetitive. The bad, the game has numerous bugs, awful character development, boring quests, awful leveling structure and a checkpoint system. Lets start with the bugs, which are still pretty bad even after half a year of release. The game has issues with sound, such as loud crackling and popping noises every once in a while. It progressively gets worse and worse until you reach the sewers where I had to throw my headphones off the audio was so loud. After that it sort of tapers off, but the sewers are a good ~10 hours in the game. The game's character development, as an RPG you'd think they'd invest some time into explaining characters. Nah, you're just there and the only information is the bio at the beginning, they introduce characters but they're cliche and you can't wait until they die. The quests are stupid and repetitive, Dead Island has two types of quests and doesn't even try to hide it. Fetch and escort, that's it. You may have one or two go here, fetch item and protect guy, but that's as interesting as the quests get. One of the problem with quests is there's no reason to do them. The enemies follow a strict level scaling and you never get the feeling that you've ever leveled up. Often times games introduce new abilities to offset this mechanic so it appears you get stronger compared to your opponent but you actually don't, Dead Island does none of this. Once I realized this towards the end of Act 2, I just stockpiled on decent weapons and avoided enemies and quests because I knew the faster I leveled the more obsolete my weapons would become. The checkpoint system is awful because of two reasons, it means I can't leave the game whenever I want; but the real problem with the checkpoint system is it's bugged. The checkpoint system leaves you in unexplained places upon your return. It happens from my count at least a third of my checkpoints left me in weird areas, two of the most noticeable were in Act 2 I left the game, when I returned the game placed my in the Jungle, which is Act 3. So I drove around for an hour trying to figure how to leave and finally just reloaded my last checkpoint which put me back in Act 2. Another checkpoint problem was I left the game and the quest had be going to some control panel to unlock doors, guess what the checkpoint did? It put me right in front of the control panels with the doors unlocked. There's plenty of WTF moments in Dead Island, and while I was able to beat the game by 50% of the main plot progress it was beating me down. The game's shortcomings all slowly start to beat you down until you no longer want to play. You'll spend more time screaming at the screen because of bug's than the actually difficulty. Game took ~16 hours for me to beat but towards 50% I was just rushing through everything just for the sake of completion and not fun.… Expand
  16. sidesteal
    Sep 11, 2011
    8
    Despite the early whiners bashing the game on day 1, I've opted for a more long term view of it.

    Obviously first impressions count, so if you've got a nice rig you will be impressed at the gfx initially. I found the storyline very atmospheric and if you allow yourself to be carried along with the story you will be more than satisfied. Levelling up, quests and weapon crafting are the    Despite the early whiners bashing the game on day 1, I've opted for a more long term view of it.

    Obviously first impressions count, so if you've got a nice rig you will be impressed at the gfx initially. I found the storyline very atmospheric and if you allow yourself to be carried along with the story you will be more than satisfied.

    Levelling up, quests and weapon crafting are the mainstay of this RPG, so if you prefer more genric plug'n'play games then you might be overwhelmed with the amount of UI interaction. But once you get a hold of how the system works, your enjoyment will increase and you will become more skilled at killing zombies and completing quests.

    There are around a dozen or so major irritations with the UI, key mapping, FOV and physics which should get fixed in future patches. But nothing that really stops or overly hinders the games atmosphere or enjoyment (unless you're experiencing crashes - in which case I suggest you save up for a better rig).

    The graphics are solid, the story is solid, the game play is solid. This game *is* worth buying.

    I'd given it 9/10 if the present irritations weren't there on release.    … Expand
  17. ManOfX
    Sep 14, 2011
    8
    I waited before playing the game so never experienced the game before the early patches and fixes. As a result of this I can't see where all this rage is coming from. Dead Island is an enjoyable game which gives a real sense of "you against the zombies". The only negative point at the moment (and this is probably something I've done) is that my steam version doesn't seem to be updating onI waited before playing the game so never experienced the game before the early patches and fixes. As a result of this I can't see where all this rage is coming from. Dead Island is an enjoyable game which gives a real sense of "you against the zombies". The only negative point at the moment (and this is probably something I've done) is that my steam version doesn't seem to be updating on Steam Cloud correctly, annoying considering I'm at 50% on my laptop and only 30% on my PC, oh well.
    A word to the Haters: Stop hating, you'll live longer.    … Expand
  18. Kimi150
    Sep 17, 2011
    10
    Great game. It's fun to kill zombies by baseball. Espiecially Co-OP. LOVE IT:)

    Dead 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    Great game. It's fun to kill zombies by baseball. Espiecially Co-OP. LOVE IT:)

    Dead 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.    … Expand
  19. SittinginBasket
    Aug 6, 2012
    2
    I'm giving a 2 for the graphics and effort, but the core gameplay and game mechanics are horribly flawed. First, I get hastily introduced to random characters that are forgotten in the first minute, stumble around pointlessly, and struggle with the clumsy movement controls. Then, all of a sudden I am joined by random people since there is some kind of multiplayer mode enabled by default,I'm giving a 2 for the graphics and effort, but the core gameplay and game mechanics are horribly flawed. First, I get hastily introduced to random characters that are forgotten in the first minute, stumble around pointlessly, and struggle with the clumsy movement controls. Then, all of a sudden I am joined by random people since there is some kind of multiplayer mode enabled by default, something that I didn't even choose myself. Then we stumble around more, trying desperately to actually hit and do damage to pretty much anything. Now here is the real issue, I missed out on 90% of the story already. The other players rush around everywhere and activate all these different quests while I'm trying to figure out what the hell is going on. They skip all the dialogue so I have no idea what the quests were even about in the first place, and then this other guy has an electric sword while everyone is using sticks. Heck, I think I even missed a plane crash or whatever that noise was.

    I just finished some random quest about a gas-station, and I've had enough of this game already. I don't even know what happened since the beginning of the game to this point other than the fact that "we killed zombies". Not much of a story there.

    The game is just a jumbled mess. Movement is sloppy, gameplay is sloppy, cinematics/cut-scenes are sloppy, story is sloppy, game mechanics are sloppy.

    The game is sloppy. Nuff said. Good thing I bought it during the Steam Sale.    … Expand
  20. starsh3ro
    Nov 2, 2011
    9
    after i saw everything i have to change my first review.
    now the worst bugs are patched, some still remain untouched.
    but, even with some bugs, (dissapearing weapons, texture failures,...) this is a great game. the gaming world is very large, you have a lot of enemies to fight, especially after the 2nd chapter. the missions are okay, the story and the ending look like there will be a    after i saw everything i have to change my first review.
    now the worst bugs are patched, some still remain untouched.
    but, even with some bugs, (dissapearing weapons, texture failures,...) this is a great game.

    the gaming world is very large, you have a lot of enemies to fight, especially after the 2nd chapter. the missions are okay, the story and the ending look like there will be a sequel.
    the sound effects are nice, the graphics very detailed.- especially the water, the enemies and the nature. sadly the gaphics are missing some reflections, but probably on purpose to make the game playable, even on slower systems.

    if you dont feel like doing missions, you can just walk arround hours over hours, kill tons of zombies, with help of many different (craftable) weapons.

    you can play the campain alone or with 3 friends in coop, really alot of fun.

    50â    … Expand
  21. Zanklodvandam
    Nov 10, 2011
    10
    Its a great game if you want open world RPG action with zombie killing and weapon costumisation you got it.Sure there are a few bugs and that but nothing game breaking.Buy it you wont regret it.
  22. 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
  23. 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
  24. Strewthard
    Nov 21, 2011
    9
    Gameplay: 9 - Amazing. 1st-person melee combat has never been better in any other game. Dead Island allows you to slice and break individual limbs of your undead foes. Different strategies are required for different enemy types. Thugs need their arms broken, and suiciders are best taken out from a distance. The only thing dragging this game down at all are the bugs (of which there areGameplay: 9 - Amazing. 1st-person melee combat has never been better in any other game. Dead Island allows you to slice and break individual limbs of your undead foes. Different strategies are required for different enemy types. Thugs need their arms broken, and suiciders are best taken out from a distance. The only thing dragging this game down at all are the bugs (of which there are many).
    Story: 8 - Great. Cookie-cutter zombie story with a twist: You're on a Resort Island.
    Graphics: 9 - Amazing. Banoi is beautiful. The environments are breathtaking. Enemies vary in appearance. Only people look strange. Faces seem unemotional, and many of the citizens of Banoi look aged when looking at their face, yet young when looking at their body.
    Sound: 9 - Amazing. Creepy music is accentuated by terrifying zombie screams!
    Overall: 9 - Amazing.    … Expand
  25. outfctrl
    Dec 27, 2011
    9
    I am really enjoying it, and my friend and Sons are having a blast. At first, I thought it was another Left4Dead type game. Boy, I was wrong. It turned out to be an RPG, with questing, leveling, skill points and a HUGE and I mean HUGE world. Even your weapons degrade over time and it shows on the weapon.

    I know it had a bad start, but through the patches and tweaks, it is starting to    I am really enjoying it, and my friend and Sons are having a blast. At first, I thought it was another Left4Dead type game. Boy, I was wrong. It turned out to be an RPG, with questing, leveling, skill points and a HUGE and I mean HUGE world. Even your weapons degrade over time and it shows on the weapon.

    I know it had a bad start, but through the patches and tweaks, it is starting to shine. People are working on MODS for it too. There is even a tool you can download from steam to help tweak the performance!

    Last night I played with my Sons, cooperative. When you do, they match the zombies to your level! I am level 13 and my Sons are level 5 and the same zombie we were bashing, matched our level. Online playing is still a little buggy and you may experience some lock ups. Single player runs smooth.

    This game is definitely not for the squeamish. Arms go flying, heads crack open and blood gushes everywhere. They use every 4 letter word in there also, so beware.    … Expand
  26. 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
  27. FryGuy
    Mar 22, 2012
    3
    Stupid story, stupid side quests, pointless weapon mods and only few "good" ones and interest about this game dies after first play-through. Dead Island tries to be partly RPG but that is impossible because game is too short and getting survivor to max level you need to play this through about 8 to 10 times and after that you have no interest to try doing same thing with other survivor.Stupid story, stupid side quests, pointless weapon mods and only few "good" ones and interest about this game dies after first play-through. Dead Island tries to be partly RPG but that is impossible because game is too short and getting survivor to max level you need to play this through about 8 to 10 times and after that you have no interest to try doing same thing with other survivor. All survivors have some specialities so first choice is going to be only choice. I think this studio was very lucky with this game because main idea has so much potential and its hard to understand why anyone did not make this kind of game before. Game was released as some beta version and after that there has been million different bugs, AI problems, bugs, problems and DLC:s were not worth of paying. Arena was ok but Ryder White? F*cking single player DLC? Seriously? I have no idea what these guys were thinking...… Expand
  28. MusAddict
    Nov 26, 2011
    8
    A beautiful, gory zombie killing game. I have not really played other zombie games (aside from Half Life or Silent Hill 2) so my rating is from a mostly unbiased standpoint, as far as zombie killing goes. The RPG element is nice, the MP element is fantastic (when it works), the story is ok, but what really pulled me in was the beauty. It gave the nice feeling of fear, while not beingA beautiful, gory zombie killing game. I have not really played other zombie games (aside from Half Life or Silent Hill 2) so my rating is from a mostly unbiased standpoint, as far as zombie killing goes. The RPG element is nice, the MP element is fantastic (when it works), the story is ok, but what really pulled me in was the beauty. It gave the nice feeling of fear, while not being demonic (other games can be disturbing in a spiritual sense, this game is not), so I felt comfortable while being scarred to death.… Expand
  29. jackblack12
    Sep 10, 2011
    8
    Usually fun and fast paced, but sometimes frustrating and glitched...
    They're probably going to fix at least some of the bugs, so the game is going to get even better. Totally playable now and very immersible.
    I've played only the single player campaign, but it's obvious that a co-op is the best mode for the fun.
  30. Clarky_93
    Sep 11, 2011
    9
    Having just finished this game in SP mode, and intending to COOP it with a different character soon, I believe that this game was worth the money, I've clocked up around 30-35 hours of gameplay from the game, and it was WELL worth the money I spent on it.

    Although, I seem to be one of the lucky few who didn't have any bugs/glitches with game, aside from a few graphical errors such as    Having just finished this game in SP mode, and intending to COOP it with a different character soon, I believe that this game was worth the money, I've clocked up around 30-35 hours of gameplay from the game, and it was WELL worth the money I spent on it.

    Although, I seem to be one of the lucky few who didn't have any bugs/glitches with game, aside from a few graphical errors such as weapons vanishing into the ground, the melee combat and explorative elements made up for those.

    My favourite part of the game is definitely Act 1, you're just starting out and are basically switching weapons between every few battles which for me gave it a survival element, alongside the use of using soda cans to heal and there was barely any use of guns.

    Act 2 was also pretty good, the area was quite awesome to explore aswell as the constant threat of groups of zombies attacking you, however it was let down slightly from the exponential increase in availability of guns, seriously like every thug either having an assault rifle or a pistol, however sewers felt like it was copied and pasted.

    Act 3 was my least favourite, environment was nice but also looked like it was copied and pasted to take up space.

    In conclusion I'd say that the game is worth a purchase, and rate it atleast 7.5/10, probably higher if I had played COOP with my friends, the story is there to basically push the player to different areas and is lackluster, characters in the game aren't really fleshed out, moreso just introduced to give a quest more than anything, quests were similar to borderlands but were still quite fun, again though, the melee combat and explorative elements really made this game for me, being able to remove limbs from zombies/playing strategically e.g removing arms from thugs was pretty awesome.    … 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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