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. LongtimeGamer
    Sep 11, 2011
    8
    After they made the first few patches and fixed the accidental release of the in-house dev version all in all its not too bad. The Player Characters themselves have Wonky and Strange Animations, but the Zombies are well animated. The graphics are good, The choice of weapons is decent. Little disappointed at the fact that there were so few guns. I love the idea of limited ammo and shotsAfter they made the first few patches and fixed the accidental release of the in-house dev version all in all its not too bad. The Player Characters themselves have Wonky and Strange Animations, but the Zombies are well animated. The graphics are good, The choice of weapons is decent. Little disappointed at the fact that there were so few guns. I love the idea of limited ammo and shots count but there's very few choices in guns. It has a few glitches mostly graphical, it is annoying though that all the dialogue in the game is centered around Co-op along with the Cinematics. If your playing solo it can be somewhat annoying and confusing seeing the other characters even though they arent with you.
    I did enjoy the game though. Story was pretty lame and quests were down right appalling as if they were written by 9 year olds. One such quest, "Were starving here! We need more food, Go to the gas stations and pick us up two boxes of Juice!" .... Um.... Ok..... Relevancy 0 Strange 1. Anyways if you can overlook the strange quest flaws its a good game to play-thru and then maybe shelve or sell.    … Expand
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. MellerYeller
    Sep 6, 2011
    9
    Alright let me just say first off that as of now this game is fantastic if you're one of the lucky ones it works well for but incredibly frustrating if you have the issues some other people have. Since there will be patches though, I'm only judging the core gameplay here because I'm sure it will improve as they fix it up. For me, this game has so much I've wanted in a zombie game where itAlright let me just say first off that as of now this game is fantastic if you're one of the lucky ones it works well for but incredibly frustrating if you have the issues some other people have. Since there will be patches though, I'm only judging the core gameplay here because I'm sure it will improve as they fix it up. For me, this game has so much I've wanted in a zombie game where it takes place in a large open world and supplies are realistically limited so that you really have to scavenge for supplies which encourages exploration. The combat in this game is a lot of fun and the gore from beating down zombies with blunt objects is incredibly satisfying and with the limb breaking it's also realistic. There's also a TON of sidequests and a lot of weapon mods to craft which will be taking up even more of your time. As far as graphics go, the island looks gorgeous and even with the bright sunny atmosphere, it managed to scare me many times with the infected screams and other ambiance. Only real flaws I've found with this game is that the coop seems rather broken as of now and the story and character development is subpar to say the least. I'd say this is a must buy AFTER it's patched up a bit.… Expand
  5. LaggyMclagster
    Sep 6, 2011
    8
    It seems that I was one of the lucky ones who managed to get his game running first try, was able to adjust the options to work perfectly on my computer and actually play it within 10 minutes (getting everything to the right balance). If you somehow become lucky to play this game, it feels like a cross between Left 4 Dead and Borderlands.
    Pros: - Fun concept - great combat    It seems that I was one of the lucky ones who managed to get his game running first try, was able to adjust the options to work perfectly on my computer and actually play it within 10 minutes (getting everything to the right balance). If you somehow become lucky to play this game, it feels like a cross between Left 4 Dead and Borderlands.
    Pros: - Fun concept - great combat - huge place to explore (good and bad to that) - Join others quickly

    Cons: - Lame uploading on the dev's part - way to bright in some areas - iffy first few days - some classes unable to use full potential till later access to their weapons

    Overall it seams like it's just a bit too early to judge the game. I have my faith in the devs to patch the issues that most people are having in less than a week.    … Expand
  6. RippleFX
    Sep 8, 2011
    8
    A review about a game is a criticism about the game itself, bug may come and go, usually at a game launch like this there's ALWAYS bugs. User that provide a score based on the technical issues should be banned from posting anything. Dead Island has a really creative approach to the whole zombie culture, the melee fighting system is well developed, the way the weapons are used, the goreA review about a game is a criticism about the game itself, bug may come and go, usually at a game launch like this there's ALWAYS bugs. User that provide a score based on the technical issues should be banned from posting anything. Dead Island has a really creative approach to the whole zombie culture, the melee fighting system is well developed, the way the weapons are used, the gore when bashing and/or cutting a zombie are phenomenal, the storyline is a little weak, but the fighting compensates for the game's shortcomings, Co-op style is a big weakness, they should have learned more from L4D, I would stick it out alone. I usually don't write reviews until I'm done with the game, but I felt is had to counter act the fake scores given by all the "I can't launch the game" morons.… Expand
  7. hemmingjay
    Sep 6, 2011
    8
    If you are one of the lucky folks who have no problems running it, the game is a blast. Its no GOTY but it is tons of fun. I didn't enjoy it for the first 15 mins but after going back in I am absolutely loving it. If you are one of the people worried about losing progress, don't. I see it as an opportunity to try one of the other builds. Please ignore the irrational trolls who rated a 0If you are one of the lucky folks who have no problems running it, the game is a blast. Its no GOTY but it is tons of fun. I didn't enjoy it for the first 15 mins but after going back in I am absolutely loving it. If you are one of the people worried about losing progress, don't. I see it as an opportunity to try one of the other builds. Please ignore the irrational trolls who rated a 0 because it didnt work for them at launch. Also please disregard the 10's as anyone who cant find a single flaw is a fanboy.… Expand
  8. MrWalrus
    Sep 6, 2011
    10
    Iv played this game since it was unlocked on steam this morning and i cant stop. i dont know why people are trolling this game? i can run 1980x 1080x perfectly fine, maybe dont buy computers from bestbuy ? or for you Canadians Future shop. cause future shop is the red devil :) . The game is very fun thou the story is meh. bottom line you will have hours of fun with your friends just beIv played this game since it was unlocked on steam this morning and i cant stop. i dont know why people are trolling this game? i can run 1980x 1080x perfectly fine, maybe dont buy computers from bestbuy ? or for you Canadians Future shop. cause future shop is the red devil :) . The game is very fun thou the story is meh. bottom line you will have hours of fun with your friends just be sure to play coop… Expand
  9. CrazyCommi
    Sep 6, 2011
    10
    I've only been playing this for a few hours. But put simply? My game of the year! Yes, there are a few bugs but so far, nothing game breaking. Controls are fine, environment are amazing. The only thing is the voice acting but I can live past that.
  10. metalhead980
    Sep 6, 2011
    9
    Dead Island is a Open world, first person view, zombie survival horror with item collection and character skill advancement trees. Its as 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?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
  11. Quadratica
    Sep 6, 2011
    9
    This is a very good game. For all the funny youtube videos showing off the debug mode, it's less buggy than other open world games such as New Vegas or Oblivion, and has co-op to boot: especially important to note that this is not a single player game. You have that option, but you really need to bring a friend or three.

    The plot isn't as paper thin as a title like Borderlands, but is    This is a very good game. For all the funny youtube videos showing off the debug mode, it's less buggy than other open world games such as New Vegas or Oblivion, and has co-op to boot: especially important to note that this is not a single player game. You have that option, but you really need to bring a friend or three.

    The plot isn't as paper thin as a title like Borderlands, but is still on the shoddy side; you won't mistake this for an Avellone venture. With gameplay this solid, though, the narrative sinking into the background while you and your friends are on voice chat suits it just fine.

    The controls are slick, your actions feel purposeful. The melee combat is really well done, I was definitely impressed. This is all rather insubstantive so let me take you through a cool moment:

    My friend and I saw this swole zombie by the edge of a pool full of bodies. I threw my cleaver at it, my buddy threw both his knives (and was then out of weapons). I moved in start wailing on it with my baseball bat, but it punched me and I went flying into the pool. As my character stumbled to his feet, the bodies in the pool got up.

    I went into Fury Mode and started boxing them and my friend had to walk up to the big guy and pull his knives out of him - while he was still up and dangerous - in order to continue packing in the damage.

    The game is full of things like this. I pre-ordered it Monday and it's been worth every penny.    … Expand
  12. GameInterpretor
    Sep 6, 2011
    8
    Beautiful! This hell truly does look like paradise and feels like the best zombie slayer this year. The graphics are great and the game is incredibly easy to run! If you don't fall in love with the game play than you'll truly enjoy the rpg elements! Great game Play IT!
  13. Karunashi
    Sep 6, 2011
    10
    First off, I'm one of those 'poor' victims that have been left to play Dead Island on the PC with the 'developer' version or whatever the hell that was. After being linked to this metacritic thing and seeing how biased people's votes were, I just had to make an account myself to rate it for myself.

    The game was quite nice even when there was obvious bugs/issues that literally consumed 2    First off, I'm one of those 'poor' victims that have been left to play Dead Island on the PC with the 'developer' version or whatever the hell that was. After being linked to this metacritic thing and seeing how biased people's votes were, I just had to make an account myself to rate it for myself.

    The game was quite nice even when there was obvious bugs/issues that literally consumed 2 hours for me and my friends in trying to get a single lobby going where all of us were in the same game. Of course after we got that out of the way, we only suffered minor issues such as graphic cards overheating and crashing someone's computer and crashing our game due to random things like, crashing into a female zombie with a truck. But overall, I found that the game had a huge potential. Its intended features/concepts are present but just left in a lackluster manner due to the known bugs/issues that was released on the first day for the US. So I say give this game a chance, and ignore the 'rage' from these people that are bringing this game's score down to as low as 4.4. Chances are you'll like this game since it offers a lot of fun and exploration, as well as replay value. Oh and in before massive negative votes on this review post from those same raging nerds that can't just go have a life and maybe return late in the evening to find a better patch---Or something, rather than wasting their time trying to defame a game after only a single cluster of issues (admittedly a huge cluster). Because don't get me wrong, they should have avoided all of this via quality assurances or something.

    Was actually going to give this game a 8/10 or 9/10 because it was quite satisfying for me, excluding all the annoying bugs and the inability in 'push to talk' or having an easier way to arrange lobbies. But since the game's score has been shot down by angry nerds, I must give it a 10. Enjoy the game when it's fully patched.    … Expand
  14. Bromacia
    Sep 6, 2011
    10
    Great when playing with friends and do the co-op together. The game has a good atmosphere with a good character advancement tree + crafting. If you enjoyed Dead rising or Borderlands, you will enjoy this game.
  15. Horrendus
    Sep 6, 2011
    8
    Just because people are upset about bug on a release. . which happens with most games anyways. Doesn't automatically make this a poor game. Also anyone who says it's a port should have their ratings taken away because they don't know that it's actually not a port the pc just got the wrong version upon release. But it's still has plenty of fun in it.
  16. Heaviermetal
    Sep 6, 2011
    10
    Loving this game so far! Its fun, different and what I hoped L4D would have been more of. I have had no problem with controls and any issues other trolls have problems with. If u like survival horror, rpg and fps melee you will like this game. If you like games being a movie, then go away.
  17. spmxvc
    Oct 5, 2011
    0
    What happened to PC games? At some point along the line did the developers lose their way? Did they all get together and just make games for the console and then port them to the PC without bringing along any of the options that PC gamers have been used to for decades? Dead Island was released initially on PC extremely buggy, which shows how much time and effort these companies spend onWhat happened to PC games? At some point along the line did the developers lose their way? Did they all get together and just make games for the console and then port them to the PC without bringing along any of the options that PC gamers have been used to for decades? Dead Island was released initially on PC extremely buggy, which shows how much time and effort these companies spend on the PC version of recent shooters. In particular itâ… Expand
  18. Reaktorblue
    Sep 6, 2011
    2
    Dead Island has the potential to be a great game however, the game feels rushed and as such, there are a plethora of problems with this game that are beyond simple nagging problems. In it's current state, Dead Island is not playable.

    First, you have the sound. The sound works intermittently, one moment you have working sound and the next moment you have piercing static or a repeating    Dead Island has the potential to be a great game however, the game feels rushed and as such, there are a plethora of problems with this game that are beyond simple nagging problems. In it's current state, Dead Island is not playable.

    First, you have the sound. The sound works intermittently, one moment you have working sound and the next moment you have piercing static or a repeating sound clip. Next you have the actual playability. Dead Island freezes and lags constantly, even on excellent hardware. It's beyond annoying to attempt playing a game under those conditions.

    In the end, Dead Island does have the potential to be a fun game but the wise gamer will sit on this title and see if the developers can improve its functionality, else this game will fail hardcore. Right now, the game will leave you wanting to pull your hair out more times than it will offer an enjoyable gaming experience.    … Expand
  19. applethin
    Sep 7, 2011
    0
    To summarize in one sentence, this game is borderlands with zombies and like no guns. The midnight release play was absolutely terrible. The game stutters every 3 seconds for no reason. Everyone's mic is open and there's no way to mute them. I only got to play first three chapters before Techland decided to wipe my save without warning. Apparently they uploaded a console version to steamTo summarize in one sentence, this game is borderlands with zombies and like no guns. The midnight release play was absolutely terrible. The game stutters every 3 seconds for no reason. Everyone's mic is open and there's no way to mute them. I only got to play first three chapters before Techland decided to wipe my save without warning. Apparently they uploaded a console version to steam (DOH!) and considering how it still hasn't been fixed, the issue goes much deeper. The graphics looked absolutely terrible compared to what I was expecting from trailers. The character animations are hideous. Honestly, I've seen half life 2 mods with better animations. The inventory is a pain in the ass to use. Interface was made for consoles and it's absolutely baby-punch-frustrating as a PC gamer to slowly click through things because they were too lazy to change it. Honestly it wouldn't be so bad if weapons didn't break so quickly and I have to access item menu every 3 minutes. You shuffle through 10 diff containers and get 50 dollars which you'll have to spend to repair a knife that breaks after 5 swings. But seriously though, YOU SPEND MOST OF YOUR TIME OPENING CONTAINERS AND PUNCHING BABIES THROUGH BAD INTERFACE MANAGING ITEMS RATHER THAN KILLING ZOMBIES AND SURVIVING.

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

    Am I mad bro? I think so bro. I just spent 50 dollars on this.    … Expand
  20. NICESNAG
    Sep 6, 2011
    2
    Oh boy, where do I begin. I was rather excited to play this game as I'm sure most people who watched the trailers were. It's no secret that a publisher would push an unfinished product out to people in order to meet a deadline, but it seems like it's trending to the point where games are broken and unplayable for the first week or so of play. This to me is completely unacceptable.

    Once    Oh boy, where do I begin. I was rather excited to play this game as I'm sure most people who watched the trailers were. It's no secret that a publisher would push an unfinished product out to people in order to meet a deadline, but it seems like it's trending to the point where games are broken and unplayable for the first week or so of play. This to me is completely unacceptable.

    Once the cut scenes have finished and you're into the menu, the first thing you'll notice about the PC version is how it is nearly impossible to control your cursor. No big deal, after nearly suffering from tennis elbow trying to navigate yourself through the overly simplistic and console-like menu system, you'll find your standard sensitivity bar. Naturally you'll "crank that sh*t up to 11" and enjoy being able to actually move around somewhat normally in the menu. As mentioned your options are EXTREMELY limited, and for those of you who enjoy playing on 120hz displays, you'll notice that the game for some reason has a maximum of 100hz display refresh. No big deal I'm over that.. LETS FIGHT SOME ZOMBIES.

    Once you finally stumble your way into an actual game, the first thing you notice is because you set your sensitivity to max that it completely uncontrollable in game. You turn that back down and just hope you never have to go back into the menu system for fear of pulling a muscle trying to change anything in the future. Now most people's first instincts is to try and invite your friends or have them try and join your game. What's that? You don't have any option and aren't sure why? It's because the game requires you to play through the first part of the "Act" giving you some back story before actually allowing you to play with friends. This is fine, but I would recommend they actually explain it to people so they don't spend 10 minutes trying to get people into the game.

    Once you have completed the first Act, it's on to what I call "the cabin of despair". Why is that? Because you are going to be sitting in that cabin for a good 30+ minutes trying to get your friends actually into your game. Once they are finally in there, enjoy having the in-game Voice over IP system always running.

    Ok, an hour after the games been installed we are now ready to fight zombies. One thing that I found extremely annoying about this game is the movement. After exiting the cabin and you start to move around the island, the overly done bloom effect mixed with the sluggish movement feels like I'm suffering from a terrible hangover. I decide to power through it.

    After about 30 more minutes of wondering around the island picking up badly explained objective missions and fighting a very very small number of zombies around what I can only assume must be luxury resort due to the lack of people/zombies I find myself bored and playing with the "developer features" they forget to take out such as noclip.

    Unfortunately I found flying around the island using noclip and driving my truck off of cliffs much more fun than any of the gameplay thus far. People who claim this is only just "First Day/Week Hiccups" are definitely underselling it, and I would not recommend anyone spend any money on this horrible, bug riddled game. Please, think of your wallet and your elbow before wasting away either on this monstrosity.    … Expand
  21. tehpoutine
    Sep 6, 2011
    0
    This is an unfinished game. I don't buy the crap that they accidentally released a dev build or whatever. As a software developer, in my experience (granted, not related to the gaming industry), dev builds only contain additional items, like convenience keystrokes, debug info, etc, it is not an excuse for utterly broken/missing features. Blaming bugs on the wrong release version is theThis is an unfinished game. I don't buy the crap that they accidentally released a dev build or whatever. As a software developer, in my experience (granted, not related to the gaming industry), dev builds only contain additional items, like convenience keystrokes, debug info, etc, it is not an excuse for utterly broken/missing features. Blaming bugs on the wrong release version is the same as giving a teacher an intentionally corrupt document to get an extension on your homework. This is a dishonest practice, and this company should be called out for it. I feel scammed that I pre-ordered an unfinished product. I hope they will correct the issues with the game, deal with the messed up FOV, lack of basic PC graphics options like vsync, etc, but I would recommend anyone considering buying this game to wait, I don't anticipate problems being fixed overnight. Deep Silver and Techland have definitely fallen of my "Potential companies to pre-order with" list due to this turd. Shame on you.… Expand
  22. Acidblood7
    Sep 6, 2011
    2
    Deep Silver and Techland have royally messed up for a major release Dead Island, released a DEBUG version, to fix it caused files to become corrupt and user progression to be erased.
  23. 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
  24. 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
  25. 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
  26. 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
  27. SolesDN
    May 24, 2014
    8
    I would have given the game a higher score if it didnt have so many bugs still till this day. Love the game but the developers took too many shortcuts with the game and ruined it in certain areas. But i get which direction they wanted the game to head towards but just couldnt do so.

    Overall, its been 2.5 years and I still love the game.
  28. 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.
  29. keefbaker
    Oct 27, 2013
    9
    I adore Dead Island, It might be a little on the clunky side but basically what you have here is a Bethesda style game which has optional multiplayer where you beat the crap out of zombies with baseball bats that have nails in...
  30. 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.
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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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