Dead Island

 PlayStation 3
User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 464 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 224 out of 464
  2. Mixed: 154 out of 464
  3. Negative: 86 out of 464
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  1. JayG203
    Feb 16, 2012
    4
    This game is a prime and shining example of truly poor execution. What this game is, is sad. It was a game with potential to be so much better than what it turned out to be, and it turned out the way it did in due to an utter lack of any polish. Something could easily have been done to fix this game in just about every way, and the worst part is the developers knew it, they just didn'tThis game is a prime and shining example of truly poor execution. What this game is, is sad. It was a game with potential to be so much better than what it turned out to be, and it turned out the way it did in due to an utter lack of any polish. Something could easily have been done to fix this game in just about every way, and the worst part is the developers knew it, they just didn't care. Lets start with the good. The first part of the game is spectacular, the opening is mediocre, but the environment couldn't be more outstanding. As soon as you enter onto the beach you have a feeling that it's going to be a great time, and it is, but only for a while. The combat is great fun and you really get invested in trying to make every battle as stylish as possible. There are loads of side missions and they set you up to really feel that you're surviving whence you realize just how big a part consuming food is along the journey. Everything seems great, and it almost is. Now the game is damn good from the start, but the problems were always there, they just weren't as annoying the first 100 times. After you've played the game for a few hours and it no longer feels like holding your hand, you realize just how bad the game truly is. The first part of the map is great, the rest is just horrible, but that's not the real problem. So lets get started on the negatives. The problem is pure gameplay, first off: this game is the glitchiest game I have ever played, not only is the pop in horrible, but the sheer number of bugs is enough to knock you over. You get stuck a lot, your HUD will tweek out on you constantly, the minimap is constantly navigating you in the wrong direction etc etc, There are many glitches that are so debilitating enough to keep you from progressing in the campaign. You'll have to get out and get back into the game. The absolute biggest and game ruining glitch you will run into is the technical range calibration of your weapons, for example: I'm playing as a character that seems to be 6 foot, and I'm holding a machete in hand, so that's a few feet of range right? wrong. After a brief stint of playing this game you'll come to realize something quite odd, and that is that your arm and weapons length is not realistically calibrated. You will realize that, in order to make contact with your enemy whence using a melee weapon, you will need to me at least 5 inches away from them, and this is never something you get used to. You will constantly be miss-judging distance, and you should, you know why? because you think logically, and this game is anything but. Next off, the friendly AI is moronic, slow, and incapable of ever helping themselves, the human enemy AI is the same way, the driving is horrible, stiff and boring, the graphics are just plain bad, the physics are horrible, the side missions (even though plentiful) are rehashes of each other, the story does nothing but insult your intelligence and the RPG is not in the least bit flushed out. I could go into detail about all this but I'm not, it's not worth my or your time. Just don't buy the game because it looks MUCH funner than it actually is. The more you play the more you realize that there is not a single good thing to say about it. Like I said, the beginning is deceivingly fun, the range calibration is annoying but whatever, but then you speedily spiral into an abysmal pile of garbage in more than one aspect. It's abysmal in all aspects.… Expand
  2. Aepervius
    Sep 10, 2011
    2
    Short summary : The game is not bad, but suffer from terrible flaw , one of which completely and utterly *destroy* the fun. Tested with version 1.1.0 on PS3 (after first 31 MB patch). You think the game is saving , it says checkpoints or even shows the fragging red symbol and says game saved on the left. BUT THE GAME DO NOT SAVE. I played twice now up to the city, ACT 2, Chapter 5, charShort summary : The game is not bad, but suffer from terrible flaw , one of which completely and utterly *destroy* the fun. Tested with version 1.1.0 on PS3 (after first 31 MB patch). You think the game is saving , it says checkpoints or even shows the fragging red symbol and says game saved on the left. BUT THE GAME DO NOT SAVE. I played twice now up to the city, ACT 2, Chapter 5, char level 15, ONLY to be SET BACK AT LEVEL 2 right at the beginning. Serriouslsy pissed off is an understatement. I play in single player campaign by the way, not cooperative, since people were saying switching between coop and sngle player would make the save game go corrupt and gone : BS it happens in single player too ! That is now 16 hours playing GONE due to a bug which should *NOT* be in a gold release version and certainly not in a patched one. You have been warned.

    Now on the technical and gameplay, if you really want to try this game, or if it is ever patched. Story : not too bad as zombie stories goes. Truth to be told due to the aforementionned bug I never went past the start the second act , start of it, so it is difficult to judge, but up to then it was nice. Basically you are on a secluded island with zombie and fight them using local means. Not very good but entertaining. Gameplay : nice gameplay but with several flaw. Firstly there is a sort of auto aiming feature , if you point the stick toward a part of the body, it sticks to it a bit. The problem ? too many body part, and the sticking is not good, so melee attack can be iffy. Realistically you would want to have only 3 sets of sticking : when jumping (arms head) , when standing (arms, heads, chest, legs) , when crouching (legs and maybe chest). Bu it flys all over the place, so you can't aim that well. Furthermore you never know if your weapon reach is enough. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't but you never know before swinging, as really it can be a matter of centimeters/inches. Further gameplay problem : items respawn, zombie too. Sure it is a design decision but that also means you can make farming runs : know where the items are , then raid that place, go raid somewhere else the return, until you have got 30 alcohol bottle :P. Some sidequest are exactely based on tat : "bring water bottle to a woman which feels dehydrated" after the 30th bottle (70$*30=2100$ earned, and 50*30=1500 xp) she could BATH in it. It would have been much much more fun if there had been a limited but enormous number of zombie, and if you cut their head/leg they would be gone forver. There are different type of zombie, and finding the way to kill them is fun, but not enough different zuombie (although bear in mind I have only been up to start of city only and saw 5 types only). Graphic : very good, and very gore, although you can see the shortcut they used : cut a head, if you are careful to look it is always the same short dark haired head which pops up. Also , there is texture popping sometimes. But usually this is only when you change area/load a check point (if the check point is EVER saved :(....). Sound : nice , but not that extensive. Voice acting was OK, not corny, not shakespear either. Well except the corny russia with slurred accent asking for champagne... well...

    All in All, the game COULD have been good. I would not buy this game (I had it rented) , I would advise strongly to drop it to teach the company a lessons on putting a game with terrible flaw out. Once patched , it could be a nice pass timer.    … Expand
  3. BOSTONJOHN32
    Sep 11, 2011
    3
    i already wrote a review, but please rent/borrow b4 you make a purchase of dead island.if one is trying to budget, with many games coming out, i would say keep your wallet holstered or trade ths back in for 25 bucks. or get ready to sell it. i think that it is unfair for people to give this game a 10, alot of gamers are on the fence with this and i will challenge you, by your rating andi already wrote a review, but please rent/borrow b4 you make a purchase of dead island.if one is trying to budget, with many games coming out, i would say keep your wallet holstered or trade ths back in for 25 bucks. or get ready to sell it. i think that it is unfair for people to give this game a 10, alot of gamers are on the fence with this and i will challenge you, by your rating and passion for this game, to give me 10 examples why to buy this game, or ten good points about dead island. i can give you 10 reasons not to buy this at any given moment, and i could almost give you 100 reasons not to buy this game. buying and playing are 2 different beasts. buy this if and when it is bargain basement, please do not trust me or thus rating system, seems like people will rate highly based on the fact that they made an investment so lets spread financial misery loving company.. trust your own opinion, try this game b4 you dish out retail or trade in a bunch of games toward this.. i will gladly show that i had sold this game BUT also warned the person buying it. he called me and asked if i could give him anything else for the money he spent, " i dont care what it is but can you take this back and give me something else please" via text. sold him the special edition. he took tiger woods masters and bayonetta and he is not a golf fan. what i am simply trying to do is give you a chance to second guess this purchase, you will more than likely mentally beat yourself up if you do decide to buy after warnings not to. listening to many "reputable" reviewing mags/web is like asking a car dealer if the car is a good buy, look to non-profitable and non-biased reviews who do know a good game from one which should be deemed almost NOT PLAYABLE. how on earth can someone give this a ten? a 10 is perfect. this basically defines your reviewing state of mind and class. to like the game and give it what is deemed a good score is one thing, but to rate perfect is ridiculous, gamers go to such places to find out what other gamers think and avoid "reputable" reviewing site because if you notice, they are advertising for certain games, and some more than others. this was distributed by one of the best although the developers have a sub par history and the chrome engine is known for its faults. see between the lines. go with what you think makes sense and then play it before you buy it. thats all im saying, i give unbiased reviews based on what is in my console, and emotions and incentives do not come into play. i paid full price, pre-ordered and wanted to play this game more than talk about it. keep in mind that i did not review this game based on the fact of the trailer being nothing but a marketing ploy. many games have these movie like trailers which are in fact highly polished and to market a game to the best of a companies ability, so the trailer did not sway my opinion as a "not living up to it" vibe. in any event a trailers purpose is to also give you a feel of whats to come. and if you are thinking that the trailer is somewhere in this game, you will look forever and find a game which has no direction and a story which was admitted to "when we were close to launch we then needed to make you feel submerged into this paradise gone wrong and then it was difficult to make the story filled w/ emotion with a few weeks left with the production" now a few weeks left? they said they had took how long to design this game? not acceptable. copy and pasted such dialogue that a caveman could do.. no excuse for the bugs/glitches/dialogue. it is a game which needs to be reviewed based on content and gameplay and fun. please decide if this game is fun for your self. put all the glitches/bugs/bad dialogue aside and find the fun in this game. for those who say some are being too critical and that a game doesnt need to be perfect to be good, well i agree with the latter but as far as being harsh, well giving this game a 10 is harsh to the gaming world, i am not the company that promised one thing, gave another. im just exposing the fact. an opinion is just that. but after seeing a few opinions i have a new one.. go and rate this game on your own, but by all means, avoid paying retail by all means. bottom line is please rent this game or borrow it for a few hours and them decide if you still want it. never mind my thoughts or any ones for that matter because obviously there is a big swing in regards to opinions. its not a love or hate type game which this rating system may portray. its an extreme example one not being able to be non-biased because of the simple fact of investing full retail for a game hence "defensive" biased views. it is an insult to compare this game to borderlands or fallout. one common element with all 3, bugs and glitches, but the other 2 games were good enough to play through them. this is not. compare this to call of juarez + zombies- 60 bucks if you dont try it b4 you buy it. i didnt get that chance, but YOU DO… Expand
  4. Mattaclysm
    Sep 15, 2011
    4
    Out of how many problems this game has. I can't bring myself to give it a high score even though I feel if it didn't have any problems it probably could be a 7 or an 8. First off the game is incredibly fun playing with friends. It's like a much more interesting version of left 4 dead mixed with the RPG elements of borderlands. The constant bugs and glitches have obliterated this game toOut of how many problems this game has. I can't bring myself to give it a high score even though I feel if it didn't have any problems it probably could be a 7 or an 8. First off the game is incredibly fun playing with friends. It's like a much more interesting version of left 4 dead mixed with the RPG elements of borderlands. The constant bugs and glitches have obliterated this game to hell, but when it's working it's great. The story is terrible, you play through the game and it feels like everything is vaguely explained. You have no idea what the hell is going on most of the time. The voice acting is terrible. The game itself feels incredibly corny. Overall the gameplay is great, this game is meant to be played with friends and that is the saving grace.… Expand
  5. edtwozeronine
    Aug 21, 2012
    2
    Quantity over quality sums up this game pretty nicely. Lots of identikit side missions to prolong the game unnecessarily. One thing that really made me laugh was that in order to stop church bells ringing you had to kill a single thug zombie and press a button. WTF??? I mean what church bells in any authentic church could be stopped ringing by a button? The fact is they couldn't beQuantity over quality sums up this game pretty nicely. Lots of identikit side missions to prolong the game unnecessarily. One thing that really made me laugh was that in order to stop church bells ringing you had to kill a single thug zombie and press a button. WTF??? I mean what church bells in any authentic church could be stopped ringing by a button? The fact is they couldn't be bothered to animate a group of regular lower level zombies bouncing up and down on pull ropes. Which let's face it would have been a million times more fun to attack and see in the game.

    This is just one of many glaring omissions of thought process when designing a level mini boss section. If they just pushed themselves a little harder in the direction of quality this game could have been so much better. It could have also used some protagonists which the player could relate to in some way, however what we got was several unlikable characters with even more unlikable back stories which sounded like they were written by idiots for an American teenager audience. Is that audience even still there?.

    As an adult gamer of at least 25 years, it sickens me that this sort of crap still flies when it comes to one of my favourite forms of entertainment. When a game is done right it can be one of the most immersive engrossing experiences on the planet. This however seems like a very cheap cash in on the zombie game market. I can only suggest Resident Evil 4 as a much better executed alternative.    … Expand
  6. norris_
    Sep 16, 2011
    2
    The game is broken. To release a game with such fatal bugs with a full price tag is simply unacceptable. On the PS3, the game stops saving your progress around 10 min to 1 h of play. I've played over double the amount of time I should have, because I've had to repeat the same missions so many times. Well, enough is enough, and the game is on hold until a patch is released, and that's whatThe game is broken. To release a game with such fatal bugs with a full price tag is simply unacceptable. On the PS3, the game stops saving your progress around 10 min to 1 h of play. I've played over double the amount of time I should have, because I've had to repeat the same missions so many times. Well, enough is enough, and the game is on hold until a patch is released, and that's what I recommend everyone thinking about buying this game to do, if your targeting the PS3 platform.

    If only I could say that this single, but show stopping bug is the only issue the game has. However, it is the only problem you should be aware of right now. Unless you don't mind spending 60 bucks/euros in advance, cursing Techland/Deep Silver to hell, and supporting the "we use paying customers as beta testers" type of mentality that some publishers seem so fond of.

    The other reviews sum up quite well the other aspects of the game so I wont bother with them. It it worked I'd give it a 8/10. But as it is, 1/10 and +1 for the first and only time I enjoyed playing it, not knowing better.    … Expand
  7. glob23
    Sep 9, 2011
    2
    truth, the game looks good in theory, but the more you play, the more you realize that it lacks many things, the campaign is weak, the story is bad, often going back and forth, with no sense and is very monotheism at the end you get bored
  8. Alpha-Six
    Oct 1, 2011
    2
    Dead Island is basically broken. The game is full of bugs and glitches, and it has and endless number of boring and frustrating missions, which drive a nonsensical plot. I absolutely cannot stand the melee combat which makes up more than half of the campaign. Plus, the weapons are weak as kleenex and break one after the other. Anyone who has played Nazi Zombies or Left 4 Dead knows thatDead Island is basically broken. The game is full of bugs and glitches, and it has and endless number of boring and frustrating missions, which drive a nonsensical plot. I absolutely cannot stand the melee combat which makes up more than half of the campaign. Plus, the weapons are weak as kleenex and break one after the other. Anyone who has played Nazi Zombies or Left 4 Dead knows that smart people fight zombies with guns, not machetes and knives. Get it right Deep Silver.… Expand
  9. TangledInBlue
    Oct 31, 2011
    2
    I found the game very boring. Decent concept but poor delivered. I expected so much due to the truly wonderful trailer that was released some time ago - the game itself didn't follow on from that. I was disappointed from the opening sequence and it didn't improve much from then on.
  10. racinglightning
    Nov 7, 2011
    3
    I was going to write a proper review, to explain my thoughts and experience of the game. But quite honestly it's not worth it, the game can easily be summed up like this. What a Buggy, Ugly,Recycled,Boring Pile of Rubbish. It's Unoriginal,Uninspired,why they wasted their time at all is beyond me.Even the cut scenes are buggy! Not to Mention they don't make any sense whatsoever when yourI was going to write a proper review, to explain my thoughts and experience of the game. But quite honestly it's not worth it, the game can easily be summed up like this. What a Buggy, Ugly,Recycled,Boring Pile of Rubbish. It's Unoriginal,Uninspired,why they wasted their time at all is beyond me.Even the cut scenes are buggy! Not to Mention they don't make any sense whatsoever when your playing single player. Honestly if your here because you haven't bought the game yet and are considering it, just don't do it, it IS that bad.… Expand
  11. RAR3
    Oct 12, 2011
    4
    This is one of those games that you only continue to play because you paid 70 dollars for it. Unfortunately, the fact that I wasted 70 dollars on this game was not motivating enough for me to even finish it. I got about half way through the game and was tired of being mobbed by zombies and dying because the weapons you have aren't suited for taking out 5 zombies let alone 20. Having toThis is one of those games that you only continue to play because you paid 70 dollars for it. Unfortunately, the fact that I wasted 70 dollars on this game was not motivating enough for me to even finish it. I got about half way through the game and was tired of being mobbed by zombies and dying because the weapons you have aren't suited for taking out 5 zombies let alone 20. Having to repair, upgrade, and trade weapons constantly will leave you frustrated and annoyed. The only thing good about this game is the opening cut scene. WHO DO YOU VOODOO, B****!… Expand
  12. Agilio333
    Oct 22, 2011
    0
    The PS3 version is severly bugged. I have no idea why they would release such a flawwed product. Did they run out of funding and rush to just ship whatever they had at the last minute? The game fails to save at certain points AND the save isn't atomic: some of the data is saved and some isn't. This corrupts the game save completely preventing the quests from being progressed (since theThe PS3 version is severly bugged. I have no idea why they would release such a flawwed product. Did they run out of funding and rush to just ship whatever they had at the last minute? The game fails to save at certain points AND the save isn't atomic: some of the data is saved and some isn't. This corrupts the game save completely preventing the quests from being progressed (since the objects are now missing yet the quest completion wasn't saved). GLADLY I only rented this game for 1 night before ever losing any money it. What has happened with the game industry? This kind of bug/flaws used to be unacceptable, now it is just common place.… Expand
  13. TestingGoon
    Nov 8, 2011
    4
    This game had so much potential but ultimately failed to deliver for me. It's taken aspects of other zombie games and tried to mash them all together, the only problem is that they feel like weaker versions, the multiplayer is taken from Left 4 Dead, but it's not as good, the weapon creation is straight from Dead Rising 2, but it's not as good. I can kind of forgive some of the minorThis game had so much potential but ultimately failed to deliver for me. It's taken aspects of other zombie games and tried to mash them all together, the only problem is that they feel like weaker versions, the multiplayer is taken from Left 4 Dead, but it's not as good, the weapon creation is straight from Dead Rising 2, but it's not as good. I can kind of forgive some of the minor technical failings of the game, after all a game of this size is never going to be bug free, but there is something about it that doesn't add up. I quite liked the resort setting but it lost me after that, the town was completely uninspiring. Also talk about repetition, wow this game has it in abundance! Shame really the trailer looked really promising.… Expand
  14. Funkyfresh1017
    Mar 10, 2012
    4
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Dead Island is 2011's most dissapointing game (IMO). Where's the fun?? I played for a week and sold it to a friend....its just terrible. weapons break too quickly, zombies are all the terminator and wont die, and the characters are unispiring and you'll have no connection to them. Glitches are common and the "DLC" isn't worth your money. If you like this game good for you, but i dont see how you could! This game doesnt do much to keep the zombie love in our culture alive very well. I do like the drop in co-op, until you find yourself horrible underleveled. For your sake, just rent this game at the most.… Expand
  15. aadms
    Sep 27, 2011
    3
    Fighting Zombies is suppose to be fun. This game is not. The lackluster combat, the clunkyness of your movements and the too narrow FPS frame made this a frustrating game. The graphics and animation of this game are sub-par combared to the technology that is out there today. The RPG element they added is tedious as in collecting-bottlecaps-Fallout tedious. A genre game like this needs toFighting Zombies is suppose to be fun. This game is not. The lackluster combat, the clunkyness of your movements and the too narrow FPS frame made this a frustrating game. The graphics and animation of this game are sub-par combared to the technology that is out there today. The RPG element they added is tedious as in collecting-bottlecaps-Fallout tedious. A genre game like this needs to pick up the pace in gameplay and storyline. The save system is the only frightening thing in this game.… Expand
  16. karmasleeper
    Mar 16, 2012
    3
    What could have been a true zombie survival game requiring scavenging food, water, weapons, and ammo turned out to be Borderlands with clubs. The combat is well done and incredibly gory but wears thin fast. The sidequests are tedious fetch missions which have constantly traveling between point A to B locating items or collecting some other **** The crafting system is neat but it takesWhat could have been a true zombie survival game requiring scavenging food, water, weapons, and ammo turned out to be Borderlands with clubs. The combat is well done and incredibly gory but wears thin fast. The sidequests are tedious fetch missions which have constantly traveling between point A to B locating items or collecting some other **** The crafting system is neat but it takes entirely too long to find the items you need in the gameworld and trading with NPC merchants isn't an option since they never carry what you need. It's also interesting how important cash is when everyone is scrambling for their life. Who needs money when they're trying to outlast the zombie horde? Food and water anybody? The framerate on the PS3 version is iffy, especially when you get to the city portion of the game. The light RPG elements of the game involve character skills. Many are passive bonuses since your character only has one active skill (like Borderlands). Weapons are surprisingly fragile and necessitate repairs at magic workbenches that costs - you guessed it - money! Why not scavenge for raw materials or break down existing items into base components to repair weapons instead of throwing money at what is essentially a vending machine? So many missed opportunities in this game it is not even funny. Even as a co-op game, it falls short. The classes have different active skills, but because the enemy types are so few and far between, none of this matters. There's no sense of interdependency between the characters. Skills do not feel like the complement one another. There is no challenge here whatsoever, no reason to keep trudging through, and no reason to care about any of the people you meet. Avoid this game.… Expand
  17. Krack900
    Sep 10, 2011
    1
    Game play is mediocre at best way more could have been done with it but they put as little as possible, Large sandbox to explore kept me going even though It felt like a cheap mmo doing boring quests collecting crap half the time. As the game progress guns come into play and wow head shots make them go by QUICK and its so easy. Story I don't know what to say about it its not there and IGame play is mediocre at best way more could have been done with it but they put as little as possible, Large sandbox to explore kept me going even though It felt like a cheap mmo doing boring quests collecting crap half the time. As the game progress guns come into play and wow head shots make them go by QUICK and its so easy. Story I don't know what to say about it its not there and I find myself jabbing the O button skipping through the cheesy crying from everyone. I would've given the game a higher score buuut the douche bags who made this game let a MAJOR bug kill this game for me basically not saving so basically i lost a lot of hours twice getting to act 3 both times only to be stuck in act 1. With that bug Ill be taking the game back and putting it towards Skyrim.… Expand
  18. Skiller
    Oct 3, 2011
    0
    Stay away from this game! Stay far away from it! It's awfully buggy, the animations are really bad. It's just a clone-gone-wrong of Left 4 Dead from Valve. Stay away from it!
  19. Soulshock
    Dec 23, 2011
    2
    After seeing the trailer I thought Wow, this is gonna be really good. But the trailer has nothing to do with the game. It's a completely different feeling, the game feels like comedy, literally. I gave up 20mins in. No thanks.
  20. MikefromAngus
    Sep 26, 2011
    0
    1. his is probably the most misleading trailers ever made! it has nothing to do with the game! But, I got beyond that and started playing the game. Once I got into Act 2 the game started getting intresting, the graphics in the city were very well done, and from this moment I really started to enjoy the game. Until I got to ACT 3 where you have to help a tribes man who you have to escort.1. his is probably the most misleading trailers ever made! it has nothing to do with the game! But, I got beyond that and started playing the game. Once I got into Act 2 the game started getting intresting, the graphics in the city were very well done, and from this moment I really started to enjoy the game. Until I got to ACT 3 where you have to help a tribes man who you have to escort. When alot of zombies are attacking. Problem is when he dies, you fail the mission and a saved game is in the exact point just a few seconds before the attack! You get sent back to that place and worse thing is all your weapons have disappeared! This is an UNPASSABLE point in the game! ALot of people said, that game has alot of bugs and its true I experienced it as well.. First time ever on a PS3 game! The game feels like it was RUSHED and is broken!… Expand
  21. TheXenosReview
    Apr 7, 2012
    4
    Nothing is a as haunting as sleeping at night knowing you shelled out $60 for a game that has as much crap as a manure factory. I loved the very idea of a Borderlands type action-rpg leveling system zombie horror survival game with a main emphasis on melee style combat, in fact just hearing the very idea the first was like sex to the ears. But just like sex it can end up in a bigNothing is a as haunting as sleeping at night knowing you shelled out $60 for a game that has as much crap as a manure factory. I loved the very idea of a Borderlands type action-rpg leveling system zombie horror survival game with a main emphasis on melee style combat, in fact just hearing the very idea the first was like sex to the ears. But just like sex it can end up in a big disappointing night. When I bought the game I traditionally started off by playing single-player going through picking up the gist on to come to points where the difficult level had swerved off into throw-controllers-at pet-cats-while-being-sodomized-by-Satan-difficultly or T.C.A.P.C.W.B.S.B.S.D. for short. I thought "Oh I bet this I where have teammates would help", wrong! Online is actually alright with friends until the end up being Jew-hogs(Jew-hog[s] Adjective: Being the person to horde all the good resources/weapons/loot in an online game) leaving the whole session into a bunch of whining babies. And the worst is online when it ends up being a competition on who can screw over the entire group by running a head leaving the rest to fight T.C.A.P.C.W.B.S.B.S.D. level enemies. Not to mention the fact its a melee weapon game means that we shouldn't have to be putting up with weapon conditions. I mean really when I'm having to defend myself with a crappy broom handle with tetanus ridden nails against a pack of anus hungry zombies i should only have to focus on not dying, not what even **** broom handle am I going to have to defend my self with when this one falls apart in my hands. Over all Deep Silver taught us awesome games trailers don't always necessarily mean awesome game.… Expand
  22. Cartteros
    Jun 10, 2012
    4
    Dead Island is a bad and disappointing game.
    When I first saw the game trailer, I was very excited (as everybody who saw it). I played it very time after the release, and I tried not to watch videos or get spoilers about the game as a whole. At the point I was about to play the game, I was very hyped and ancious. When I put the game in, I faced a bad menu and interface. So far, not so bad.    Dead Island is a bad and disappointing game.
    When I first saw the game trailer, I was very excited (as everybody who saw it). I played it very time after the release, and I tried not to watch videos or get spoilers about the game as a whole. At the point I was about to play the game, I was very hyped and ancious. When I put the game in, I faced a bad menu and interface. So far, not so bad. The game begins. Beautiful graphics blew me out of the water. But, as the story was going, some huge let down appeared, such as bad voice acting and repetitive gameplay. It was such a bad experience to me that I didn't even finished the game. I quit playing it relatively close to the beginning and I had no motivation to go on.
    Dead Island is not a good game. The heavenly island may be fun to explore and it's kind of fun smashing zombies heads and limbs, but it's just not enough.    … Expand
  23. Nathan-DTS
    May 9, 2012
    0
    Incredibly bad game; Poor driving, poor combat and poor quests. It's basically a **** version of Borderlands. Don't buy! It has no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
  24. nico249
    Jul 18, 2012
    4
    One of the worst features of this game is that if you die you immediately respawn without any penalty. You don't have to restart your current quest or reload from a save point. No matter how worse you play, you go on. Is like god mode in older fps. It's disappointing and lowers the interest in the game quickly. To worsen things the characters and the plot are annoying.
    I don't give a zero    One of the worst features of this game is that if you die you immediately respawn without any penalty. You don't have to restart your current quest or reload from a save point. No matter how worse you play, you go on. Is like god mode in older fps. It's disappointing and lowers the interest in the game quickly. To worsen things the characters and the plot are annoying.
    I don't give a zero only because the first act is quite playable, but the rest of the game is pointless.    … Expand
  25. Guywithnoname
    Jun 27, 2012
    4
    This game is a near perfect example of poor execution. The story (if it can be called that) is paper thin, the characters are 1-dimensional, and the voice acting is terrible. The graphics are nice, despite some of the worst pop-ins I've ever seen. Gameplay is mediocre, and probably should have just been 3rd person is the weapons are going to be mostly melee. The only redeeming factor isThis game is a near perfect example of poor execution. The story (if it can be called that) is paper thin, the characters are 1-dimensional, and the voice acting is terrible. The graphics are nice, despite some of the worst pop-ins I've ever seen. Gameplay is mediocre, and probably should have just been 3rd person is the weapons are going to be mostly melee. The only redeeming factor is the satisfaction of killing zombies, but you can get that same enjoyment out of much better games.… Expand
  26. Chilun
    Jul 26, 2012
    3
    This game had so much potential but very poorly made. The interesting part of the game was the perks, skill points, and story-line. However the cons of this game just overrides the pros by a lot - 1) Pointless in using Rare+ because you'll have to repair it after a couple hits 2) Cant use your money because you'll have to spend most of your money in repairing your Rare+ weapons, its hardThis game had so much potential but very poorly made. The interesting part of the game was the perks, skill points, and story-line. However the cons of this game just overrides the pros by a lot - 1) Pointless in using Rare+ because you'll have to repair it after a couple hits 2) Cant use your money because you'll have to spend most of your money in repairing your Rare+ weapons, its hard to just let it be destroyed especially when you spend so much money in upgrading them. 3) Repetitive gameplay "kill zombies, repair, kill some more, and repair" There's just so much flaws in this game that I havent yet mentioned; Overall this game is not worth buying it nor renting.… Expand
  27. coldtour
    Nov 20, 2012
    1
    Glitchy as **** And it's a shame because there's so much potential-- the voice acting is great, rendering is great, mechanics seem great, but for me at least, when playing it on my ps3 that doesn't have problems usually with games, it kept on lagging on me. And I wasn't even playing online. What **** game lags like that? Was the rendering too intense for the system? It didn't seem that wayGlitchy as **** And it's a shame because there's so much potential-- the voice acting is great, rendering is great, mechanics seem great, but for me at least, when playing it on my ps3 that doesn't have problems usually with games, it kept on lagging on me. And I wasn't even playing online. What **** game lags like that? Was the rendering too intense for the system? It didn't seem that way to me because I played Uncharted 2 and 3 on the same console and there wasn't a glitch the whole time, and both of those games have more intensive graphics and lighting than dead island. But if there was a rendering issue then why the **** wouldn't the developers address this? Who **** cares how beautiful a game is when it seems like the frame rate can't catch up to itself? Huh? If the system can't handle it, dull it down a little until things run smoothly and guess what no one cares if it doesn't look like real life. Know why? Because it already doesn't. Aside from that, there wasn't much about this game that really added to the zombie genre that other games haven't done already.… Expand
  28. roblan1968
    Apr 11, 2013
    3
    I just gave this game (on PS3) a rating of 7 just a couple of weeks ago but now I take it back and just give it now a score of 3. I have been playing this on solo (never on coop becoz i don't have a net connection) for countless days and nights and now the game says my SAVED GAME DATA appears to have been corrupted when I tried to continue my game. All of my efforts on trying to get theI just gave this game (on PS3) a rating of 7 just a couple of weeks ago but now I take it back and just give it now a score of 3. I have been playing this on solo (never on coop becoz i don't have a net connection) for countless days and nights and now the game says my SAVED GAME DATA appears to have been corrupted when I tried to continue my game. All of my efforts on trying to get the rare weapons and MODs are now all gone. My character LOGAN was already on Level 42 when it happened. I'll never play this game again and will just trade the game disc to others.… Expand
  29. Machinencio
    Nov 15, 2014
    4
    Good game plot. That´s all, this game is too repetitive, you do the same all time, kill, jump, run, kill, repeat.
    Its a waste of money. Better play RE6..
  30. SWFan523
    Jun 21, 2020
    3
    Disappointing. Wasted potential in every sense of the phrase. Nothing story with bland gameplay. Not. worth it.
  31. JesseDillinger
    Feb 1, 2023
    4
    I remember being a kid in Gamestop seeing the trailer for this on their TV. It looked so cool I wanted it so badly. Then the day came when I got this and it was so **** boring and lame. I hated the gameplay in this. It was so damn jank. And believe me, I have tried this game multiple times as an adult. I just can't stand it. It's so damn boring. How do you make zombies boring? All you doI remember being a kid in Gamestop seeing the trailer for this on their TV. It looked so cool I wanted it so badly. Then the day came when I got this and it was so **** boring and lame. I hated the gameplay in this. It was so damn jank. And believe me, I have tried this game multiple times as an adult. I just can't stand it. It's so damn boring. How do you make zombies boring? All you do is press R2 and swing a weapon. I think every weapon has the same basic animation. It's been a while. But yeah, I don't like this game or think it's very good.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

17
#17 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2011
28
#28 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 41 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 20 out of 41
  3. Negative: 2 out of 41
  1. Console Monster
    May 21, 2012
    88
    Dead Island may lack that top level of polish, and even have its own awkward moments, but it's a game worth playing, and easily worth your money. The gameplay is deep, the visuals can be breathtaking (at times), and every bit of it is fun. This game earns itself a spot in the ranks of the best zombie games and RPGs around. There's still plenty of fun to be had with zombie games.
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  2. Play UK
    Nov 27, 2011
    79
    While the trailer might have been a case of style over substance, the final game is the polar opposite. [Issue#210, p.84]
  3. Extreme Gamer
    Nov 17, 2011
    86
    Techland doesn't disappoint here by hitting most of the points necessary to make a good RPG and adding in some new ideas.
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