User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 464 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 86 out of 464
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  1. Jun 26, 2023
    6
    The Elder Scrolls meets Resident Evil in this sandbox RPG set during a zombie apocalypse on a tropical island. It's a well engineered game with plenty to do, but like a lot of games of this type there's little more to it than blowing away zombies and looting the environment for useful items. The narrative thread running through it isn't really strong enough and the copious number of sideThe Elder Scrolls meets Resident Evil in this sandbox RPG set during a zombie apocalypse on a tropical island. It's a well engineered game with plenty to do, but like a lot of games of this type there's little more to it than blowing away zombies and looting the environment for useful items. The narrative thread running through it isn't really strong enough and the copious number of side missions can often fall by the wayside by sheer weight of numbers. It also has the deeply irritating "respawn when you die" formula which means that when you meet a particularly tough enemy or get low on ammo you just have to keep getting killed, trudge your way back from the respawn point and get killed again over and over, until you beat them through sheer attrition which can get pretty tedious. Expand
  2. May 18, 2023
    7
    A clasic zombie game with a decent history and a pretty good combat system with 4 protagonist have different abilities.
  3. Jan 28, 2023
    6
    Dead Island is a open world survival horror action role-playing video game developed by Techland and published by Deep Silver.

    + Online Coop
    + Addictive
    - Respawning Zombies is NOT FUN!!!
    - Cutscenes and Poor Animation
    - Bugs (Textures, Edges)
    - Bad Story and Characters
    - Boring Sides Quest
  4. Jun 27, 2022
    7
    There's a great game here that doesn't deserve to be bogged down by the many glitches it has.
  5. Feb 24, 2022
    7
    This game honestly is a 5 or 6 at best but I had soooooooo much fun and spent so much time with it. I loved the hacked weapons I received from a random online and that probably massively improved my experience but idc it's a 7.
  6. Dec 14, 2021
    5
    É basicamente uma demo do Dying light bem piorzinho,a dificuldade na primeira ilha é boa,já na cidade é ruim já que tem muitos zumbis em que certas situações chega a ser ridiculo,a floresta é bom,a prisão é ruim por ser muito facil já que estamos no ending game e temos armas muito fortes,é um jogo feito para coop já que sem amigo a xian e o logan ficam quase injogaveis.
  7. Jun 22, 2020
    5
    There is not much to say. Tons of technical problems, glitches, and bad AI.
    I still played it for a long time because this is one of those 'so bad, it's good' cooperative games. There is a little bit of fun to have in this but there are far superior options in this saturated genre.

    I recommend Dying Light instead of this. It's a much more polished and fun experience.
  8. Nov 25, 2019
    5
    This game is fun... when you can play it. I never really had a problem playing as a solo player, but that all falls apart when you try to play online with a friend. I've heard some say it's the network & others say it's the frame rates of the game. Whatever the reason, you'll probably spend half of the time you play online with friends cursing as you either have to reset your PS3 (after itThis game is fun... when you can play it. I never really had a problem playing as a solo player, but that all falls apart when you try to play online with a friend. I've heard some say it's the network & others say it's the frame rates of the game. Whatever the reason, you'll probably spend half of the time you play online with friends cursing as you either have to reset your PS3 (after it freezes) or reconnecting. And before you start thinking it's either my network or something else... Expand
  9. Jul 24, 2018
    6
    I have to say that I really like the level design of this game, the atmosphere and its Rpg system. But I feel that it was a waste of potential. It can get boring quickly.
    It is enjoyable, but only to play it once.
  10. May 16, 2018
    7
    + Large areas to explore.
    + Weapon customisation is a lot of fun.
    + Driving is very good, the vehicles handle near perfectly. + Combat is simple but works well. - The story isn't very good - Animation and voice acting isn't great. - Game needed much more polish. - Game can suddenly drop frame rate for a second. - You don't feel like your getting more powerful after you level up,
    + Large areas to explore.
    + Weapon customisation is a lot of fun.
    + Driving is very good, the vehicles handle near perfectly.
    + Combat is simple but works well.
    - The story isn't very good
    - Animation and voice acting isn't great.
    - Game needed much more polish.
    - Game can suddenly drop frame rate for a second.
    - You don't feel like your getting more powerful after you level up, which is important for an RPG.
    Expand
  11. Jan 12, 2017
    5
    Hours and more hours and hours of monotony and repetitive gameplay. You better play it online or you will get tired of this game pretty soon. Hell, even online is boring and repetitive... Poor gameplay, the only "fun" thing is weapon customization, but for that you got Dead Rising 2...
  12. Oct 22, 2016
    6
    Dead Island is a open world survival horror action role-playing video game developed by Techland and published by Deep Silver.

    + Online Coop
    + Addictive
    - Cutscenes and Poor Animation
    - Bugs (Textures, Edges)
    - Bad Story and Characters
  13. Feb 3, 2016
    6
    Now I didn't do research when I try to play this. I just sold my 360 for a PS3 and one exclusive game I started to miss was Left 4 Dead. Dead Island I thought will be a copycat and good game, so my first play through was a turn off. Years later I pick up a Game of the Year I was still turned off. Lately after skipping Dying Light I went back to it with help from my girlfriend, and finallyNow I didn't do research when I try to play this. I just sold my 360 for a PS3 and one exclusive game I started to miss was Left 4 Dead. Dead Island I thought will be a copycat and good game, so my first play through was a turn off. Years later I pick up a Game of the Year I was still turned off. Lately after skipping Dying Light I went back to it with help from my girlfriend, and finally played from start to finish of Dead Island. The characters are boring, but at the same time went to play to the next cut scene to see how cheesy it can be like any other zombie games. Gameplay is average with nothing but melee such as Condemned. Guns come along later but feel just as off like Condemned. The sound effects and music is the juicy meat of the game, but at the end of the day it's another zombie game. So only those who are tired tired to the zombies villain will actually like this game. I didn't mind finishing the game, but I strongly recommend playing with a friend other than alone. Making your own story with someone else is way better to gain a good time from Dead Island. Expand
  14. Dec 25, 2015
    7
    This Game is a buggy Mess with repetitive Combat and a boring and disappointing Story. It does include Zombies, that you can kill in a lot of gruesome Ways. And we all love that, don't we?
  15. Oct 16, 2014
    6
    If there's one thing a zombie game should do is get the zombie slaying to be fun, and Dead Island gets that part right. Say what you will about first-person melee combat, but I found this game's take to be pretty satisfying. Blows have to be dealt with timely precision and depending on what kind of weapon you're using, you can maim or cripple zombies. Swinging your weapon consumes staminaIf there's one thing a zombie game should do is get the zombie slaying to be fun, and Dead Island gets that part right. Say what you will about first-person melee combat, but I found this game's take to be pretty satisfying. Blows have to be dealt with timely precision and depending on what kind of weapon you're using, you can maim or cripple zombies. Swinging your weapon consumes stamina (as does running), so combat requires a certain level of discipline ala Demon's Souls: it's all about timing attacks and dodges, all the while keeping an eye out for crowd control. A situation can go FUBAR any minute.

    Unfortunately the game itself goes FUBAR on just about every other conceivable level, and not in a fun way. I don't recall playing a game this glitchy in years. You may load your game and find certain weapons missing from your inventory. Sometimes you'll upgrade your weapon, then mod it with a special blueprint, and upon exiting the workbench the item will have completely vanished (along with your money). And beware of ranged attacks: if you die before picking the weapon you threw, it's gone forever. This is frustrating since the game puts so much emphasis on DIY crafting and weapons' specializing. It's also particularly frustrating if you're playing as Logan, he of the throwable weapon class.

    A weapon suddenly going MIA due to a glitch, or simply poor design, dents the game in ways that are never really amended - as does the poor AI. Sometimes enemies won't react near you. Sometimes they'll pick your scent from miles away. A gunshot may or may not alert zombies of your presence. It's all rather inconsistent. And the friendly AI is no better, what with a couple of egregious escort missions stringed along the way. Good luck getting an NPC into a car with you. And good luck steering that awful thing too. None of this is game-breaking but it hampers the experience considerably.

    I mentioned a gunshot. Act II of IV throws guns into the game, but don't get too excited about it. I've shot something like 5 bullets into a zombie's head and still it wouldn't die (undie?). Guns are ridiculously weak against the undead, and are best used against other human beings, or the abominable Infected (a "28 Days Later" type of zombie). Speaking of which, zombie types are done pretty well - from the mundane Walkers and Infected, to the Left 4 Dead kind of super-zombies like Suiciders, Rams and Butchers.

    About the characters - you get 4 classes, mostly held apart by their unique special attack ("Fury") and a few abilities down their skill trees. It's a pretty standard-issue RPG mechanic, lifted straight off Borderlands. Sadly there's no couch co-op like Borderlands, though online multiplayer is a lot of fun (if, ugh, a little glitchy, going by that one quest giver who simply refused to reward my efforts until I reloaded the game). Quests tend to be of the fetch kind, though the missions that bookend every act are generally pretty intense.

    So that's Dead Island for you. I like falling back on it every now and then, it's fun to chop up zombies and explore the island (or at least Act I's sparkling luxury resort). But man is this game infuriatingly buggy.
    Expand
  16. Oct 16, 2014
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. this is a review for dead island. it is a video game where things happen and some things that do not happen. it was okay. i would say that it was a video game. Expand
  17. Oct 11, 2014
    7
    Dead Island

    Game-play:The game play is fine but it have room for some improvements in range combat.The melee combat is just amazing and the leveling system is very good like all the RPG elements in the game. Story:The story is just boring with no interesting characters and an ending that suck , but have also so fun moments so you will not drop the game.it will take you around 24 to
    Dead Island

    Game-play:The game play is fine but it have room for some improvements in range combat.The melee combat is just amazing and the leveling system is very good like all the RPG elements in the game.

    Story:The story is just boring with no interesting characters and an ending that suck , but have also so fun moments so you will not drop the game.it will take you around 24 to 26 hours

    Graphics:The graphics are ok and the open world details are well made.

    Notes:If you are a zombie fun this is a must buy for you but everyone should give a try of this game because it is a good game.
    Expand
  18. Jun 30, 2014
    7
    Just finished this great FPS RPG game. Some people were enjoying the island of Banoi when a zombie outbreak starts, infecting almost the entire island. The 4 survivors who is immune to the virus is trying to find their way out of the island while being guided by the voice on the radio.

    Plus point: - Superb atmosphere. The sound effect, the environment, the zombies, it's enough to make
    Just finished this great FPS RPG game. Some people were enjoying the island of Banoi when a zombie outbreak starts, infecting almost the entire island. The 4 survivors who is immune to the virus is trying to find their way out of the island while being guided by the voice on the radio.

    Plus point:
    - Superb atmosphere. The sound effect, the environment, the zombies, it's enough to make my spine chill. I mean you can heard the growling of zombies or someone's screaming or crying. This is totally a horror game. And when you are playing it in FPS, you won't know what's coming from around you, and that's thrilling.
    - Great battle and weapon system. You can modify your weapon with items u found along your journey. You can make an Electric Machette, Fire Mace or whatever to kill zombies. You can cut their limbs, break their body, or you can just stomp on their head with 40K damage.

    Minus point:
    - Weak story and sidequests in a sidequest? Not too good, eh? The story is basically simple. Trying to get out of the island and stuffs like that. Just too normal. And too many sidequests. I mean we are doing sidequest to get a sidequest in it? Well..that's weird.
    - Enemy level is the same with our level, so i guess all of the zombies will level up together with you which makes them stronger if you are stronger. It's just like Final Fantasy VIII all over again.
    - Glitches everywhere. Glitches in the sidequests, which makes a sidequest uncompletable.

    But in the end, i do enjoy this game. It really feels like surviving, but still some environment glitches bugs me a little. A 7/10 for this game. Might be better if you play it on PC though
    Expand
  19. Jun 20, 2014
    7
    Very great atmosphere offline and online,awesome missions and good characters that's Dead island.The bad points are the zombies they are all doing the same things and the worst one are the big one.
  20. Jun 6, 2014
    7
    This game was fun the story was good and was capable of grabbing your attention. There were major problems, the loading had terrible lagging when you finished loading to get into a new area the game would always freeze.
  21. May 1, 2014
    6
    was this game good? yes. but it was also very disappointing. the trailer for this game had people expecting game of the year material, but the end result turned out to be somewhat mediocre. the RPG elements are far to simple and the missions are uninteresting. combat is really fun and has great graphics and blood effects and what not, but the guns in the game feel cluncky. the Island iswas this game good? yes. but it was also very disappointing. the trailer for this game had people expecting game of the year material, but the end result turned out to be somewhat mediocre. the RPG elements are far to simple and the missions are uninteresting. combat is really fun and has great graphics and blood effects and what not, but the guns in the game feel cluncky. the Island is beautiful, but there is nothing about the map that really stands out, but its a better open world then some games I've seen like prototype. there is not much to the story, but its a zombie game so the story isn't as much as a concern. overall, a game that was suppose to be awesome and revolutionary, came off ok, and just redressed things that we have already seen before. Expand
  22. Mar 22, 2014
    7
    Story: 7.5 out of 10 Graphics: 7.5 out of 10 Gameplay: 8 out of 10 Fun: 8.5 out of 10 Controls: 9 out of 10 Ease to Learn: 8 out of 10
    Length: 8.5 out of 10
    Re-play: 8.5 out of 10
    Audio: 8 out of 10
    Bugs/Glitches: Quite a few
  23. Mar 1, 2014
    7
    Overall this is a pretty good game, it is fun and there is a lot to do, but I did have some problems with it. First off even if you choose to play as one of the two female characters the other characters in the game refer to you as if you are a male. There are a lot of quests to do and while it makes for a good amount of game-play I feel like sometimes you almost seem bogged down withOverall this is a pretty good game, it is fun and there is a lot to do, but I did have some problems with it. First off even if you choose to play as one of the two female characters the other characters in the game refer to you as if you are a male. There are a lot of quests to do and while it makes for a good amount of game-play I feel like sometimes you almost seem bogged down with how much you have to do a one time. And last but no least the most annoying thing I found in the game was that if you find an item, or if someone drops an item for you after a quest and you are not high enough level to use that item you won't even be able to pick it up, which to me was ridiculous. All in all it is always fun to kill zombies and there is still more good than bad. Expand
  24. Dec 17, 2013
    5
    The game looks bad. The gameplay is very very repetitive. The world isn't very big.
    The co-op online isn't bad though and the skill tree works well too, although it's still too limited.
  25. Sep 28, 2013
    7
    Dead Island es un juego first person en donde eres interceptado en una isla repleta de zombies y debes sobrevivir consiguiendo armas y rescatando supervivientes. Eso es todo lo que hay que decir de "Dead Island", por otro lado la violencia extremadamente sangrienta del juego es medianamente satisfactoria y mientras avanza la historia más te vas amigando del juego, la jugabilidad es media,Dead Island es un juego first person en donde eres interceptado en una isla repleta de zombies y debes sobrevivir consiguiendo armas y rescatando supervivientes. Eso es todo lo que hay que decir de "Dead Island", por otro lado la violencia extremadamente sangrienta del juego es medianamente satisfactoria y mientras avanza la historia más te vas amigando del juego, la jugabilidad es media, pero un punto sumamente criticable es la pelea final que es completamente imposible y el final no es la gran cosa. Expand
  26. Aug 23, 2013
    5
    I'll give you this, the atmosphere was well done, the graphics were great. But that's all I can say was good. The gameplay was tedious and repetitive, it glitches and had bugs all over the damn thing. The facial expressions were so bland and ineffective. The mission structures were just half-assed at best. Maybe if I played it stoned, it'd be great.
  27. Jul 3, 2013
    5
    Dead Island is a pile of wasted potential. The games lack of a decent narrative is forgivable, even after the brilliant trailer that was looking to promise a brilliant story in the game, but it's still a minor annoyance. My first few hours with the game were fine, but then I realised that the game was only going to consist of scavenging quests and other things of the like, and it gotDead Island is a pile of wasted potential. The games lack of a decent narrative is forgivable, even after the brilliant trailer that was looking to promise a brilliant story in the game, but it's still a minor annoyance. My first few hours with the game were fine, but then I realised that the game was only going to consist of scavenging quests and other things of the like, and it got really damn tedious, and the lack of variety in the gameplay is disappointing, but it can be satisfying at times. The game looks a bit lackluster, textures up close can be really bad, but water effects and zombies look great, which I would expect from a game of this type. Environments can look nice from a distance though. Another thing that's disappointing about the game is its lack of dread and terror throughout, it's just not scary at all. Boss Battles are also very frustrating and completely lackluster. By the final hours of Dead Island it felt like a chore to get through. Dead Island misses the mark completely and is certainly not a game I would recommend. Expand
  28. May 29, 2013
    5
    Iv'e played several zombie games in the past and this one is the weakest. The 4-player online co-op is fun, but it just feels like a L4D knock off, a bad one. The zombies A.I. is slow, stupid and almost seem to cheat a lot, the game's buggy as h**l, and the upgrade system is completely pointless 'cause your weapons are going to break all the time anyway. So, I'd recommend L4D and otherIv'e played several zombie games in the past and this one is the weakest. The 4-player online co-op is fun, but it just feels like a L4D knock off, a bad one. The zombies A.I. is slow, stupid and almost seem to cheat a lot, the game's buggy as h**l, and the upgrade system is completely pointless 'cause your weapons are going to break all the time anyway. So, I'd recommend L4D and other zombie games over this. Expand
  29. Apr 25, 2013
    6
    Combat is fun, but repetitive, lots of side missions. Nice detailed environments, but very bland characters and barely existent story. Way too many bugs that should have been fixed. Examples include getting stuck on thin air, health items like food not replenishing health, etc. Not recommended for a full price purchase.
  30. Feb 9, 2013
    7
    I haven't finished the game but i think i can judge it for the amount ive played. Okay the game is fun and its visually quite nice but after awhile for the length that it is it can get pretty repetitive and i don't wanna feel this way when playing an rpg and probably one of my gripes with this game is that the characters are completely one dimensional none of the characters i could chooseI haven't finished the game but i think i can judge it for the amount ive played. Okay the game is fun and its visually quite nice but after awhile for the length that it is it can get pretty repetitive and i don't wanna feel this way when playing an rpg and probably one of my gripes with this game is that the characters are completely one dimensional none of the characters i could choose from seemed interesting at all. Expand
Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 41 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 41
  2. Negative: 2 out of 41
  1. 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.
  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. 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.