As it turns out Dead Island is not at all what I expected. It’s an open world action-RPG where I had anticipated a first-person action game a la Left 4 Dead 2. That’s not a bad thing by any means; it features a quest-based, sandbox-like feel similar to Fallout 3 but at the same time it remains action-packed due to the density of the game world.
Atop this initial surprise comes the shockingly visceral gameplay. Encounters with the infected are uncomfortably, nail-bitingly intimate. You are thrust into your first battle armed only with a broken oar. Throughout the game you’ll discover that melee combat with sticks, pipes, knives, and clubs is the most effective and, often, the only plausible method of engaging the enemy. The game requires you to get up close and personal. Guns don’t become available until the second act, and even then they simply cannot dish out enough damage to become very useful.
Played solo, the game is rather challenging. There isn’t much you can do in terms of crowd control, so you must play strategically in certain areas to avoid being overwhelmed. The game is a co-op home run with my gaming group. It’s less nerve-wracking when you know someone’s got your back. I highly encourage playing with a group of friends in the room; it’s a blast.
I enjoy both aspects of Dead Island. The coop play is a blast with our group, but the single player mode is, in its own way, nearly as tense as a horror game like Bioshock or Doom 3. Playing it out on the couch in single player, I'll often find myself crying out as I get mobbed by a Zed that I failed to see -- much to the amusement of my housemate.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, it seems like the game is not very balanced. Since we killed the final boss in a single hit, I was left wanting there at the end. I don't think it should have been that easy.