Awesome game, it has it flaws and sins like any other game, but the point is they are a tiny little bug compared to the awesome pros this game offers. This game has been out for more then 4 years now, but I have only recently started my adventure with it, and man... what an adventure it is :D


First of all, this game was largely misunderstooded when it came out, most of the critic was coming from people who were expecting an 'emotional ascpect' in the game, they thought this would be a dead serious drama with rivers of tears. It is understandable as the trailers did create such impression and it was harmful for the game itself. This game is mainly about survival and carnage, and having loads of wild fun killing zombies. There is an emotional aspect in this game, YES THERE IS! The sidequest are located all around the map of the game, you get most of them from people gathered at the hideout but some you must find by youreslf on the map. For example you are passing a bridge and you see a women hiding under a crashed car, zombies swarming around her, she is screaming to you for help, but you can just drive by and dont give a sh*t about it. Or you can give a sh*t and help people you come across, like a women who is trapped in her house with zombies, she is screaming for help from the balcony when she notices you. You go in there and save her. and there are many other situations like this which is awesome cause it gives you a reason to explore the whole map. And lets be honest games like Contagion, No more room in hell dont even have a plot, they are just an zombie apocalypse happend and we must escape, so does Left 4 Dead but it got a strong character story (at least the first part, when you read the comic) and you dont play it for plot. Same is here, you shouldnt play this game for plot, although it HAS ONE! Yes it has a plot and it is in a serious tone, even emotional if you get attached to some characters. There are matters like, naive ideology, taking advantage of the crisis, putting men of wealth before the rest of society, even kiddnaping and sexual assault (not said straight in the game but a grown up inteligent person can read between the lines and from the situation).


This game is an action RPG, a hack'n'slash would also be a suitable name for it. The gameplay is taken almost completely from Borderlands, with some new elements of course. So if you have played that game you will feel like home, as many things are almost identical, which for me is great as I love Borderlands gameplay style. So you can play coop with up to 4 players and you pick up items and weapons in a 'loot system', you have inventory with limited space when it comes to weapons and medkits, and unlimited when it comes to items which are used mainly to craft weapon upgrades or are used in side quests or have a high cash value (like diamonds). So you will find many places where there is a box that has weapons inisde. Also as in Borderlands, the world resets every time you change location, meaning that enemies respawn as well as items and boxes contain weapons again, it is completely normal to any hack'n'slash player I assume. Similar to Borderlands also, characters gain experience and level up to unlock and master new abilites. All i all this type of gameplay is really fun but understandably some people might be drew off by it. I personaly found it awesome as I love to collect weapons, craft better ones and gain experience to make my character better. It is a great motivator to keep playing the game, sth I miss in L4D, Contagion and NMRIH.



Well what is most important in every zombie game... is of course ZOMBIES!!! :D
And well I must admit that Dead Island.... has one of the best zombies you can find in gaming industry. They are gruesome and macabre looking. Pound of flesh missing, chewed of meat, bare bones in the open. Everything we love about zombies is here. I am a big fan of Contagion, No more room in hell and Left 4 Dead but the zombies there were just not gory and messed up for my taste, they are usualy pale looking humans with ketchup smeared all over their face and clothes. And here it is a complete different story, zombies are very variated in terms of damaged body and also clothing. When you are on the Hotel and beach part of the game you see zombies dressed in bikini and swimming pants, with cameras on their neck, so mostly you can guess these are (were) turists, later when you are in the city you see zombies that are (were) locals, later on in the jungle you see also more variatons like local tribesmen zombies or zombies in laboratory suits. The variety is pure awesomenes that I never encountered in any other zombie game. And it is also extremely pleasing that there are zombies who can run fast twoard you like Danny Boyle's '28 days later' zombies and some that can only walk twoards you like the old 'classic' Romero's zombies.


There are also special zombies to keep the fight interesting (sadly the have only 1 model, exception being the Thug which comes in different variations) and diverse. The first special zombie is the Thug, a big muscle men you might say, a bit higher then normal zombies, he is much more harder to kill as he has more health and can knock you out with every punch he makes which deals a significat amount of damage, they cannot run, can only walk slowly. There is also a 'sucidial bomb' zombie, much like the Boomer in L4D but this one is only about doing damage, he explodes when he is near you. There is a 'raging zombie' a very very big fellow locked in saftey suit (like the ones in mental hospitals) and a Hannibal Lecter like mask on his face, he is similar to Charger in L4D2, he is running twoards you when he sees you to knock you over, his only vulnerable point is the head. You also have a 'drowned zombie' a big fat fellow who spent too much time in water, he spits hazardous 'vomit' out of him to damage you. And there is also the Butcher, who is very fast and can dogde your attacks (melee attacks ar least), his face is chewed of so that you can see the skull and his hands are alos eaten and he stabs you with the bones he has left instead of hands. So yeah there is a great variety to kill here :)


Something that I find most awesome is that not only do you fight zombies but also, bandits (couldnt find a better word for them). This is something that you cannot find in many zombie games and escpecialy not in L4D, Contagion and NMRIH. They are very often armed with firearms, but sometimes they use melee as well.


They are one of the biggest elements in the game, much much bigger then in any other zombie game I have played. They come with statistics and can be upgraded as well as special features can be added to them. You mostly use melee weapons in the game but of course firearms are also present in the game. But first the melee babies :)
Every melee weapon has a durability stat which is very important because some weapons get broken much quicker then others. When a weapon durability reaches zero, you can still use it but it is very very very much weaker then it was. Of course weapons can be repaired in the game when you use the workshop table... yeah it is unfortunate there is a table and not a guy who does that, cause repairs and uses up money and paying to a table sounds really ridicolous which was a subject of jokes in many press reviews. But once you accept that fact and get used to it, it doesnt bother at all the immersion. This workshop table also plays a very important role in the game as it can also upgrade your weapons to have better stats and also here you can craft 'special weapons' which is made from combining melee weapon with items which creates for example a machete that can electrocute zombies, or a baseball bat with a saw that can cut off heads and arms and legs.