screamgame2's blog: September 2011

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/preview-dead-island-20110808-1iita.html Looking at the whole first hour of the game, it shows a lot of promise. Visually the game has some noticeable problems, but that could easily be cleaned up before the September release date. The main focus however is the combat and RPG elements, which is where Dead Island made the biggest impression on me. Melee attacks feels well balanced enough to complement the violent subject matter. The light RPG aspect and weapon development also has a lot of potential. Coupled with the announcement that the game has four-player co-op, Dead Island looks like an increasingly attractive prospect. Anyway, who can resist the clammy charm of a zombie in a Hawaiian shirt? I know I can't.

PREVIEW: Hands-on with Dead Island!

http://www.examiner.com/video-game-industry-in-san-francisco/preview-hands-on-with-dead-island Aside from single player there is drop-in, drop-out online co-op, supporting up to 4 players. Unfortunately there is no competitive mode for DI, but working together is more productive anyways. Your player stats and experience level transfer into any game you jump into, so you can take your character anywhere regardless of where the host is in his/her progress. Nice.

Dead Island: Slice and Dice in Paradise

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/118/1185181p1.html

The only major criticism that we can level at the game based off our one-hour hands-on is that the voice acting is straight up awful.Given that the island in question – the fictitious 'Banoi' – is supposedly situated off the coast of Papua New Guinea, the bulk of the survivors in the game appear to be holiday-goers from the neighboring countries of Australia and New Zealand. Yet their jumbled dialects make them sound like Polish people impersonating a South African mimicking Paul Hogan from his 'shrimp on the barbie' tourism commercials from the eighties. It's possible the audio was still placeholder in this early build of the game, but with only a month to go until the game's release its most likely that these voices will stay, and the clumsiness of the acting really lessens the impact of any drama the game is trying to create.

Deep Silver Reveal Dead Island Social Networking App

http://electronictheatre.co.uk/index.php/articles/8879-deep-silver-reveal-dead-island-social-networking-app

" Dead Island offers something new and exciting in the saturated zombie genre marketplace.It's going to be a blockbuster and the start of a franchise for sure. We're massive gamers and zombie fans at Neoco so we just had to be a part of the global campaign for this brilliant piece of new IP," said Benn Achilleas, director of Neoco. "Our 'plug-in' approach to Social, our rich experience with brands like THQ, SEGA, and Ubisoft, and our ability to motivate and segment vast numbers of fans on Facebook meant we were the right partner for this and other game launches."

PREVIEW: Hands-on with Dead Island!

http://www.examiner.com/video-game-industry-in-san-francisco/preview-hands-on-with-dead-island

From a graphical stand point, DI is, well, bloody. Zombies are found right out of the gate with satisfyingly disgusting gore. If there demo weren't timed I would have just stood there taking the madness in, it's quite a sight. Bloom and weather effects all deserve double takes. Bushes, character models, palm trees and water effects are solid. The level of detail is astounding. The island is filled with gorgeous vistas as well as the grotesque.It's a classic beauty and the beast.

'Dead Island': Preview

http://www.digitalspy.com/gaming/news/a332576/dead-island-preview.html

Before the hour was up, we retrieved the keycard and made our way to the lifeguard complex and purged it of its infected residents, which then sees the survivors move in and opens up a series of side missions to complete. While each of these early-game objectives were essentially fetch quests that tasked you with finding car parts, radio antennas or personal mementos, each provides the opportunity to explore more of the island, collect stronger weapons and gain more experience points.