Feature | Hands-on: Dead Island

Dead Island is an upcoming open world first person zombie action adventure set in the fictional island of Banoi, off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Many of you will have already seen the incredible cinematic trailer (which won numerous awards including Gold at Cannes in the Internet Film category), which if you haven’t seen yet then you should seriously check it out. With the game not far off release I was lucky enough to get some hands-on time to see how the game is shaping up.

Before I continue, it is important to note that as amazing as the trailer is, in no way does it reflect what the gameplay is like. Okay so that shouldn’t really be a big surprise but needed to be said. The game does however offer something that few zombie titles do – a first person POV set in an open world sandbox environment.

The game begins more or less where the trailer left off. You awake in the same hotel to discover that the resort has become a zombie infested nightmare. Once you’ve come to grips with the controls you’ll soon be searching every nook and cranny for cash and anything that may come in handy, especially weapons. A nice little touch was discovering the two parents (now deceased) from the trailer in one of the first rooms you search.

Before long you’ll be racing out of the hotel and meeting up with fellow survivors. Of course you’ll need to dispatch a few zombies on the way and this is where the fun begins. The game is set in a fabulous pacific island resort and as such most of the early zombies you come across are dressed accordingly in beachwear. The atmosphere of the game is sombre, mysterious, suspenseful and intensely desperate. No one seems to know what is going on; the scene is one of utter carnage. Yet the island itself still looks like a paradise other than an odd green mist that hangs menacingly in the air.

When you begin the game you will need to choose one of four characters, each has their strengths and weaknesses. At the beginning of the game you are going to primarily use melee weapons and it will take a while before the sandbox open world options become available as you will initially be taken down a set path. Xian Mei is a Chinese employee at the resort who has skills as a sportswoman, fast and intelligent. Sam B is a one-hit wonder rap star who is strong, self confident and proud. Logan is a former NFL star who got into trouble, street racing where he killed a woman. Purna is a former officer at the Sydney Police station who threw her career away when she killed a child molester, and now works as a bodyguard.

Initially the zombies can be dispatched with relative ease, however, as the game progresses and you level up, you start to come across more powerful zombies who may be faster, stronger and even wield basic weapons.

The melee attacks in the game are brutal and certainly not for anyone with a weak stomach. As you strike each part of the zombie with whatever weapon you have it will take real time damage, for example: repeated blows to a limb will damage tissue and eventually severe the limb completely, or a head can explode (or implode) in a gory mess giving you bonus experience points.

As mentioned there are RPG elements to the game. You’ll earn experience for completing missions as well as killing zombies (with bonuses depending on how effectively you do it). There is a skill tree system so you will be able to carefully choose where to spend skill points to enhance your preferred style of play. There is also a stamina bar in which you will need to stop and rest to regain to make melee attacks effective.

Throughout the game you will be able to pick up various objects that can be used as weapons — initially these will be items such as oars, pieces of wood or iron pipes. Firearms will come later in the game. Anything you use as a weapon will quickly degrade, splinter and eventually break the more you use it, so you will need to stock up pretty quickly. You will be able to create weapons and upgrade them at workbenches (in similar fashion to the Dead Rising series). Plans can also be found (and given as rewards) to create new weapons such as the trusty baseball bat with nails in it.

As you move around the Island you will notice that certain items have $ values assigned to them. At first I thought that this meant you needed to pay for every item you picked up (and there are plenty scattered around) but in fact it is a reference to the value for when you meet merchants later in the game. Although I never met any during the time I played I would hazard a guess that weapon plans may also be on offer.

Okay now for some bad news, well for us kiwis anyway. The voiceovers in the game are done predominantly by Australians! Yes you are going to have to endure listening to almost every character talking in a thick, twangy Aussie accent. Certainly in the time I played they all did, even the tattooed Polynesian lifeguard John Sinamoi.

Graphically the game looks great; melee is certainly satisfying but there is more of a frantic action feel to the game, rather than a survival horror vibe – not to say there won’t be a few scares along the way. All up the time I spent on the game was great, it didn’t really offer anything that hasn’t been seen before but was looking good as an all-round zombie bashing package.