Dead Island Trailers

[skavenhorde]

I just found out about this game and I'm blown away.

These are trailers for a zombie horror game and they don't hold back anything. Nothing really to be said other than if you are squeamish then don't watch these:

Official Announcement Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZqrG1bdGtg&feature=relmfu)

In chronological order (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bwtr_-4vz6g&NR=1)

LITERAL Dead Island Announcement Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ5c9BzohM4)

Tragedy Hits Paradise Trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bm8znL8e2lM)

[curious]

yeah i've been waiting for this one for a while--techland is hopefully going to have a good summer

[xSamhainx]

Nice preview here, shows a lot of gameplay. Excited about this one

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/to-kill-dead-island/714103

[Arkadia7]

I had my eye on this game a couple of years ago. I'm excited its finally being released.

[skavenhorde]

Thanks Sammy for linking that. Gotta say I'm happy to see those XP when the dev killed a zombie and all that talk about focusing on melee and stamina.

Gotta say that my expectations after that trailer were pretty high. Now they just got higher.

It sounds a little like Dead Rising mixed in with GTA. Everyone says it's like L4D, but I never played that game so don't know.

[JDR13]

Whoa… I just watched the trailer that Sammy posted. Count me in on this one.. it looks great, and it's open world with RPG elements!?

From Wikipedia..

Dead Island will feature open world gameplay, played from a first person perspective, with up to four-player co-operative play (local and online) in a sandbox environment, including a heavily interactive environment. The focus will be on melee combat, incorporating customizable weaponry, vehicular customization/combat, and RPG elements.


The release date is listed as August 1st. It's going to be a busy Summer…

[DArtagnan]

Sounds pretty great, actually.

Not a big zombie fan, but everything else sounds just like the thing for me.

[xSamhainx]

there's a few things that really struck me as cool in that trailer:
- environmental destruction, the good type
- the character's sound clips change as the game progresses, and they get emotionally hardened to their situation
- the character breaking out the shattered windshield w/ her fist while driving. Details like that make a reality more solid to me.
-throwing the melee weapon as well as using it for close combat, awesome!
-weather looks good, the environments in general look great

[Thrasher]

Color me intrigued. I'll be keeping my eye on this one!

[wiretripped]

Color me intrigued. I'll be keeping my eye on this one!

Same here.
That trailer that xSamhainx posted looked very promising.

[xSamhainx]

zero'd-in on this title now, the more i see the better it looks!

Gamespot interview (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/deadisland/video/6315195)

it's funny how the developer is always mentioning how the zombies want to eat your brains

[Thrasher]

Nice shocking melee attack. :)

[dteowner]

Sammy, yer a fine salesman. ;)

Looks like an interesting game. Will have to wait and see if they have a difficulty setting for the FPS-disabled so that I can enjoy the world without worrying too much about strafestrafestrafe.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Funnily, the word "strafe" means in the German language "punishment" ! :lol:

[JDR13]

New video here (http://www.ggmania.com/?smsid=31037)... 20 minutes of pure gameplay.

This game looks like it has some amazing environments\level design. Check out 10:30 onwards in the clip. I love how you can play without any onscreen HUD. At least I hope that's an option in the final release.

Starting to look like a must-buy for me. My only concern at this point is the protagonist. I hope there's more than that one character to choose from in single-player.

[xSamhainx]

The majority of that footage we've already seen, but hell yeah - crafting. Flaming zombie sighted. Nice jumping evasion move. Environments are jaw-dropping.

Looks great!

[Thrasher]

Very nice!

[joxer]

Hmmm… I'll skip this one and get myself a new installment of the Alice instead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndQQVbV6c28&feature=fvsr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR8wXsvUrBg&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7NIZ18nq2c&feature=relmfu
Sick, definetly. :)

[skavenhorde]

Starting to look like a must-buy for me. My only concern at this point is the protagonist. I hope there's more than that one character to choose from in single-player.

There are four available. Logan, Xian Mei, Sam B and Purna. On the homepage they've only released info on two of the, Xian Mei and Sam B.

One thing that sorta irks me are those damn high heels. Come on put some dang shoes on that girl or at least snap off the heels.

You know they have all of these wonderful immersion filled additions like Xian Mei knocking the front windshield out when it becomes broken or falling down and actually going through all the motions of getting back up, but then there are those high heels.

Some people say the electrified machete was the problem, but I don't have a problem with that. It's just those stupid heels.

[JDR13]

There are four available. Logan, Xian Mei, Sam B and Purna. On the homepage they've only released info on two of the, Xian Mei and Sam B.

They actually talked about them in one of the trailers, but nowhere does it say if they're all going to be available in single-player. I assume we'll be able to choose though.

Playing an asian girl with a stereotypical accent just doesn't appeal to me.

[xSamhainx]

Maybe the heels will provide extra damage. Ever been kicked by those things? ='.'=

[Moriendor]

Hmmm… I'll skip this one and get myself a new installment of the Alice instead.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndQQVbV6c28&feature=fvsr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR8wXsvUrBg&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7NIZ18nq2c&feature=relmfu
Sick, definetly. :)

I really liked the original Alice game as well and was looking forward to the sequel but I'm not so sure anymore after reading (http://gamingeverything.com/?p=4936) that the Official Playstation Magazine has slammed the game with a 5/10 score. Naturally you have to be very careful, especially with any "official magazine" reviews but I am getting a strong caveat emptor do not pre-order signal from this one. Will be waiting for a demo or further reviews for sure (or a Steam sale where it goes for EUR < 10.00).

[skavenhorde]

Interview with Vincet Kummer at E3. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AfTPHVLA6Q) Basically it's the same thing you've heard before with maybe a few new tidbits. The interesting part is during the interview they're showing the game in action starting from the church.

If you're only interested in seeing someone playing the game then skip to 3:30.

If you're only interested in seeing the actual combat then skip to 6:00.

There is something that I learned while watching this that I did not know. You'll respawn when you die……I hope to god they let us disable that.

[JDR13]

There is something that I learned while watching this that I did not know. You'll respawn when you die……I hope to god they let us disable that.

Indeed, I hate that. I've been playing Borderlands recently, and that's another game where you respawn upon death. I usually just exit to the menu and reload when I die, but at least there's an in-game explanation for the respawning in Borderlands. It wouldn't make any sense in Dead Island.

[curious]

respawn=nonrpg

respawn is not an acceptable replacement for saving and loading system. if i recall didn't borderlands have a checkpoint system rather than an anytime/anywhere system which i prefer? also whatever the explanation it was a load of bs.

at least in bioshock you could save and load everywhere and the vita chambers which i didn't use made complete sense in the game story and was vital to it in fact in a game whose whole premise was about invention and genetics. the only reason i left them on especially in 2, which i'm currently replaying, is that if you don't you have a small window in which to reload otherwise it takes a long ass time to go back and through the menus whereas if you respawn you save a large amount of time by reloading within the game level, which even on a supercomputer makes some difference.

[JDR13]

at least in bioshock you could save and load everywhere and the vita chambers which i didn't use made complete sense in the game story

You thought it made complete sense that you could be brought back to life with 1940s technology? ;)

[curious]

more so than in the middle ages or any other game. i think i choose the powers of scientific potential over elven magic, etc.? ;)

[curious]

if you can build an entire city underwater the un-sky is the limit

[JDR13]

more so than in the middle ages or any other game. i think i choose the powers of scientific potential over elven magic, etc.? ;)

By comparison, the explanation in Borderlands was more plausible. At least that was in a sci-fi setting.

Anyways, it doesn't matter. Like skavenhorde said, I hope that feature can be disabled in Dead Island.

[curious]

i guess that's your opinion which i wholeheartedly do not share. and besides bioshock 2 is not even possible without the vitachambers as that is how you are "resurrected" in the begining of the game after being dead for nearly a decade. also dispite beating this horse to death borderlands is hardly much less a "sci-fi" setting than bioshock, simply since something takes place presumably further in the future doesn't really mean it has to be sci-fi and more than something in the past means its unable to be. borderlands was a hillbilly, zombie slaying, badlands, and comic feel to it. even without the cell-shading it fit the last category really well which comics anyhow were kind of the old-school sci-fi which is much more prevalent in movies and games as until recently comics have always been kind of a low-tech world.

also some of the most brillant people in civilization lived thousands of years ago. maybe the average person is smarter now than many years prior but that hardly means much.

oh and on top of whether or not it is possible the simple fact that the world of bioshock is full of far more "intelligent design", no not the religious type, than the ridiculous, visceral, and at many times hugely intellegence insulting borderlands gameplay that alone means i'm more likely to have that "suspension of belief" that games strive for intact rather than simply become uninvolved and simply trying to level up and aquire more loot like borderlands. i imagine borderlands fun increased when playing with others but as i nearly always play singleplayer its obvious its a subpar singleplayer game.

that said i believe dead island will hopefully offer great singleplayer regardless of what multiplayer elements they have. i have a lot of respect for techland dispite their prior games being very linear.

[JDR13]

Having a "comic" feel doesn't make Borderlands less sci-fi. Nor does it mean that resurrection is more plausible in Bioshock. You can rationalize until you're blue in the face, but that won't make something true.

At least it sounds like you've managed to convince yourself though.

[skavenhorde]

Gamebanshee's got a bunch of previews (should I be covering this game?): http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/103384-dead-island-previews-and-interview.html

Escapist:

The island's open environment occasionally offers multiple paths to get to a location. The scale is more reminiscent of Far Cry than Fallout 3, but there is plenty of fun to be had by exploring and seeing what you can get away with in the game world. The game's excellent mini-map keeps the player from feeling lost in Dead Island's large and dangerous world. It curves and redirects you to your objective, as you explore and walk along new paths.

The demo was short and sweet, but everything from the score that sounds like John Carpenter playing Caribbean tunes to the intense opening sequence has me excited for the full game. Dead Island might be the first zombie game to make me feel like I am truly in danger, as the player - even despite the clear blue sky and gorgeous beach surrounding the mayhem.

Joystiq's review is all about co-op……booorrrriiinggg I still haven't played co-op in Dead Rising 2. No need. They just get in my way when I'm exploring :P

Gamepro:

And while it may appear to be a somewhat shallow game where all you're doing is wildly flailing blunt instruments at onrushing zombies, hoping to hit something, there’s a bit more depth to what you're doing. For instance, more advanced zombie classes require that you target their arms in order to break their bones and weaken them.

After playing Dead Island for a good chunk of time I'm glad to see it's approaching survival-horror in some interesting ways. It's not reinventing the genre, but it's riffing on what's worked in horror games (and shooters) in new ways. Let's hope that the rest of the game is as polished and fun as the areas they've shown off so far.

I gave up on reading the rest of the previews. The highlights were about co-op or how it doesn't look like a good co-op…Dude, enough with the freaking co-op already.

So it's not quite what I expected after seeing that first trailer with the death of that girl. Too bad…..but here's the great news. It still sounds like Dead Rising mixed in with Borderlands. I don't mind that at all, just a little let down that they emphasized this story (in that beautifully made trailer) and I'm not sure if they'll be able to deliver.

And again please, please let us disable respawning. I don't need or want it.

[xSamhainx]

Just dont die, Keeper Skaven bro ='.'=

[skavenhorde]

Good point. Armed with the indestructible mighty stilettos of zombie butt kicking I'll never die :D

Keeper xSamhainx have you seen Dungeon Keeper: War for the Overworld (http://www.indiedb.com/games/wfto)?

I won't hold my breath on it actually being made, but you never know.

[xSamhainx]

wow, that could be epic if done right. Imagine, you create a subterranean base and send your minions topside to raze and pillage, meanwhile the enemy defends and sends forces to wipe out your base. Topside and dungeon both going at once, it would be DK to the next level. Pun intended.

[curious]

sorry JDR dispite my undying love for you i will now forever associate you with the following quote
"The future will be better tomorrow"- Dan Quale

also i don't need convincing. we wouldn't be having this conversation except you obviously haven't played bioshock 2 or we would have wasted all this time. i claim error or lack of knowledge when i have it some choose to believe what they want on what little info they have. technically anything that is quasi-reality can be sci-fi, assassins creed despite mostly occuring in the past, or even sarah palin's version of the midnight ride could make a great new sci-fi revolutionary war epic...

[JDR13]

also i don't need convincing. we wouldn't be having this conversation except you obviously haven't played bioshock 2 or we would have wasted all this time. i claim error or lack of knowledge when i have it some choose to believe what they want on what little info they have. technically anything that is quasi-reality can be sci-fi, assassins creed despite mostly occuring in the past, or even sarah palin's version of the midnight ride could make a great new sci-fi revolutionary war epic…

Actually, I have played Bioshock 2, and I'm starting to feel a little embarrassed for you at this point. Our opinions on this have nothing to do with error or lack of knowledge, but I find it pretty funny that you're taking it so seriously. :)

[xSamhainx]

here's further E3 coverage w/ Mr Kummer (http://e3.gamespot.com/video/6318681/)

I notice that the zombies just kinda chill for a few when you get knocked down, even the ram zombie. I hope it's just a game demo feature thing theyre showing, and theyre actually more aggressive in the real deal.

[skavenhorde]

Yea, noticed that too. It was pretty funny. Dude gets knocked on his butt then the zombies just take a "time out". Maybe they're very honorable zombies. The refuse to kick a man when he's down….or rather eat a man when he's down :D

Still like what I'm seeing though. It definitely is Dead Rising mixed in with Borderlands, but I'm still playing Dead Rising and Borderlands to this day so that's not such a bad thing.

The little details are what is going to set this apart from DR and Border like weapon decay. I was wondering about that from the previous interview because I saw that the weapons had names like "Frail such and such". I figured it might just meant how much damage it does, but nope it means how sturdy it is and how soon it will break. Little details like that are what is either going to make this a great game or just a mediocre one.

Can't say I'm exactly thrilled with another run and gun zombie game after watching/reading Walking Dead and World War Z (awesome book btw), but there are two games in the making that will be more like those, Dead State (http://www.deadstate.doublebearproductions.com/) and Project Zomboid (http://projectzomboid.com/blog/) (expect newsbits on PZ when it starts to get more fleshed out). Dead island looks like it is trying to take the run and gun zombie game a bit further.

This one still remains an instant buy on release day.

Edit: Keeper Sammy, did you notice the "stinking" zombies? Plague monk zombies. These zombies have been talking to my skaven. Bet you didn't know that rats can speak zombie :biggrin:

[xSamhainx]

Yeah, looks like there's going to be several different breeds. Along those lines, I also noticed quite a few different zombie character models. They werent all the same 3 zombie models, I saw quite a few different bodies/clothes/faces etc.

[skavenhorde]

Preview for Dead Island (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/06/23/dead-island-preview/) over at RPS.

Two things I didn't like about the preview. One he concentrated on co-op. Nothing wrong with that, but I'm not interested at all on how it compares to Left 4 Dead.

Second is the writing style. Either I'm really tired (which could be the case since work is hellish right now) or his writing style is confusing.

I mean what the hell:

So no, it’s not the “somehow survive as you freely explore an entire island full of zombies” that some had desperately hoped it would be when it was first hinted at. But it’s not fair to look at this as the bits left over when you drop your expectations. It’s by no means purely linear, with multiple quests available at any time, but there is a narrative, and you are going to make your way through it, and seemingly more meaningfully the fewer people there are playing. There are shops, NPCs, intricate customisation options, side-quests, and an awful lot of moving corpses. I’m certainly looking forward to 9th September (6th in the lucky US) to see how it all fits together in one coherent whole.

There's a freaking narritive in GTA: San Andreas too and that game is as open as you can get. Pretty much in the same exact way as well. There are zones that you can't go to until later in the game.

Nevermind. If you enjoy the preview and can figure out what the hell he's talking about then more power to you. As for me I'd rather just watch another gameplay trailer.

Edit: I had to bold the "You are going to make your way through it (the narrative)" Thank you Captain Obvious. I never would have figured that out without your help.

[skavenhorde]

I had my little rant and feel much better now :)

If you guys are still curious about Dead Island then here are a bunch of previews that Gamebanshee listed. (http://www.gamebanshee.com/news/103665-dead-island-previews.html)

This totally sucks that a few weeks after my two month long vacation THIS GAME COMES OUT!!!….Oh well. That's probably a good thing since I already have more than a few games to tide me over during the break. Not the least of which is Frayed Knights which I plan on playing over and over and over again for however long Jay needs.

Some of the previews:
Thank you, Ars Technica, (http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/06/dead-island-delivers-dark-fun-action-in-single—and-multiplayer.ars) for writing a few sentences on the single player version of this game. It seems everyone only want to write about the coop.

The game changes depending on how you'd like to play. When I was alone in the single player game I enjoyed the more deliberate pace, and I rejected the few missions available during the demo to simply explore the island and play with the many improvised weapons while killing every zombie I saw. There is a heavy emphasis on melee weapons in this game, which means that the zombies get very close to you, and that's a nerve-wracking experience. It takes practice before you can judge the reach of the many weapons, but soon enough you'll be chopping off heads and legs, or taking out the shambling horrors with thrown weapons.

There are other previews linked at gamebanshee's site. I skimmed them, but it seems that every previewer forgot that this can be played as a single player game as well.

[xSamhainx]

relax, my friend. I'm pretty sure everything's gonna be alright from what I'm seeing. Looks really cool.

The problem w/ Left4dead and just about every other zombie game out there is that they simply cannot deliver the zombie experience that I've been looking for, derived from the traditional shambler to mid-speed zombies, you vs them. It's just an ultimately boring concept. A dumb, shambling enemy and they heap ranged weapons on you and it's shooting fish in a barrel. Go the other way with an overkill barrage of track star zombies that flog you at every turn, and it's still not what I'm looking for. Say what you will about L4D, it's just not the Romero Zombie Experience that I've been looking for. I guess Dead Rising kinda gets it right, but still I wouldnt consider it horror and it just isnt there w/ it's timed structure and all that. It's a cheap way to inject tension into what soon becomes a boring game.

This may get it more right than the rest - non-athlete zombies, and creative melee being the main focus. It's survival horror, not just a funny monster-mash em up. I dont know, I may be all wet here, but it's looking like this game is gonna deliver from where I'm sitting. Looks pretty creepy actually, I like that.

[skavenhorde]

Man, you're right. I need to relax a bit. Last couple weeks at work being filled with a hundred things that need to get done really isn't good.

In any event, you're right. It looks like it isn't quite what I had hoped for, but it does look like a lot of fun. Dead Rising 2 had the Romero zombies down pat until later in the game. At least there weren't any mutant zombies with two heads or something ridiculous like that. Nope, we get psychos which are even better than anything a dev could dream up for a mutant zombie.

My expectations for this one is about on the same level as Borderlands and I had a ridiculous amount of fun with Borderlands. I don't think it'll be quite so goofy as Borderlands (which is a very good thing), but it will be goofy in some respects with the elctro-weapons you can make.

For a real zombie game (minus the first person perspective) Dead State and now, maybe, Project Zomboid look to be the front runners. This one looks to be a lot of fun and hopefully the story will be pretty good as well.

[Thrasher]

Here's another preview:

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/07/16/dead-island-preview-2/

Again the focus is on co-op. It's sounding more like an enhanced open-world Left4Dead. Can it be played solo as survival horror?

[dteowner]

It definitely can be played solo. But they seem to be emphasizing the co-op more and more, which can't help but weaken the solo experience.

[DArtagnan]

Actually, I often find the singleplayer experience enhanced - simply because I know I can enjoy the same game again with friends.

To be able to potentially share an otherwise strong experience, makes the investment more worthwhile to me. Especially if there are multiple characters or ways to approach the game. Then I can spend time alone learning the intricacies - and be more prepared for a multiplayer experience where I can try it in a very different way. It's almost like having two games in one.

I have a hard time enjoying strictly singleplayer experiences these days - unless they're really exceptional.

[dteowner]

I suppose it depends on whether you see game development as a zero sum thing. I do, so time spent developing co-op gameplay and features is time not spent developing single player gamplay and features.

I understand what you're getting at, though. The "replay appeal" of a game will generally be higher if it's got some kind of multiplayer component, if only because the addition of other gamers introduces far more random reactions to given situations (yielding a broader experience) than a single player is capable of.

[DArtagnan]

I suppose it depends on whether you see game development as a zero sum thing. I do, so time spent developing co-op gameplay and features is time not spent developing single player gamplay and features.

I tend to see things in more colors than that.

It's easy to take apart something that went one way, and then infer what would have happened if exactly the same circumstances would be repeated - only with a few changes in design or vision. But that doesn't apply to a realistic scenario very often.

Like if you take World of Warcraft - and you remove the work they did to implement multiplayer - and they instead poured all that energy into taking the rest of the design/content and made a singleplayer game out of it. Would that singleplayer game be a better singleplayer game than the multiplayer version would have been? Perhaps so, but it would be a stupid approach to singleplayer design.

The result would be completely different if the original design hadn't been a fully multiplayer one.

Like that, I think something like Dead Island is planned to be multiplayer - and it's not a simple thing to talk about what it would have been as singleplayer only. That would mean everything about the original vision would change significantly. Not that I know their original plans - but assuming multiplayer was always a part of it.

I understand what you're getting at, though. The "replay appeal" of a game will generally be higher if it's got some kind of multiplayer component, if only because the addition of other gamers introduces far more random reactions to given situations (yielding a broader experience) than a single player is capable of.

Yep.

[JDR13]

The hype is really starting to get around for Dead Island. I was surprised to see that it was #8 on steam's top ten list of best-selling titles this past week.

Impressive for a game that's still six weeks out from being released.