Dead Island has zombies. Amen.

19 Feb, 2011

Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, Jesus, another zombie game? Haven’t we had enough of those already? The answer, naturally, is NO OF COURSE NOT. Having too many zombie games is like having too much air. Or sex. Or sticky toffee pudding. It is simply not physically possible to have too much of such thoroughly awesome things.

Deep Silver have announced that it will publish Dead Island, a “gruesome zombie slasher” that combines “first-person action with a heavy focus on melee combat, character development and customization of a vast array of weapons”. Inspired by the zombie movies of old, Dead Island is “set in an open world tropical island [where] hordes of different festering zombies await players around every corner while they embark on a variety of thrilling missions through the holiday resort. With firearms and ammunition being scarce the player must rely on utilizing found items as weapons for self-defense and fight off zombie hordes in intense melee combat. A diverse range of items can be collected and will later serve to transform the player’s ordinary makeshift weapons into serious instruments of destruction.”

Well, that’s what the press release says anyway. Further to that, the games offers a campaign that can be played with up to four co-op players. But that’s not all. “In addition to satisfying even the most bloodthirsty action fan’s fantasy, Dead Island also features role-playing elements which allow the player to develop one of the game’s unique character classes according to their preferences, all the while learning new skills and fresh tactics during their journey through the perilous environments of the island.”

So what do you think? A genuinely exciting new IP or a cheap rip off of Left 4 Dead 2?