Yes it was flawed. Yes the acting was laughable, gameplay bugs would occasionally find you trapped inside scenery, and lag spikes would give you more of a jump scare than most of the in game attempts to do the same, but when all was said and done, this game did more right than it did wrong in my opinion. A burgeoning Zombie infested world to explore at your own pace, side quests a plenty, entertainingly flimsy vehicle mechanics, an RPG levelling system, but most of all a loot system that would put many an MMO to shame. True, the similarities between Dead Island and Borderlands for its loot, reactive npc levelling system and skill trees are blatant and quite honestly downright identical, but just like Borderlands, Dead Island had a special something. Its Multiplayer.

This was in all honesty, not a single player game, although it could be played that way. This was a game to enjoy with like minded individuals who also liked the idea of running around like lunatics crushing/slashing/shooting zombies with custom modified weapons, or just relaxing on the beach playing Stomp the Zombie to see who could get the biggest critical kick. This was made to be played with friends. Dead Island’s drop in, drop out co-op system was praised for its simplicity and stability, and it still stands the test of time today.

So, you may be wondering, why exactly am I going on about Dead Island like some rampant fanboy? Well the answer is simple, and comes straight from the developers mouth. You see, Dead Island : Riptide is NOT a sequel. Its does not have a revised engine, improved graphics or major gameplay changes. Dead Island : Riptide is Dead Island version 1.1. When Deep Silver announced that this was not meant to be a follow up to the original, a lot of people dismissed this game, or believed this statement was just a red herring to keep people off guard. This was not the case. For all their flaws, they were honest and up front with the everyday punter who buys their games and they are fully aware we are out there, having been quoted stating that DI : Riptide is a developers love sonnet to the overwhelming amount of gamers who fell in love with their first outing.

Now Dead Island Riptide has been taking a beating from reviewers all over, but reading so many say how disappointed they were with the graphics or gameplay does take me aback. The fact that Deep Silver blatantly confirmed that this was a follow up story using existing tech quite some considerable time before release has conveniently slipped the mind of many a reviewer or, just as likely, they weren’t aware of the fact in the first place.

So now that I confirm that I am aware this is on the existing tech, and is built with existing assets, I can tell you why I found Dead Island : Riptide to be a disappointment.

Riptide picks up immediately where the first game left off, with you escaping the island in a helicopter piloted by Charon, only to land on a military ship and be shuffled off to quarantine. When Yerema bites one of the soldiers removing her to the labs below deck, you are all too aware what is going to happen next. Before the inevitable Zombie-a-thon, you are introduced to a fifth character in the form of John Morgan who is also immune, and served as an ADF soldier who was flown into nearby Palanoi to grant “humanitarian” aid to the civilians of the islands. With the ability to import your original characters, complete with levels to Riptide, this character is an addition for those new to the franchise or the completionists who played through the previous title with every character.  Group balance is maintained with Morgan being a hand to hand specialist, which complements the existing focus on ranged, bladed, firearms and thrown weapon specialists in the form of Sam B, Xian Mei,  Purna and Logan.

Sadly, should you decide to import, you won’t find much room to grow your characters, as this new release, (currently),  only allows an additional ten levels to your existing build, increasing maximum level cap to 70.

The opening section continues, with you finally escaping your cell after the inevitable outbreak hits right in the middle of a monsoon, and you are soon traversing through the bowels of the ship dispatching the recently living crew to make your way to the deck.  Clearing the ship of undead, you are unfortunately too late and the ship is soon run aground sending those who survived the night, into the churning monsoon waters.

Waking on a beach, you are introduced to a new group of islanders, and once again take to facing the zombie horde on the behalf of these non-immune survivors in a host of repeatable, side and main quests in order to once again escape this island “paradise”. A couple of the major additions to the game are introduced early on. Firstly you have the companion Missions. These missions task you with collecting specific items typically used in crafting and supplying them to the group to improve their overall weapons/skills or reduce their trading prices. These weapon/skill improvements come into play during the second new section: horde missions. Horde events task you with surviving waves of enemies and to do so, you must reinforce your current base. This is kept relatively simple, with sections of wire mesh and their corresponding entrances highlighted on your map at the beginning of the quest.  Although these secure the site, they simply buy you time allowing you to attempt to stem the influx of enemies. This works surprisingly well, but later missions where the wave size is much larger were almost unbearably laggy with so much going on at the one time.

The island of Palanoi’s environment is strikingly similar to Banoi’s Jungle and city sections, but with the impact of the monsoon evident, most of the island is criss-crossed with waterways and newly formed lakes. Graphically, these environs are no more detailed than its predecessor, so it does look slightly dated when compared with those games of high graphic fidelity that have been released of late.

With new environments, we also have new special enemy types to accompany the fan favourite Thugs, Suiciders, Floaters and Butchers that were prominent in the first game. The first of these you will encounter is most likely the Drowner. These new mobs float face down in the water like many of the non-infected corpses littering the water strewn world, reacting to nearby sound. When attacking they will attempt to hold you underwater until you run out of O2, as its name implies.

Next we have the Grenadiers, who are infected Hazmat scientists whose exposure to a toxic mutagen has turned them into a walking pile of boils. The Grenadier will typically attack by plunging its arm into its infected torso and tossing an exploding toxic boil at the player.

Again new to this iteration is the Wrestler. These infected are slower and stronger than the relatively common Thug, having one extremely large mutated arm which it uses to crush or knock down players. Able to take out players with one or two hits, this is an enemy you would be wise to take on from a distance.

The Final Special Infected is the Screamer. These enemies are able to omit a high-pitched piercing scream which can incapacitate players, and also alerts all nearby walker and regular infected to the players location.

Apart from the special infected, a new twist on the named infected has been brought forward to this new title. Numerous Boss Zombies appear throughout Dead Island Riptide and with a high risk/reward factor these are definitely the hardest part of the game to solo. These Bosses typical reside in a “DeadZone” instance along with numerous regular enemies usually one or two levels higher than yourself, and these boss mobs typically have several perks that make them ultra powerful, whether it be the ability to regenerate health each time they hit you, or being completely resistant to knock back or knock down, to simply being a Thug build that can move as fast as an infected.

Typically, these instances are the only place you can retrieve the components required for the high end mods, and as such are mostly aimed at end game or co-op content, but some appear as standard side quests during game play. These new additions aside, everything remains approximately the same throughout, which is to be expected of a title that isn’t so much a successor, as a companion title to last year’s release. This is where the game begins to disappoint.

Even when first starting up the missions for the group of survivors you find, it doesn’t do anything fresh or new to ensure you try to get the most out of the game. It simply wills you to continue where you left off, but regrettably I left off at a point where I was beginning to get sick of the similar and ultimately forgettable side quests and I would have dropped this game even sooner without the co-op gameplay and Analog combat system. Thankfully both of these make a comeback, but it is not enough in my mind to warrant an entirely new release.

Those ultra-fans of the original, anyone who has a good group of friends all willing to commit to purchasing this game as a group with the intention to play co-operatively or those that have yet to experience Dead Island will most likely find a lot of enjoyment in this game. If you don’t fall into these categories, you might get some fun from this game, but it will ultimately feel like you are just repeating the actions you have already taken in the previous release.

MLG Rating: 6/10 Platform: PlayStation 3 / Xbox 360 / PC Release Date: 26/04/13

Disclosure: Midlife Gamer were provided a copy of Dead Island: Riptide for review purposes by the promoter. The title was reviewed over the course of two weeks on a PlayStation 3. For more information on what our scores mean, plus details of our reviews policy, click here.

They thought they had escaped…

Having survived the ordeals of the zombie infestation on the once beautiful island resort of Banoi…

They thought they were safe..

… the group of survivors thought they had finally found a safe place to escape from this terrifying nightmare.

They thought wrong..

Shortly after the battle-hardened team had landed their helicopter on a military ship, a furious storm hits and havoc quickly spreads on board.

Hope is drowning.

Together with newcomer John Morgan they find themselves struggling for their lives again, stranded on the secluded island of Palanai with its luxurious town of Henderson surrounded by deep jungles and mangrove swamps.

Pre-order DLC #1: The Survivor Pack
·       A BBQ Blade! This special pre-order pack contains an exclusive weapon only available here! How better to dispose of the wretched zombies than with a sharp blade? Add in some workbench-modifying and hook it up to a few fuel tanks to bring some heat to a zombie’s heart! The so-called “BBQ Blade” lets you wade through zombie hordes with ease!
·       An XP/stats booster! Want that extra edge to level up faster than your peers? Here’s your chance!
·       A special shop! The Survivor Pack will grant you access to a shop offering a special discount on weapons and items! Happy shopping!
The Survivor Pack DLC will be made available to everyone who pre-orders the game before its release in regions where it is available.

Pre-order DLC #2: Fashion Victim
Tired of seeing your character go around wearing the same clothes all the time? The “Fashion Victim” pre-order DLC includes a set of new skins for all the player characters (Logan, Purna, Sam B., Xian Mei, and “the new guy” John Morgan) in co-op mode.

In the UK, the Fashion Victim DLC will only be available through preorders from GAME Ltd

Content will be redeemable via download on Xbox LIVE® for versions of the game on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows® PC and via the PlayStation®Store

These DLC packs will also be available to buy individually with the release of Dead Island Riptide. The Survivor pack will be available for 400 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360 or for £3.99 on PlayStation Network and Steam. Become a Fashion Victim for 160 Microsoft Points or for £1.49.

The search for two engaged Dead Island superfans who will be zombified for a Dead Island twist on a traditional beach wedding ceremony takes in every cemetery, grave and crypt the length and breadth of the UK. In return for becoming the official Dead Island Riptide zombie bride and groom, Deep Silver will host a Dead Island Riptide-themed zombie wedding ceremony and send the winning undead couple on a luxury Caribbean honeymoon.

Applicants are encouraged to record a short video message to YouTube explaining why they are the ideal undead candidates for the ceremony, and to share the link via the official Dead Island Riptide Zombie Wedding page on Facebook (www.facebook.com/DeadIslandRiptideZombieWeddingUK).

A panel from Deep Silver will then review all applications and contact a shortlist of candidates to see if they have what it takes for the ultimate undead accolade. The closing date for applications is appropriately Valentine’s Day, 14^th February 2013, with the winning couple being announced at the beginning of March.

Amy Namihas, Head of Marketing & Public Relations, Deep Silver UK, said:
“For the launch celebrations of Dead Island Riptide we wanted to do something different, and a zombie wedding with all the trappings certainly fits the bill and has not been done on this scale before. We’re excited to see the application videos from our prospective undead bride and groom and look forward to hosting the wedding of the fear.”

For further information and full terms and conditions, go to the official Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/DeadIslandRiptideZombieWeddingUK

John Morgan is the new, fifth playable character in Dead Island Riptide that can join the team in addition to the protagonists from the original game. For years he has trained himself – and become a master – in hand-to-hand combat. His career in the US Navy has not taken off as he originally had envisioned, so he spends his time as a cook on a military ship. Little does he know that soon he will have to bring his skills into practice when the ship nears the island of Palanai…

The town of Henderson is one of the new locations in Dead Island Riptide. Henderson is situated on the island of Palanai in the once beautiful Banoi archipelago. Palanai caters to ultra-wealthy yacht owners and eco-tourists looking to stay nearby to the island’s untouched jungle. Palanai’s center is the luxurious town of Henderson that has grown into a Mediterranean-looking port town.

After a monsoon has laid waste the Banoi archipelago the city lies partially flooded and its abandoned buildings are quickly falling into disrepair. The team of heroes will have to find high ground in order to steer clear of the waters, where unknown threats lurk beneath the deceptively calm surface.

About Dead Island Riptide:
Having survived the ordeals of the zombie infestation on the once beautiful island resort of Banoi, our group of survivors thought they had finally found a safe place to escape from this terrifying nightmare. But they were wrong. Shortly after the battle-hardened team had landed their helicopter on a military ship, a furious storm hits and havoc quickly spreads on board. Suddenly they find themselves struggling for their lives again with all hope drowning in the rising waves.

With invigorating new elements infused into a proven mix, Dead Island Riptide will reanimate the zombie terror in the original game. A monsoon has hit the once beautiful archipelago and heavy rainstorms have laid waste to large areas of the islands. The city of Henderson and jungle areas on the island of Palanai were flooded leaving boats as the only remaining way of transportation. Dynamic weather conditions will force the team members to adapt to changing visibility conditions.

A fifth character will join the team, with an all-new and unique skillset. The combined skills of the group will be sorely needed, since terrible, new and unknown zombie mutations have emerged all over the island.

In a new hub defense missions the coop teamplay skills of the survivors will be tested to the limit – they need to strategically place traps, fences and turrets to fend off oncoming Zombie onslaughts and to protect the humans in these sanctuaries.

New communication features in coop mode also allow players to enjoy an even more intense and strategic teamplay experience.

Already one of the most anticipated titles of 2013, fans will finally be able to take on the zombie hordes once again when Dead Island Riptide is released on April 23, 2013 in the USA and Canada, and on April 26, 2013 in the rest of the world.

Now available for pre-order are two different editions of Dead Island Riptide:
·       Pre-order Edition: This version of Dead Island Riptide will include an exclusive pack of weapon mods that allows even more, manifold ways to dispose of the ghastly zombie hordes on Palanai island.
·       Special Retailers Edition: In addition to the weapon mods this version will contain an alternate character skin not obtainable anywhere else! The Special Edition of Dead Island Riptide will only be available at selected retail partners. Details about the retail partners per territory offering the Special Edition will be announced soon. The Special Retailers Edition will also feature an alternative packshot.

Together with the release date and pre-order details, Deep Silver also revealed the packshot motif for the Pre-order Edition of Dead Island Riptide.

Dead Island Riptide will be released on  on April 26, 2013  for the PlayStation3, Xbox 360 and for Windows PC.

So, this week’s tropical paradise of doom is the island of Banoi, who apparently must be sponsored by Red Bull and B&Q, because there are more cans of energy drink and DIY equipment lying around than one would suspect from a holiday destination. Anyway, enough about the location for now, let’s tuck into the meaty flesh that is Dead Island’s unique and groundbreaking story. Haha only kidding, it’s the same bloody line up as every other zombie survival game from the past five years. Sing along with me: four losers must save the world, doo-dah, doo-dah, undead foes will nom your brains, doo-dah, doo-dah-day! Each of the four characters you can play as comes with a personal narrative and back-story that you could write on a gnat’s arse, and each has a speciality melee skill, be in whining like a bitch, groaning like a dick, stating the bloody obvious or my personal favourite, whining like a bitch, but in an even more irritating accent.

Okay, I think I’ve ragged on the game enough fo—oh wait, the graphics! I know the game is expansive and huge and sprawling, we get that, and the loading times between areas aren’t too bad, seeing as there aren’t too many of them, but the loading of some scenery and backgrounds just looks plain lazy. It reminds me of those awful early 90’s computers that loaded images line by line from the top of the screen to the bottom. I was fighting a horde of zombies outside some beach huts, when no word of a lie, a group of palm trees disappeared off the screen for a second, and then reloaded onto the screen bit by bit, as if they were being rebuilt out of Lego or something. The whole reason we shell out for these great monolithic consoles is that they can cope with things like this, but a bit of greenery and four enemies should send a current generation machine into absolute bloody meltdown.

Gameplay is solid, most of the time, although the throwing mechanic is as smooth to gameplay what an air horn would be in a monastery. Throwing items smaller than a hat stand are unlikely to hit targets, so unless your character has the strength to start hurling cars around, which with all the energy drinks and mutational diseases flying about is entirely possible, you’re unlikely to cause an awful lot of damage by throwing things. As soon as I hurled my nearest pointy object at an enemy I would just find myself kicking in a vain attempt to keep them at bay until I find something else to fling at them. The weapons list is impressive, and the upgrade system allows you to fix favourite weapons, improve them, and craft new weapons by adding stuff to them like bleach, nails and, of all things, lemon juice. You know, for that extra zesty tang.

There seems to be so little actually driving the game forward at any point to make me really believe or enjoy the story. Each “chapter” has about one or two crucial missions that maybe add something to the overall plot or feel to the game, and everything else is so much filler. It’s the exact same problem I have with games like Oblivion, in which you start off with a clear idea of what is wrong, what you have to do, and when you need to do it by. And then, after about an hour, you’re doing seventeen different fetch and recovery quests for the exact three people with different haircuts and there is no sight of any story-related objectives through all the muck and the mire. On the subject of characters, why is it the men in Dead Island are all varied and well developed, whereas all female NPC characters all look exactly the same, just with different bikinis and varying degrees of David Dickinson-esque tan? I’m certain I rescued the same woman, with different names each times, over the course of about five different quests.

The connectivity aspect of Dead Island shines through much of the negativity I have towards the game. At any moment you can press a button and find yourself on the beaches or up in the valleys with other “survivors” playing the game from home, whom you can team up with to solve quests together. No time is wasted going through different loading screens and matchmaking processes, just one press and voila! Dropping in and out of this coop mode doesn’t damage your score or experience earned, but the experience of enjoying this game with others is what adds a sprinkling of something special to a single player campaign that can suffer when the issues arise that I mentioned earlier.

I just cannot accept that in this day and age, a game such as this can be produced with such graphical issues after a major patch following the game’s release, and that not one character in this entire game is anything more than one dimensional. Heck, some of them barely scratch the surface of being one dimensional. The novelty of the scares barely kept me interested in a game that saw missions becoming repetitive after only a handful of hours, but the steady difficulty curve that matches your foes level to within distance of yours keeps the pace going when the missions and story don’t. If you can accept the limitations of the single player experience and try to enjoy some coop play, then Dead Island will shine through. Otherwise, it is barely average survival horror that need just a few more months spent on the game development, and a little less time hyping up the game with an amazing trailer.

MLG Rating: 6/10
Platform: PS3/ Xbox 360/ PC Release Date: 09/09/2011

Disclosure: Midlife Gamer were provided a physical copy of Dead Island for review purposes by the promoter. The title was reviewed over the course of one week on a Ps3. For more information on what our scores mean, plus details of our reviews policy, click here.