5 Reasons Dead Island could be the Best Game Evar!

Zombies games have quite literally, been done to death by now. There are a few games like the Left 4 Dead series that have still managed provide gamers with a thoroughly entertaining experience, but the genre on its own hasn’t really evolved a lot. With Dead Island, developer Techland are traversing territory that’s never been explored, fusing multiple genres to create one ambitious game. Expectations are sky high but if they manage to pull it off, Dead Island could be the best game ever. And here are five reasons why.  

It’s an open world zombie game

The island is yours to explore

There are zombie games – and then there are open world games but never have the two genres crossed paths. This obviously opens up a whole new sub-genre of games that could be the best thing since sliced ham. Instead of simply moving from point A to B in a linear fashion, Dead Island will allow players to tackle any situation in a non linear way. And since the entire (fictional) island of Banoi will eventually open up, the possibilities are limitless. Oh and did we mention it’ll ship with four player co-operative play? Yeah, think about that for a second.

Focus on melee combat

Eat my pipe undead scum

Most zombie games hand you a plethora of weapons and encourage you to go carve up the undead but Dead Island will focus more on melee combat. This obviously makes matters a lot more intense as you’ll have to move in closer for the kill. And as Left 4 Dead 2 has shown us, bludgeoning a zombie to death is just plain awesome. In Dead Island, pretty much any melee object be it a pipe, an oar, a tree trunk and lots more could be used to hammer away at the undead. We also hope Dead Island go a bit more primal and allow us to set traps. That would be completely mental.

Create and customize your Tools of Destruction

What weapon will you use today?

Even though Dead Rising 2 was frustrating, it did allow you to combine all sorts of weapons to create uber badass weapons. Dead Island will grant you somewhat of the same mechanic as well where you’ll have to craft various weapons to survive. Imagine fusing a machine and a harpoon gun together or combining a rocket launcher with a tree trunk. According to Techland, this particular mechanic will allow them to offer over thousands of weapons to the player, just like Gearbox did with Borderlands.

A zombie game - with a story?

Gut-wrenching stuff

If there’s one thing missing from most zombie games, it’s emotion and an immersive plot. In most cases you either play a cocky arrogant dude or a hardened veteran who can survive anything at any cost. While no one’s doubting their badassery, such characters are cookie cutter clichés which hopefully Dead Island will do away with. In the Dead Island trailer, you saw a young girl who upon being bitten by the infected, turns and then tries to eat her dad’s brains who out of sheer reflex and survival instinct, throws her out of the bedroom window to her death. We’re hoping Techland can covert this kind of hard hitting stuff into gameplay forcing players to make impossible choices like that. Hey no one said a zombie apocalypse was pleasant.   

Sprinkled with RPG mechanics

That's not gonna end too well for you

Most zombie games or even survival horror games for that matter make sure your character is capable of kicking ass from the get go. In Dead Island, that won’t be the case. You aren’t someone who can single handedly save the world from an apocalypse; you’re an average male or female who just so happens to be on the island enjoying a nice tan when the outbreak occurs. You’ll have to hone your skills and then develop them to survive and - in all probability – handle more powerful weapons. Once again, this sort of a leveling system hasn’t been seen a lot in survival horror games. Add this to the open world mechanic and you’re looking at a game with a ton of replayablity just like an action RPG.

And for some inane reason you’ve still not seen the game’s official trailer, we’ve got you covered.