Dead Island: Preview

After the (somewhat beautiful) trailer for Dead Island made it's way around the internet, we figured it was about time we delivered some cold, hard previews. So, after a little digging, we have, just for you, the Dead Island Preview!

It's All Smiles On The Resort...

Dead Island see's you taking the role of one of four characters; Xian Mei (an employee at the hotel), Logan (a surfer), Sam B (a rapper) and Purna (no details as yet). Publisher Deep Silver, are describing the characters with classes, "leader", "tank", "jack of all trades" and "assassin", but each character starts out the same way; suddenly being attacked at the hotel by a horde of zombies, and being dragged to the pool house for shelter.

Fading in and out of consciousness, the character is only 'vaguely' aware that he/she was dragged to safety by survivors, then being shouted at by one of the said survivors; presumably to see if the player is infected.

Dead Island is an action game, not a 'survival horror', so even though guns and ammunition are hard to come by (this is a tourist attraction after-all), weapons are the driving force, but melee weapons are the bane of the game, all complete with various attributes; damage, swinging speed and repair levels. 

Workbenches provide the place for weapon repairs, and, if you're lucky enough to find blueprints and the various 'ingredients' you could turn a simple melee weapon into a bona-fide zombie slaying machine.

To start with though, a broken rowing oar will have to suffice.

The Brochure Promised Boat Trips In Serene Waters.
They Never Mentioned The 'All Inclusive' Zombie Buffet 

The sands, deck chairs and pretty much everything else are found covered in blood, with corpses lying around, not doing much for atmosphere of the vacation. You're alerted by a fellow survivor fighting some zombies, but then, you're caught unaware as another zombie fires itself at you, launching a Quick Time Event (QTE), in which the fiend tries to prise the oar from your grasp.

A fun addition to the game mechanics, is that once you've "killed" the zombies, you can perform a sort of finishing move to rid the critter. Take note these will be very gory, including the ability to stomp so hard the zombies cranium bursts. Awesome.

Fighting your way through the resort is made that bit more entertaining with the inclusion of a nice family af zombies:

Your neighbourhood zombies all come in varying forms; the slow, shambling type; infected, which are a lot more aggresive and can break into a full blown sprint; and suicide type, which will blow up when injured. 

So, as always, your survival is pretty high up on your priority list. 

And they'll be no constant 'swing, swing' of your weapons, as you have a stamina bar, which must fill before you can attack, so take it easy when fending off hordes (attack only when necessary). You do, fortunately, have a 'quick kick' attack, that allows you for ore breathing space when cornered by a horde.

Each character also has a skill system, which you can upgrade up to 3 new abilities as you progress, for example, Sam has a fury ability that turns the screen red, and he can burst zombies open by hitting them with his bare fists.

The Lack Of WiFi Caused A Commotion At The Resort

These are just some of the reasons why Dead Island is one to watch, along with the added multiplayer, this could be a very interesting title.

Want to watch the trailer again? Or haven't actually seen it yet (you crazy fools!)?

Then check it out here.

source: Gamespot