Hello dear reader, welcome to the first post of the new year from me, this review has been a long time coming if I'm honest but due to health problems towards the end of last year I haven't actually got round to it until now.
If I'm honest I have never played any of the 'Dead Island' games before, and to be frank, after playing this one I don't think I want to!
'Dead Island' and it's "sequel" 'Riptide' appear to be games which benefit from the zombie formula to some extent, even though from what I can see neither game was polished. With the developers papering over the cracks with tons of loot for the player, a weapons crafting system and a co-op mode which I've been told is really fun.....shame no one thought to do the same with 'Escape Dead Island'.
You see, despite some links with the other two games in the franchise this game could quite easily be kin to one of the plethora of cheap and sub-standard zombie games that have wandered in their wayward way onto our consoles as of late.
'Escape Dead Island' has a a story which to be perfectly frank seems to be a rehash of the shady corporation conspiracy story and is set a whole six months after the first one, as the world is wondering, "What happened on that island?"
This is where the player comes in and takes control of our protaganist Cliff Cole. Who like many other protaganists of late, is just an obnoxious and vacuous idiot that I found hard to relate to. Cliff's problem lies in the fact that he wants to prove himself to his dad, who is a media tycoon. Yes folks, Cliff is a spoiled rich kid, who drags his two friends along on his quest to find out "The Truth".
The island itself is very strict, with rigidly defined areas to explore, and you feel constantly contained as Cliff is not the most physically agile character, in fact all he can really do is duck at least till he's armed and then he can shoot. He can climb, but only strategically placed ropes, he most assuredly can't jump or climb anthing else. There are areas which are inaccessible at first, but become accessible later on, but to be fair you might not want to go back, as you may only find some loot!
As I mentioned before he can shoot, but there isn't a lot to shoot at, as at most you will face four to five zombies at any one time, which are quite easy to defeat using the old "creep up and stab them in the head" tactic. Even the mutant undead types are easy to kill, well once you have the shotgun they are! The actual controls themselves are sluggish and sticky, especially when in combat, making the dodge move you do unpredictable at best. Progress in the game is very linear, clear an area then move on to the next rigidly defined area to do the same.
I was extremely disappointed in this game, as I thought it would be a lot of fun, instead I found it just plain terrible. If your a fan of 'Dead Island' and/or 'Riptide' then you will be severley disappointed, and if this is you first foray into the 'Dead Island' franchise then avoid this game at all costs!
PROS
- I'm afraid I can't think of any reason to buy this game!
CONS
- Cannot identify with the protagonist.
- Linear progress and story.
- Sluggish and sticky controls.
- NO replayability factor whatsoever.
- NO co-op mode.
'Escape Dead Island' was reviewed using a review copy sent to us by Koch Media.