Dead Island: Riptide Xbox 360

Released on 26-Apr-2013

• Dead Island heading back to the beach for a sequel

  Zombie-splatting openworld RPG Dead Island will be lurching back to life, hungry for more brains, as Polish developer Techland has confirmed that it's working on a follow-up, entitled Dead Island: Riptide.

  "The next battle between life and death will be waged in Dead Island Riptide, currently in development for consoles and PC by Techland," read the message posted on the game's official Facebook page. "An extensive reveal of the thrilling new perils that players can expect from this new entry to the Dead Island franchise is planned for later this summer. Stock up on zombie survival guides, water, ammunition, and watch this space!"

  The message was accompanied by a logo, which repeats the palm tree motif of the original over murky forest imagery. Will this sequel be set on the same island, or has the infection spread to a new location? We'll just have to wait and see.

  In the meantime, the BBFC has rated a Dead Island: Game of the Year edition, so if you haven't already hacked your way through the original game, you'll get your chance.
  

• Dead Island developers working on first-person hack and slash action game

  Zombie-themed role-playing adventure Dead Island won over plenty of players with its chunky first-person melee combat, which allowed you to swing machetes, clubs and all sorts of homemade weaponry at the undead. Now, some of the team from Techland, the studio that created Dead Island, are working on a new game with an even greater emphasis on hand-to-hand fighting.

  Given the promising codename Project Hell, the game features a swords and sorcery visual style with concept art on the game's official blog - the wonderfully named sharpenyouraxes.com - showing a menacing looking fellow in armour clutching some monstrous severed heads. Project Hell is being developed with PC in mind, but the developers say they're considering a console release as well.

  "Our main goal is to make a game we can all enjoy playing so don't expect unicorns and fairies," posted project manager Marcin Kruczkiewicz. "We prefer breaking through hordes of undead minions only to slaughter their devilish and loathsome masters in a bloody boss-fight." Charming.

  The main Techland team, meanwhile, is still beavering away on Dead Island sequel, Riptide, due sometime in 2013. A Game of the Year edition of the first game, including all the additional DLC quests and bonus weapons, is out for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

  Published: 28/08/2012

• Dead Island: Riptide reveals its new holiday destination

  Having survived the zombie carnage on the tropical island of Banoi, fans eager for Dead Island sequel Riptide will have a whole new blood-soaked holiday destination, called Palanai, according to creative director Sebastian Reichert.

  "The request from the fans after the success of Dead Island was very clear – they want more and they want it now!" Reichert told VG247. "However, creating a whole new setting will take a lot of time. So the question shifted to ‘do we have enough ideas in the same setting to offer another great experience, or do we have to shift the setting to deliver a full experience?’ Dead Island: Riptide is the answer to that. We changed the setting partially, built in new features fitting to this different environment and now we make sure the experience rocks again."

  "For example, in Dead Island, the beauty of the island was often created by man – the beach resort, hotel, etc - and the terror was created by the zombies. This main design theme has changed. Palanai is an island full of natural beauty, for example, wonderful waterfalls, contrasted by natural destruction caused by storms, monsoons and rain. And of course the zombies."

  Riptide will add a new character to the quartet introduced in the first game, as well as improving various gameplay mechanics. Sticking with melee or ranged weapons, for instance, will gradually increase your stats for that weapon type.

  Dead Island: Riptide is due for release on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 next year. If you want to get up to speed on the series, the Dead Island: Game of the Year edition is on sale now for just £12.99.

  Published: 24/10/2012

• Dead Island: Riptide lets you import your save file from the original

  Details are starting to shuffle slowly into view for Dead Island: Riptide, the follow up to the popular 2011 open world zombie bashing multiplayer RPG. The really good news for existing fans is that as Riptide stars the same four characters you'll be able to carry over your save file from the first game, and start with all your stats and perks intact.

  There's also a fifth character joining the gang - a martial arts fighter inspired by the Fist of the North Star anime series - and the action shifts from the resort island of Banoi to the more tropical jungle setting of Palanai.

  The details come from a Eurogamer preview, in which producer Sebastian Reichart explains that developer Techland has been taking criticisms of the original to heart. "A lot of polishing is done to make sure things work," he says. "The whole menu's getting a redesign to make sure it's cleaner. We have a lot of feedback regarding user guidance. Before, it was OK for playing the game, but not for developing a character. We had feedback that the weapons break too fast."

  Also new will be the ability to fortify locations. One set piece involves the players taking refuge in a lost temple, barricading the entrances and using a pump to keep it from flooding. Of course, the noise of the pump attracts the undead and that's when the fun really starts.

  Dead Island: Riptide is out on April 26th for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
  

  Published: 06/12/2012

• Dead Island: Riptide - Preview

  
  

  

  Dead Island was plenty of things, but you'd be hard pushed to call it a masterpiece. It was as shaggy as the scruffiest rug, as broken in parts as a china set that's just been through a tumble dryer and as cheesy as a rotting block of Stilton. It was also, for all that, an awful lot of fun, and that's all that really matters after all, isn't it?

  There was a certain shabby charm to the open-ended first-person action RPG, and it's as if someone had taped over a copy of Skyrim with a little Left4Dead on an old fuzzy VHS - it was a curious mix, but one that was not a little intoxicating, especially when shared in co-op mode with a handful of friends. It was the gaming equivalent of a dumb Van Damme action film - mindless but fun, and the perfect way to spend a Saturday night.

  Everyday I'm Shuffling

  And so perhaps unsurprisingly it was a success, and inevitably there's now to be a follow-up - Dead Island: Riptide. This isn't Dead Island 2 - that's to come, developer Techland has suggested, although we're likely going to have to wait until the next generation of consoles - but is instead an expansion big enough to warrant its own box.

  

  It's best to think of it not as an expansion in the mold of Red Dead Redemption's Undead Nightmare, or even the GTA's Episodes from Liberty City. It's best to think of it instead as something like Fallout: New Vegas: an all-new adventure, in a new location with plenty of new tricks to get your head around.

  You now find yourself on the island of Palanai, another tropical paradise that's set in the same archipelago as the original's Banoi. It's a slightly less welcoming paradise, though, and it's beset by tropical storms that make for a moody, atmospheric backdrop. Expect swamplands and plenty of nice big puddles for you to splash around in as you fend off the undead.

  Those undead come in a variety of new flavours now, too. There's a grenadier, a zombie who's got the nasty knack of tossing grenades your way, as well as the scar, a huge hulking opponent who's going to take a fair few swings of whatever you've got in your hand to take down.

  Undead Until Dawn

  And that combat, when it happens, is going to be slightly slicker than what came before - which is something of a blessing given how messy the original Dead Island's combat felt. There's a slightly improved weapon degradation system too, one of the many little tweaks that have been made to ensure that Riptide's a more polished effort than its predecessor.

  

  There are new mission types that help add a little variety, too, and it's here where Riptide could really come into its own. Now, in addition to fetch quests and the day-to-day business of just staying alive, there are little sections where the emphasis is on defence, and where you're faced against wave after wave of the undead.

  It's superficially similar to Gears of War's Horde mode and all of the various imitators that followed in its wake, but more importantly it feels like a set-piece plucked straight from the zombie classics. You're shored up against an army of undead, constructing defences from barbed wire in the rare quiet moments in a scene that echoes Night of the Living Dead. It's a new feature that could really add something a bit special to Dead Island's formula.

  And of course there's Dead Island's old formula that's also returning. It may be a bit rough around the edges, but it's most definitely entertaining, and Riptide promises to deliver another slice of schlocky Saturday night entertainment.

  Published: 31/01/2012

• Dead Island fans plan zombie wedding

  In a move that will likely make you go "Awww" and then "Urgh", publisher Deep Silver has announced that it will be hosting the wedding of two Dead Island fans later this month. The twist? The happy couple will be zombified for the occasion.

  This isn't a stunt either. The marriage of Jennifer Jones, 27, and Rob Blackmore, 31, will be legally binding, which is just as well since they're an actual couple. Their wedding will take place at Mayfair One in London on April 23rd.

  Jennifer will arrive to the ceremony in a Dead Island themed truck, and the couple will be serenaded afterwards by a zombie mariachi band. They'll then jet off on a Caribbean honeymoon, courtesy of Deep Silver, which is unfortunate timing as it means they'll actually miss the launch of Dead Island Riptide on April 26th. Silly loved-up zombies.

  "We're thrilled to have been chosen to be the official zombie bride and groom for Dead Island Riptide!" said Jennifer. "We're big fans of Dead Island and the horror genre, and a zombie wedding is a dream come true for us. Thanks Deep Silver & Koch Media!"

  Dead Island Riptide is out for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on April 26th.

  Published: 08/04/2013

• Review Roundup: Dead Island Riptide

  Techland's zombie-mashing open world RPG Dead Island was a surprise hit in 2011, and now it's semi-sequel is here. Riptide picks up where the previous game left off, and you're able to import your character from last time to get a head start. As before, it's a four player co-op game where melee combat using hand-made weapons is the order of the day.

  But is it any good? Game Informer thinks so, delivering an 8/10 verdict. "Few games nail the visceral feel of melee combat and co-op fun like Dead Island," reads the review. "At its worst, an annoying hiccup breaks the immersion of the grizzly trek through a zombie-infested paradise. At its best, Riptide hits the same high notes as the original."

  IGN also praises the game's "satisfying zombie dismemberment and co-op", with a 7.2 score. "It's a fun time," it concludes, "but there are no surprises or killer new features to make it an impressive package."

  Official Xbox Magazine also suggests that the game will please fans of the original, and anyone who fancies mangling the undead with others. "Being able to simply drop into the game of any player who's around the same point in the story as you means they don't need to be actual friends," says the US mag in its 7.5 review. "While it's got some irritating rough patches, Dead Island: Riptide's 15-hour campaign still manages to be a lot more fun than it has any right to be."

  Clearly this isn't a super-polished blockbuster, but it seems that Dead Island Riptide still offers a unique experience for those who warm to its bloody charms.

  Published: 23/04/2013

• Dead Island Riptide - Review

  
  

  

  The Dead Island series never seems to be far from controversy. The original game was famous for a haunting slow-motion trailer that portrayed the death of a young girl in reverse as her family was terrorised by zombies. Then when the game came out it was a bug-ridden mess, albeit an occasionally enjoyable one. Its creators capped this all off by releasing a presumptuous "Game of the Year" Edition - a label that even people who loved the game could scarcely justify applying to it.

  Dead Island Riptide isn't likely to be anyone's game of the year either, but it is a solid improvement on the original game in several respects. Still a zombie survival RPG played out in first-person, it picks up the original group of survivors and adds a new one - John Morgan, a former soldier with a brilliant running kick move - before dumping you on the island of Palanai, neighbour to the first game's Banoi, and giving you much the same set-up: explore the open world, collect items to craft weapons from, and fulfil all sorts of fetch quests to drag the story forward towards your escape.

  Let's Rip Together

  Riptide retains the first game's emphasis on co-operative play with up to three friends and improves it slightly - enemies in each player's instance of the game are now given strength levels that match that player's progress, so your level-20 character may see level-20 zombies, while your friend's level-40 character sees the same adversaries at level 40. The drop-in aspect still works extremely well, and if you find yourself playing alone you can also jump in and out of stranger's games when the matchmaking system notices someone else online playing the game at a similar level of progression.

  

  Whether alone or with friends, the action still plays out at brutal close quarters and, while guns are available, a lot of players prefer the range of bats, blades and hammers that carve up the undead and can be found strewn around the world and earned by completing missions. The items you scavenge out in Palanai can also be used to modify these weapons at regular workbenches, adding an electric sizzle to a katana or a barbed wire sheath to a heavy-duty baseball bat, enhancing their ferocity. Weapons still degrade and need to be repaired, but they seem to do so less quickly than they did in Dead Island.

  The combat is the best thing in Dead Island Riptide. In fact, it's pretty much the whole reason to play it. Dicing up small groups of enemies, managing space around the bigger brutes, using the environment and explosives to your advantage, coordinating with friends, all the while glorying in the slapstick comedy of it all, is where Riptide really sings. Palanai is a fantastic setting for it, too - full of interesting scenery, half-hidden paths into the jungle, and roads and waterways to explore by truck or boat. The sudden changes in weather brought on by the monsoon conditions give it character, too.

  

  Isle of Fright

  More demanding players who like a bit of story, imagination in quest design or coherent game systems will be less impressed, though, it has to be said. Levelling up and collecting loads of items feels really important early on, but it quickly becomes irrelevant - unlockable abilities aren't that interesting, enemies are levelled to match your skills at all times so you can't get an advantage by grinding, and items respawn in the world so frequently that the whole internal economy of the game is devalued. As for the story and what you're asked to do, it's as basic as it comes. You'll struggle to remember character names or anything they said, and the game's obsession with fetching and carrying items for people wears you down.

  With a bit more work in these areas, a future full sequel to Dead Island could be something quite special. As it stands, Riptide is not a game of the year contender, but the bugs are mostly gone and it's still a solid zombie-hacking open-world experience, especially in co-op, even if you will need to keep gritting your teeth through cut-scenes and endless inventory screens. Just remember: beating up the undead is why you're here, and if you and your friends like doing that then you'll find plenty of fun waiting for you in Palanai.

  GAME's Verdict

  The Good:

  • Modifying weapons is great fun, resulting in some truly bizarre concoctions
  • Palanai is a great setting, full of character and hidden treasures
  • It's the best co-op zombie game since the Left 4 Dead titles

  The Bad:

  • Story is absolute nonsense and you'll struggle to care
  • Inventory and character development systems are weak and a bit pointless
  • Combat becomes repetitive after a dozen hours or so

  Published: 24/04/2013

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