I've just spent the last 5 hours playing Dead Island on the xbox 360 and thought I would share my first impressions with you. 

It's OK. 

Yes I know that's not what you wanted to hear, you want to hear it's great, but the truth is it's not. 

The trailer was great, but from what I've seen from the game so far i it's a little bit like most zombie films, it's B-Movie. Even though is brand new it's dated, and has a cheap feeling to it. With low polygon characters and low resolution textures combined with clunky controls and blood splatter effects that look like they are on cards I felt a little cheated. The animation and the lip sink is not that great either... 

After choosing to play as one of 4 characters the story begins. Then around 5 minutes later you see a zombie, after another 5 you are killing them. It's a refreshing change not to be launched straight into a game with guns a blazing. You start off with melee weapons and work your way up to bigger and better things, this process is slow though, after what feels feels like an eternity you get to use a gun only to find out the bullet are scarce.

Dead Island is not a run and gun zombie game like Left for Dead, it is a little more free roam and has a heavy RPG element to it. You get to collect money, food and upgrades along the way. This means you get to build your character and your get to build and repair your weapons. I also noticed that while playing in single player mode you get the opportunity to  join with other players online that are in the same stage of the story as you. I didn't try this out as I'm waiting to try the coop side of things with some friends early next week. I will report back about that experience soon.

So far it gets 2.5/5 but this may change the more I play...


Welcome to the Island of Banoi! The player is drawn into the world of Dead Island on the brink of a mysterious epidemic that suddenly, and without warning, breaks out on the fictional island of Banoi. As a guest of the Royal Palms Resort, the player's stay was supposed to be a dream holiday; a luxurious getaway to the beautiful beaches of a tropical paradise. But faced with the reality of a zombie apocalypse, there is only one thing left to do:  Survive.

This is Dead Island... a paradise to die for.

• Features- first-person melee combat
• 4 player co-op
• weapon customization
• set on an open world tropical island
• RPG elements for character development
• hordes of gruesome zombies
  

For Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC