Apocalyptic Video Game: Dead Island

Before I even start, watch this trailer:

Amazing, no? Yes, amazing. Haunting. Moving. Evocative. Intriguing.

So, (dag. I say “so” a lot) Dead Island clearly has some serious talent behind it. I’m all gob-stopped and awe-struck. The thing about this game that seems to set it apart is that you’re not playing as the well prepped savior, a brilliant scientist or anybody but some nobody.

You play as a nobody. A receptionist, a washed up rapper and two other characters yet to be outlined. Ou, suspense.

The listed features of the game make me squee like… well, like me thinking about melee combat, RPG elements and hordes of zombies.

– 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

A little while ago the Dead Island team got on people’s radar because they had to change their US logo from a hanging corpse to a shambling one. Here in the US we have history of hanging people before they die and would prefer not to be reminded of it.

Personally, I think the shambling corpse makes more sense… No one gets strung up in a zombie apocalypse. There’s no time for that. Where do you find rope? What good is a hanging zombie? It would just flail about. If you hung a person who wasn’t a zombie then there’d have to be a whole lot in the way of explaination that can’t fit in a logo…

Anyway, about that controversy:

The North American release of Dead Island will not feature the hanging corpse on the game’s boxart due to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) restrictions.
A Deep Silver representative confirmed to IGN the logo will be altered on the front of the game box, but the in-game logo will remain unchanged. The boxart and in-game logo for Dead Island will remain unchanged for its release in Europe.
The new logo does away with the hanging corpse and changes it to a zombie walking on the ground. See below:
Original Logo

New Logo

SOURCE

A few more visuals:

Tragedy Hits Paradise trailer

Box Art

I need to see gameplay footage before I completely commit to undying love for Dead Island. But, for now, I’m amped.

Dead Island is by Deep Silver and is scheduled to come out in December 2011.