Does Dead Island Riptide breathe new life into the zombie game genre? Or is it just as dead as the zombies in it?
*PLEASE NOTE: Review taken straight from the video :).
*Start trailer for Dead Island Riptide*
Ooooh no, I'm not falling for that sh*t again! How dare you Dead Island. Fool me once… shame on you. But fool me twice… shame on me. Ya bastards! Do you guys remember when the first Dead Island trailer was released?
*Start trailer for Dead Island*
It was such an emotionally moving trailer, telling the story of a family's demise during a zombie apocalypse. Frame by frame, our heart strings were tugged at. Our tear ducts began malfunctioning. And as the trailer continued to play in reverse, we kept telling ourselves… "Man… this is going to be the best zombie game ever". An emotionally driven storyline, compelling and memorable characters, free roaming first person combat . Honestly, what could go wrong?
Well it turned out that the game was nothing like that all hahaha xD. Oh man, game trailers… you gotta love them. False advertising for the win!
If you have played the original Dead Island and you thoroughly enjoyed it, you will definitely enjoy Dead Island Riptide.
Now Dead Island Riptide is certainly not for everyone. It is geared towards a special type of audience- in the end you will either love it or hate it. If you are looking for a deep and engrossing zombie apocalypse storyline, and are hoping to connect with the characters in some special way, similar to Telltales' Walking Dead game… then this game is definitely not for you.
However, if you're seeking a mindless zombie killing good time, then this is right up your alleyway. Grab yourself a weapon, and let's do this. Dead Island Riptide is a hybrid action RPG, which combines the levels, skill trees, and abilities you would find in an RPG, and crams it together with the action packed experience you would find in first person shooters. Throughout the game you will spend most of your time bashing, smashing, slashing, shooting, burning, electrifying, killing, maiming, and slaughtering zombies while performing a variety of missions and side-quests. You can also create and upgrade your weapons using a variety of materials you find along the way to increase your level of badassery and improve your zombie killing arsenal.
While it's not essential that you play Riptide with others, I would highly recommend it. To truly enjoy and get the most out of this zombie apocalypse, bringing some friends along is definitely the way to go. Playing as a loner, whoops I mean solo, can often feel tedious, lonesome, and just boring since you spend most of the time doing the same thing over and over again. But add in a friend or two and you guys will definitely have a blast. Power in numbers contributes to the overall experience that you will get out of this game.
The thing that plagues this game more than zombies however are the bugs and glitches within the game. It can sometimes feel like the game isn't even completely finished. Don't be surprised if you find yourself dying for no reason. Or if the audio suddenly cuts off. Or if vehicles suddenly disappear. Or if the mini map leads you off a cliff like a b*tch.
Overall Dead Island Riptide makes minor improvements and addresses some of the issues from the last game, but it still feels like a large DLC rather than a full-fledged sequel. If you are really into zombie games and enjoy mindless zombie slaughtering, you should definitely give this a try. However, for everyone else, stay away from this title as it may just leave you rotting in the brain.
Dead Island Riptide gets 3 "Who do you Voodoo B*TCH!" out of 5.