Dead Island is a bloody, ruthless and action-packed game but horrible storyline.
I like some of the Western RPGs like Mass Effect and Borderland, but when I first played Dead Island, I knew what I was getting myself into.
Storytelling and Presentation:
Let's be clear here, the game nearly doesn't have anything to tell, it's pointless even from the get-go. It doesn't try to make you understand what the fuss is going on. You're just thrown in an island filled with frigging zombies and you have one and single objective is to get the hell out of there. The presentation is an amateur work, it's like someone put a bunch of videos into a video editor and said "there you go, a cutscene" also what's making my ears bleed is how horrible the voice acting is, but let's not jump into that yet.
The script is the most confusing one ever, they just talk about uninteresting stuff and they keep on talking, the boring dialogue is what ruins everything in my opinion. Even if there's a melodramatic scene, you will laugh because it's just garbage and the first thing popped into my head is "When did I meet this character? Why would I care about someone I've just met?"
Conclusion: Don't expect anything except pure gameplay with main and side missions.
Score: 3.5 out of 10
Sound and Voice Acting:
Well, the rap is cool and fun to listen to when you first launch the game. But other than that, there aren't that any music that really caught my attention. Also, during killing zombies, there is no music being played but you have the characters' sound effects.
Voice acting is one of the worst work I've ever seen, it's cheesy and filled with stereotypical characters, like the rapper, and girl who lost her DADY in war, or the chick who's expert with weapons and so on. And they act according to their .. I don't know how to say this; style maybe.
But what's good about the sound effects is that when you equip yourself with a weapon "Most of the gameplay mechanics are melee attacks" and you cut someone, the sound is just great. You can hear the sound when you cut someone's limb.
Score: 6 out of 10
Graphics:
It's not one of the best artistically games you'll find but it's got nice technical graphics. The world is beautiful especially the beach. I liked that place. Also, the details you'll find in enemies when you cut them are just astounding.
Score: 8 out of 10
Gameplay and Controls:
If you've played any first-person RPG, you'll be right at home. The leveling up system isn't so complicated at all. You kill zombies, complete main/side missions and continuous missions then you get Experience Points and Update/skill points to build up your skills. It's a traditional way but I didn't mind it, in fact, I like it. Whenever you upgrade your skills with even 1 point, you feel the change in your character. Of course, with every greater power, come new responsibilities. The zombies are just like, you level up, and so do they. They're not that diverse, they're few in numbers. You see them in everywhere. Keep in mind that the game is an open world, but linear in structure and building designing.
For every main hideout, there are NPCs to help. Only one is for the main quest and the others either give continuous missions or side ones. You'll be spending hours and hours playing the side missions. They're not that necessary if you asked, but fun to do especially if you're playing online.
The weapons are the most fun part of the game, whenever a weapon is gained; you can upgrade it manually by spending money and you modify it by getting specific items that you can get by just looting them up anywhere in the world map. Once you modify your weapon, it's fun to burn those zombies with a baseball pat or electrocute them with a small hammer.
The more I cut those bastards' limbs, the more I enjoy Dead Island. Also another things; when you level up, don't just expect only a number changing in their LV, expect them to be aggressive and deadly. Sometimes they just go insane and become unstoppable. Sometimes you'll run for your life, that's most of the time by the way. But in the end, Dead Island is a fun game to play if you're into pure gameplay game with missions to do.
Score: 8 out of 10
General Pros and Cons:
+_+ Bloody combat, cutting limbs.
+_+ Challenging zombies
-_- Dud Storyline
-_- Horrible Character casts
Score: 7.5 out of 10
Overall Score:
I'm not hating on the game, it's actually bloody fun but in my opinion it had a small amount of potential to tell a walking-dead like story, but it didn't deliver. It's just the settings of the game are perfect for a good storytelling and pure gameplay at the same time, but grinding is what developers are focusing on. That's not a bad thing. I still heart the game.
Score: 7.5 out of 10