Interesting game...but suffers from medicority
Ahh Dead Island... You guys saw the trailer right? Drama... Little girl flying out the window? Yes, great fun! But nevertheless, it was a pretty good game, with pretty big flaws in it... But here ya go...
Storyline: 5/10- Okay, now it's a zombie game, so I'm not going to become too much of a critic about this storyline, but of course, I must say a thing or two about its sheer mediocrity... From the get-go, any character you choose has a different back story, but I think the developers forgot to actually make it matter... Not only does it drop all references in gameplay, but it does not even seem to matter... Either way, the game in general, any character you may choose... The game still remains basically similar story wise. You're on an island, there are a bunch of zombies, and you help a bunch of people out...There is other stuff but I can't talk about this stuff without spoiling th game... Overall, it's a mediocre setup for a storyline, and 5 is a very lucky score... But of course it is a zombie game; I must give it some slack.
Gameplay: 7/10- It's a simple but effective RPG play style... Its cool, the whole weapons accessibility, making them not only easy to take out or choose, but it also gives a much appealing survival nature with the way they break down and such. This tells you when to throw them, yes, throw them! Any weapon is throwable, and in fact, one of the characters has an advantage in that field. From the choice, variety, and sheer fun in melee, and even the not-as-fun firearms selection, the weaponry and combat was good fun! Now from an exploring standpoint, the map layout is a bit hard to follow and to remember where you want to go when you don't have a marker for it… But honestly, there isn't much to complain about here. There's space to drive (yup drive) crazily over zombies, or run like hell from these zombies; honestly it's almost as if this island were a world in itself. But the lack of creativity or much difference in other sections of said maps causes a bit of disappointment. An 6.5 seems a good score for the gameplay of driving, shooting, and hitting through countless zombies, the RPG elements, and of course the map where the gameplay occurs.
Multiplayer: 9/10- Great fun really, who knew this could actually be better to play with friends? Not only is the gameplay the same with two, but it provides an element of teamwork to survival, something most other games have not introduced yet. Although the glitches of the actual game are an annoyance, why don't you see if you can get your friends to hook you up with a modded weapon? That's when this mode can get pretty interesting! I would say overall, that the multiplayer was good fun, and succeeded to amuse me. So in my opinion, I declare a 9.
Characters/personality: 4/10- A bit of a lazy effort on character design, there wasn't much to tell of differences between any of the other characters you encounter on your journey, and it feels like they were just mindless A.I. This is one element I can truly criticize, because when you play a survival video game, you want to feel the emotion from each character... And that is something they failed to get across here, so in that respect, I am utterly disappointed. The main characters, however, kind of have differences with advantages in one area and a bit of a weakness in the other. I think that is one step in the right direction, but it needs to take hundreds more when their "heroes" mutter maybe 6 sayings total in the entire game in response. If a sequel is in store, I will be awaiting a refresh for this section. I will give it a below average 4.
Overall: 25/40: GRADE:D (62nd Percentile)
The Positive: Fun gameplay, Easy to pick up and play, Great graphics, Fun with friends, a good "Time killer". Decent level up feature with things to upgrade, a game you can easily get sucked into as far as sheer gameplay.
The Negative: Mediocre Storyline, Nothing really all that special, Lifeless characters, Repetitive, A bland map, No real "RPG like" choices.
Id say rent it first, although it is fun, it may be a waste of your time if you enjoy story to gameplay. Plus, pretty mediocre in all respects, other than a fun multiplayer.