Five years ago, one of the best trailers ever created emerged on the internet. Dead Island promised to bring back the forgotten zombie genre and if we could believe the trailer, it would do so in a very emotional way. The actual game dropped the emotional idea and gave us a great zombie slayer in paradise. The game sold well and got its sequel. Now both games and the retro arcade spin-off are bundled in the Definitive Collection with improved graphics. Is it worth playing or should we continue our wait for Dead Island 2?
What’s Dead Island?
In case you’re not that up to date when it comes to gaming, let me explain Dead Island for you. Dead Island is a zombie slayer played in first person mode. This means you’ll see the hands and weapons of your character up close the moment you’re fighting off hordes of zombies. It sounds simple but Dead Island has a rather deep RPG-layer. You can level your character and equip them with better weapons and gear along the way. Dead Island can be compared to games as Borderlands and just as those games, it’s best to play it with friends. Dead Island is at its best when you play it together with a group of friends. Aiding each other while fighting those zombies offers a lot of fun. The original Dead Island made some overall good impressions but couldn’t replace the impressive Left 4 Dead franchise. Nevertheless, a sequel, called Dead Island: Riptide, was released two years after the original.
Riptide wasn’t that good, it felt more like a big expansion instead of a true sequel. It offered more of the same but didn’t look as good as the original. The original offered one big sunny island where you could spend hours of your time, Riptide didn’t offer the same charm, mostly due the lack of polish.
The Definitive Collection
So what does the Definitive Collection has to offer? Well, first of all, better graphics. It’s amazing to see how well the developers managed to bring balance to the original Dead Island and Riptide. Riptide looks good for the first time and it’s definitely more fun playing it now. As far as the original goes, it looks extremely good. Thanks to the new engine, you’ll have the feeling of walking on a different island than the one you discovered before. There are new textures and objects around every corner. The palm trees and lighting effects all look amazing and really give you the feeling of standing on a paradise-like location, forgetting the zombies for a moment. Everything looks great, from the bright beaches to the dark, yet impressive caves; it’s fun to play Dead Island this way since it offers way more immersion than ever before.
Kill those zombies together
Although the island and its locations look absolutely amazing, the same can’t be told about the characters. Their facial expressions still lack emotions and this gets in the way of the story. You can’t really create a connection with the characters if they look this fake. Same goes for the lip-syncing, which got slightly improved but still feels unnatural. Also, keep in mind that this remaster still runs at 30 frames per second and you can’t help the feeling that everything could have been better. It’s nothing game breaking but we expect more from remasters nowadays.
The Dead Island magic
The technical flaws don’t kill the actual game. Dead Island always was and still is a very fun game to play. Beating up zombies with a baseball bat on such a sunny location is just fun to do. It offers a lot of fun but can become rather boring after a while, this was the biggest issue of the game. Since it’s a remaster, the developers didn’t change the actual gameplay. This means you’ll still need to complete the main quests and even some side-quests if you’re interested. Those are fun at the start but soon you’ll learn that most of them offer the same objective, collect an object and bring it to another person. It’s something other games do as well but it’s still a shame a game like Dead Island doesn’t dare to innovate some more.
To enjoy the game to its fullest, however, you’ll need to play the game in co-op mode and that’s where the magic happens. During your sessions, you’ll get notifications of players around the world that are playing the same mission on the same location as you. With just one push of the button, you’ll join them. Beating those zombies together is amazing and you’re not even forced to stay together. Want to complete that side mission first? Go ahead. The only time the players need to come together is if you want to complete one of the main missions. This co-op mode was always the strength of the franchise and it’s amazing to see that people are still enjoying it years after the original release.
Dead Island Retro Revenge
One of the most fun extras in this collection is a game called ‘Dead Island Retro Revenge’. In this 2D brawler, you’ll play as Max. Max tries to save his cat in a zombie-filled California. The idea is simple. Max automatically runs over the screen and you can switch his position between three lanes. Sometimes you’ll need to avoid obstacles while you’ll need to defeat enemies at other points.
It’s an easy idea but it’s done perfectly. The 16-bit sound effects and graphics really bring back a feeling of nostalgia. The only downside about it is that you’ll be able to finish it rather fast since there are only four playable chapters. Compared to the other games, Retro Revenge is only a small piece of the pie but it’s a piece that tastes like more without a doubt.
A lot of content
Aside of Retro Revenge, the Collection is filled with content. The first Dead Island offers more than 30 hours of gameplay and the Riptide sequel comes close to those numbers. Besides that, all DLC that ever released for both games is on the disc as well. This means you’ll be able to spend hours of your time defeating zombies, alone or with your friends. This means this Definitive Edition is the perfect game for those who can’t wait for Dead Island 2 to finally release in stores.
Conclusion:
Dead Island: Definitive Collection isn’t the perfect game but it offers a lot of fun nevertheless. If you haven’t played Dead Island before, this is the best way to start. It’s the best-looking and most complete Dead Island experience on the market for sure. The game can become rather boring on your own but playing it with friends makes up for a lot. The games aren’t perfect but thanks to the improved graphics and DLC, they got a lot better without a doubt! Also, take note that Retro Revenge is one of the best things that ever happened to the franchise and you know you’re in for hours of zombie fun!
