Dead Island | D+

After initially being announced in 2006, five years and a fair bit of hype later, Dead Island finally managed to find its way onto store shelves. The result of this waitis a game that does not feel like its own product so much as it feels like a patchwork of other, more established products: Four-player cooperative survival feels like Left 4 Dead, the weapon crafting is reminiscent of that from Dead Rising 2, the equipment management system is taken from Borderlands and the questing and RPG elements bear similarities to those of Fallout. Though "borrowing" from successful games may seem like a fantastic idea, Dead Island makes clear that combining several great things does not always yield a great result.

Dead Islandis not particularly plot-heavy. On a small, fictional island off the coast of Papua New Guinea, the player's character wakes up in a resort hotel to find that the area has been overrun by zombies. The story itself is nothing special, but it does not detract from the overall experience. However, most of the characters are horribly unlikeable and the voice acting is some of the worst in recent memory.

Dead Island's gameplay places a distinct focus on using melee weapons to maim and dismember enemies. The combat feels a little awkward at first, due in part to somewhat imprecise swinging mechanics, but players will not only get used to it, but will find it hugely gratifying. Though the game's graphical presentation tends to be inconsistent, Dead Island's wanton slaughter always looks fantastic.

Unfortunately, Dead Island is a one-trick pony. The combat is not nearly good enough to hide the myriad of other issues. Most distressing of these problems is the game's lack of atmosphere; Dead Island does not make the player feel as though they are embroiled in a desperate struggle for survival. Unlike in Left 4 Dead or Dead Rising, in which players could easily become overwhelmed by hordes of the undead, Dead Island's game engine only manages to throw small handfuls of zombies at a time. In addition, weapons and supplies replenish rather quickly, further detracting from the idea of survival horror.

Dead Island's many side quests only add tedium and frustration to the game. The vast majority of these optional missions are some variant of fetch quest that requires players to backtrack to other areas to find specific items. While these missions may be interesting or novel the first time, they become much less so by the 10th or fifteenth.

Dead Island's violence and gore will satiate the bloodlust of many gamers. Unfortunately, for those looking for a more complete package, the game does not have much more to offer.