Dead Island...returns?

[VegaLA]

Somewhere between 2005 and 2006 there were at least three Zombie games announced for the XBox, one of them, 'Land of the Dead' actually made it to the shelves but the console then was on its last legs. The other two titles disapeared without a trace, but I suspected they would be reanimated after the 360 had made itself at home. 
One of these titles had Tom Savini on board but I cannot remember the title of that game.
The third of the three looks like it will finally get brought back from the dead and the Teaser trailer is making the rounds now.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

There is always room for a decent Zombie game as far as this Fuci/Romero fan is concerned, but I hope the game lives up to the trailer's hype!

[Jemble Fred]

Is it completely wussy of me to seriously balk at using the death of a child (albeit a fictional one), strung out for major emotional impact, all in the name of selling games?

[Mister Six]

As someone who was completely unmoved by the video (emotionally, at least - I was impressed by the quality of the CGI and direction), I can't really jump either way on whether you're a wuss.

I will say, though, that I don't think it deserves any degree of criticism about its content.[nb]Unless the criticism is that it doesn't reflect the actual gameplay, which is fair enough. CGI-laden adverts are this generation's 'Screenshots taken from 16-bit version.'[/nb] Yes, using a kid is manipulative but cinema is absolutely about manipulating your audience with the tools you have at hand. And when you only have two or three minutes to play with, those tools sometimes have to be clumsier and blunter than you may prefer.

Sure, its purpose is to sell a game but I'm not sure that affects the integrity or value of the finished work in either direction. If zombie-instigated defenestration were a major cause of real-life child mortality it would be different.

[Jemble Fred]

Ah well I don't think we'll agree here, but our anaysis of the trailer's cynicism has already gone to print anyway.

And it's not like the 360 needs any more zombie games any which way, no matter how unrepresentatively they're trailered...

[Mister Six]

It's odd. Dead Island sounds completely derivative (it's a four-player zombie aciton game like Left 4 Dead but with the third-person, melee focus of Dead Rising) but for that exact reason I'm interested to see how well it's received and how it manages to distinguish itself from the pack.

Zombie games are definitely going the way of gritty, brown, cover-based shooters though.

[Space ghost]

Where are all these zombie games though? dead rising 1 and 2 and left 4 dead 1 and 2, zombie apocalypse on xbla erm plants vs zombies. It's a bit of an overstatement that the genre is saturated.

[AsparagusTrevor]

And House of the Dead, Resident Evil, Killing Floor, Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare as a few popular ones for the list.

Maybe zombie games aren't in abundance, but zombies in games are plentiful.

[Space ghost]

killing floor isn't even available on the 360, resi isnt zombies and you got me on the other two.

[Mister Six]

Plus CoD zombie minigames,. Not exactly ubiquitous, but probably more than the concept can reasonably support. Especially when two of those series - Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising - are pretty iconic, and this game sounds somewhat derivative of both.

[AsparagusTrevor]

killing floor isn't even available on the 360, resi isnt zombies and you got me on the other two.

Resident Evil was mainly zombies for the first three main games and umpteen spin-offs and tangent games.

Incidentally I'm not bored of zombies yet, Left 4 Dear 2 is my most played games at the moment,  holds highly for me and would be difficult to surpass. I must say that trailer is impressive, but doesn't tell much about the game.

[Jemble Fred]

Resident Evil was mainly zombies for the first three main games and umpteen spin-offs and tangent games.

No, they're 'Infected', as if it makes a tinker's tosstissue of a difference.

Also, the top indie game on Xbox Live is I Maed a Gam3 W1th Zombies 1n it!!!1 . Zombies can just fuck off from popular culture in general, at least for a decade or so, and take pirates and fucking ninjas with them.

[HappyTree]

You can add Crackdown 2 to the zombie list. I love this game. Well, I loved Crackdown. I gave it to my brother and regretted losing the best roam around game I had. I'm pleased that the sequel is more of the same, only now we have moving agility orbs to catch!

I'll drive around squashing zombies if I must, not that thrilled though. Bro showed me RDR zombie which looked ok but I don't enjoy westerns so don't want to play a game that puts me in a western style world.

That Dead Island trailer is extremely upsetting, not a game for me.

[Mister Six]

No, they're 'Infected', as if it makes a tinker's tosstissue of a difference.

If you're talking about the Resi 4 and 5 baddies then it is a pretty marked difference, both in gameplay and story. In fact, the difference between stumbling zombs and running crazy cunts that chase you around a village was one of the big wow points when Resi 4 was first revealed, wasn't it?

Broadly agree about zombies, unless someone comes up with a markedly different way to implement them in games (quite looking forward to the zombie MMOG though) and pirates are tricky to make work unless you're Ron Gilbert, but at least ninjas lend themselves well to video games.

[Spiteface]

If you're talking about the Resi 4 and 5 baddies then it is a pretty marked difference, both in gameplay and story. In fact, the difference between stumbling zombs and running crazy cunts that chase you around a village was one of the big wow points when Resi 4 was first revealed, wasn't it?

I remember it being something different. Would love the next proper Resi to go back to old-school Zombies though.  Based on the "Lost in Nightmares" DLC, I'd gladly take another remake of Resi 1, actually. Or at least Capcom could put that up (and the other old Resi games) on XBLA etc.

Been well into the Dead Rising games of late, and picked up Left 4 Dead 2 recently, then my XBox 360 started freezing. I need to try a solution that I found online just now, but it's late, and I have work in the morning.

Zombie games are a good thing.  Better than some war-based thing anyway.

[Space ghost]

You can add Crackdown 2 to the zombie list.

No you can strike it from the list!

You cant just go lumping mutants in with zombies.

[HappyTree]

Zombie, mutant. A bunch of guys limping around with eyes like Marty Feldman. Tis all the same shizzle fo'shizzle. But ok, I'll leave the zombie connaisseurs to their sport. Have some salt!

'80s Dances: How To Do The Thriller

[Space ghost]

gotcha. what do you mean have some salt?

[HappyTree]

Salt is the traditional remedy for zombies according to voodoo lore. They're a bit like slugs in that respect.

[Mister Six]

Also, they're slow-moving, slimy and disgusting.

[Space ghost]

Oh you were being all wanky, I suspected as much but thought I'd give you the benefit of the doubt.

[VegaLA]

Dead Island review.

http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/2591/Dead-Island/p1/

[bitesize]

so... a cross between Dead Rising and Left4Dead then? wouldn't have thought there was enough space between those games to squeeze in a hybrid of the two. but does sound intriguing, even if i'm a little zombie-d out lately. here's hoping for a demo.

[Mister Six]

Dead Island review.

http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/2591/Dead-Island/p1/

Don't think I'll ever get over the mediocrity of so much online videogame writing.

[bitesize]

new preview on EuroGamer as well: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-17-dead-island-preview

It's an open-world action RPG with a first-person camera. It has character classes, levelling and skills, quests and side quests and improvised weapon crafting. It's awash with bright sunshine and brutal, close-quarters crowd melee combat. It's Fallout meets Borderlands and Dead Rising on the island from Lost, with four-player online co-op.

  sounding a bit more interesting, didn't realise it was RPGish.

[Spiteface]

Bunch of stuff to bring up here, if you've not seen it already:

the "Tragedy hits Paradise" trailer:

Dead Island Tragedy in Paradise Trailer [HD]

and a lengthy walk through showing off some actual gameplay, at long last


So along with Dead Rising 2: Off the Record, two great zombie games to look forward to later this year.

[VegaLA]

The gameplay footage looks interesting. No word on release date though?

Dead Island Teaser Trailer

Ah, 2008.
I could have sworn those original trailers were from 06 though.

[Lt Plonker]

I love the detail in the way the player moves - all the subtle head bobs, dips, seeing the feet as she's flown back - reminds me a bit of Trespasser in a way.

[VegaLA]

Hands on review.

http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/06/30/hands-on-dead-island-multiplayer/

[AsparagusTrevor]

Hands on review.

http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/06/30/hands-on-dead-island-multiplayer/

[VegaLA]

Co-op trailer!

http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/24425/Dead-Island-Has-Gone-Gold/

Less than a month to go!