Dead Island Riptide

Blog Post: Relax, Have Fun!

boxcar182 — Wed, 15 May 2013 22:23:00 GMT

If you played the first Dead Island then you've played Riptide. Now that is not a bad thing! personally i LOVED the original game and this one is no different, its actually better. Some of the flaws that were present in the original are still present in Riptide (odd quest compass, hit detection, awkward movement) but none of it really breaks the game.

Some new additions are little but help a lot. One example is now in your inventory you can check and see what supplies you have collected that go with a mod, so if you have a "Lightning mod" and you pick up a "hose" it will show how many items of that particular item you need, plus it'll show what else you need "duct tape, nails, ect".

Another new addition is being able to ride in boats, although they are quicker to use then walking through flooded villages they really don't make it easier to travel. certain zombies can run through the water and grab hold of your boat, pulling off players and even the driver. It can be irritating but like in my title of this review "Relax, Have fun!". The game can be a blast (and hilarious!) with friends, with newcomer John Morgan having a run and kick attack that can send zombies flying across the level makes for a good laugh, no really you have to see it to understand it is to funny.

this game isn't perfect and has many flaws, but in the end its a video game and it got me laughing and smiling while hacking up zombies with friends, I recommend this game.

Wiki: Dead Island Riptide Guides

Anonymous — Wed, 08 May 2013 03:45:00 GMT

Guides for Dead Island Riptide

Blog Post: I don't understand all the hate.

soulfly666 — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:03:00 GMT

So just to get this out of the way. The gameplay, level appearance, characters, and zombies in this game are very similar to Dead Island. If you did not like that game you certainly will not like this one. That being said, I completely agree with GI. This game is great. I do not understand all the sites giving it such terrible reviews! It is fairly weak on premise and storyline, but that is not really what the game is about. It excels at smashing zombies! The combat is very rewarding and honestly never gets boring. They added a cool water effect to your vision and new motion blur when running that enhances the experience. Also the hideout base defense sequences are awesome!! You immediately want to play them over and over again. Weapons are customizable again and even more so. Also the new character's special hand to hand attacks are great! Running smash kick and super uppercuts and dual foot head crushes of zombies! Also, the steelbook it came in is one of the nicest steelbooks I have ever seen.

Blog Post: Dead Island Riptide: A Beautiful Slice of Hell

footthumb — Wed, 01 May 2013 15:22:00 GMT

Dead Island wasn't on my radar when it released back in 2011. At that point, the zombie apocalypse was starting to wear a bit thin. All the time I'd spent mowing down the living impaired in Treyarch's zombie iterations combined with my continued revisits to the Dead Rising games left me with a distinctly undead form of 'trigger fatigue'. But in the midst of yet another non-existent list of summer nothingness that was 2012's lackluster summer roster, the promise of hacking off appendages in an open-world zombie paradise was all I needed to pick up my Ripper Modded Baseball Bat and get back out there on the front lines of World War Z (If you haven't picked up Max Brook's book of the same name, trust me zombie fans, you will not want to pass it up). Techland's Banoi, did not disappoint. Despite it's drawbacks, of which there were quite a few, Dead Island was the sleeper zombie hit of the decade (it sounds a bit grandiose sure, but keep in mind that the decade started in 2010). After such an enjoyable outing on Banoi, I couldn't wait for what lay ahead on Palanai, Dead Island: Riptide's newest zombie infested island.

Set at the tail end of it's predecessor, Riptide brings back all of your old survivor buds, plus one; John Morgan, the hand-to-hand specialist (who magically appears out of thin air). Finally out of the frying pan, Riptide kicks off by promptly throwing you back into the fire. As one of the immune, your blood is a hot commodity to the shady corporate villains that greet you as your chopper lands on their floating safe haven. Treated about as cordially as your average Guantanamo detainee, your safety is further secured as your 'host's' fill you full of mutagen and toss you in the hold. Your time as their guinea pig however is short lived as the freighter becomes overrun by the zombie stowaways, sending you and the ship crashing onto the beaches of Palanai; yet another zombie infested island in what has to be the worst possible archipelago on planet Earth. Once your boots hit the sand, Riptide tasks you with once again finding a safe place to rest your weary machete while you figure a way out of this beautiful hell.

What's always made Dead Island such an interesting zombie experience to me is it's insistence on keeping it's game firmly grounded in the people on the ground and their minute to minute struggle to keep themselves alive. Finding resources, shelter, survivors, and ultimately a way off of this god forsaken island is front and center throughout the entire story. While Riptide introduces a questionable corporate boogieman and his equally questionable military shills, their only true significance to the mechanics of the story is their impediment to your escape. Dead Island has no Umbrella, and it's that much better without it. Their insistence on making a zombie survivor game instead of a conspiracy game, that just so happens to have zombies, is a huge part of what's made it stand head and shoulders above that.. other one; for me anyway (RE 1,2 & 4 are not part of this criticism). What's it's name again? Umbrella Evil? No matter. You'll find a conspiracy lurking in the corners on Palanai, but Techland does a great job of keeping it out of your way.

I prefer to avoid too many specifics regarding the story because the best part of any zombie story is not knowing what's going to happen; particularly, not knowing what's waiting around the next corner. I walked into the original Dead Island blind and it made the experience that much better. While most of you interested in the game probably know enough already, if you haven't heard the details yet it'll be that much more interesting; well, intriguing; well, whatever the word is for somewhat mildly interesting. You may not be blown away with a revolutionary new tale in the Zedworld, but Riptide delivers enough to keep you from completely writing off it's story. However, Dead Island being Dead Island, if you completely hate the story, no big thang; with everything this franchise offers in terms of gameplay, they could make the story about finding a pack of gum and you truly wouldn't care. The true nuts and bolts of Dead Island, are the ones attached to your bat.

As anyone tasked with hitting the streets and jungles in the midst of a full on zombie infection will tell you, the tools of the zombie survival trade make all the difference in the world. We all know that picking up a metal bat is better than walking through the shattered streets with empty hands, but Techland knows that sometimes that's just not enough. Why pick up a metal bat to bash those zombie skulls when you can just head to the tool bench, strap a motor and circular blade to that bat and slice and dice while you smash and bash. Dead Island's Mods are a big part of what makes this game the great time that it is. Whether you're electrifying your machete or turning your shovel into a veritable napalm stick, the vast array of possibilities will keep you scrounging every nook and cranny of Palanai for any and all parts and tools; a task made easier via Techland's dual gear icon's that mark every lootable spot. Riptide brings back all of your Modding favorites and then some. The ability to turn your average shotgun into a lighting blast is particularly useful when confronted with some of Riptide's biggest and baddest new undead. If you thought Banoi got ugly, wait until you see the way Palanai's infection has mutated it's inhabitants.

Most of the island is thick with Walkers; your everyday lumbering zombie whose uncoordinated and clumsy physical prowess rank them low on the zombie evolutionary ladder. But don't be fooled; just because they're idiots and a little clumsy, doesn't mean that they can't get a hold of you. Once they get a few yards away their pace picks up and they lunge forward, making 3 or more of these guys a dangerous pack of rabid idiots. But at the bottom of the evolutionary scale, these guys are the least of your concerns. As you move deeper into the story and jungle, you'll quickly find that the zombie infection has turned some of the islanders into truly dangerous and wonderful monsters. Suiciders, Thugs, and Floaters were some of the heavyweights on Banoi and they return again to reek havoc on Palanai; but compared to some of the island's newest, these guys are just mild nuisances. Grenadiers, Screamers, and the monstrous Wrestlers are the new big boys on the block, and if you aren't packing some serious explosives and high-level weapons, your best bet is to either seek higher ground or just turn tail and run. Along with these new guys they've also morphed some of the OGs into lethal hybrids that make remaining upright a truly tricky feat. What do you get when you combine an Infected with a Thug? Short answer? Death. I'll leave their abilities unexplained (although some of them are fairly obvious), because it's a lot more fun to just stumble upon these heavyweights and find out for yourself just how quickly you're about to die; that's half of the zombie fighting fun. The other half, is dismemberment.

Other than the weapon Modding, this is Dead Island for me. It's one thing to hack away at the zombie menace, but it's quite another to hack off an arm or two, maybe a leg here and there, and then cleanly remove the head with one well timed swing of the axe. Though the aim is notoriously sketchy, making area specific strikes oftentimes more luck that skill, nothing is quite as satisfying as marginalizing a Thug by removing his arms. Well, let me take that back. Lopping off an Infected's head as he's barreling down on you full sprint is hands down the most satisfying dismemberment in the entire game. If blood and gore make you a little squeamish, well… Actually. If blood and gore make you squeamish, you're probably not playing a zombie game anyway. Enjoy your knitting. Riptide is all about hacking, slashing, smashing, and bashing, and I've yet to play another game that has such a beautiful and satisfying amount of blood, gore, and body parts. Watching that Infected's head pop off and tumble away as the Infected's body flies full sprint to the ground is what zombie dreams are made of. And while it's oftentimes more luck that skill, Techland doesn't leave all of your skills to chance.

Riptide's skill tree, much like your average RPG's, gives you the ability to upgrade your character in the way you see fit. When first choosing your survivor, you have the option to automatically upgrade their skills based on that particular characters fighting style, or, just take the points and dole them out how you want. Each survivor has their own unique skill tree with character specific options that complement their fighting style and to some degree, personality. Making Logan a more potent drunk, or Xian Mei a more efficient silent assassin is a decision left entirely up to you. But regardless of whose shoes you step inside of, the Rage branch cannot be ignored. For you new folk, Rage is pretty much what it sounds like. When a sufficient amount of XP is accrued, holding down B drives your character into their survivor specific Rage, turning the screen black & white and highlighting enemies in red. For my Riptide survivor, Purna, her Rage drives her to pull out her sidearm (whether she has one in her Inventory or not) and fill the dead full of led for a set amount of time (which itself can be upgraded). As you can imagine, this is an important skill to nourish, particularly when confronted by one of the big boys, so don't ignore it. With 3 branches it's difficult sometimes to balance what you can and cannot live without, but that's the hallmark of any good skill tree. By the time I finished my first playthrough there were somewhere around 5 or 6 skills untouched. Since most skills have 3 levels to unlock you will definitely get the chance to maximize your survivor's potential, but most decisions are still fraught with tradeoffs.

So what's wrong with this picture then? Why isn't it an across the board 10? Well, it's Dead Island… and with Dead Island comes some frustrating problems that at this point I'm starting to think are part of their intended design. For starters, their 'automatic' aiming system is a bit twitchy. It's definitely an improvement from it's predecessor, but it's still Vegas baby, and anything can happen. However, most of the points headed in the wrong direction on Riptide, at least in my book, are a direct result of their menu system, particularly, the amount of time you're forced to spend inside it. Out of the 5 sections; Map, Quests, Inventory, Skills, and Team; the most frustrating two are the Map and Inventory. While the jungle navigation isn't really a problem, the more developed areas are downright frustrating without a more detailed map. I understand the 'lost in a foreign land' concept, but why bother with a map at all if I'm unable to discern building from ground in the village and city areas? As far as the Inventory is concerned, it's still the same frustrating, tedious experience that it was last time. Next time you guys at Techland are headed to development, please, give me a call. In this particular case, the addition of just one more subsection would've made my life a whole lot easier; a throwable subsection. The amount of time I spent simply trying to swap out my molotovs for shock grenades was absolutely obscene. Add to that this little one to two second delay when switching main tabs, and the menu screen becomes a tiresome disruption to an otherwise fantastic experience.

Aside for my main concerns, Riptide has a few other problems worth noting. If you've read GI's review, you've heard about the disappearing weapon problem. This actually happened to me twice, and while my cat wised up and left the room after the first, they were both full on cat punchable. I actually think I've nailed the problem for them though. Their unfortunate decision to add newly modded weapons to your active weapon slot, bumping that weapon to your inventory, has opened the door for a very problematic glitch. In modding my newly acquired Shotgun, my previously equipped, and go-to Shock Katana, vanished into thin air. After assuring my cat that it wouldn't happen again, not too long after I was attempting to mod my newly acquired blue-level Katana when my previously modded Shock Shotgun simply disappeared into the void. With no cat in sight, my turkey sandwich took the full brunt of my displeasure. But it was here that I noticed the problem. Instead of kicking my equipped weapon back to the inventory, it had dropped it on the ground where I eventually found it hiding between the bench and a cabinet. I think the permanent disappearances are just a result of this kicked out weapon dropping through the floor into digital no-man's land. So I'm warning you guys. If you want to avoid losing your best and brightest, never, never go into a bench with a weapon equipped that you aren't prepared to lose. While it only happened twice the entire game, it was two times too many for my cat.

At the end of the experience, all the menu time, cat punching, and random and infrequent frame-rate drops didn't sour my experience in the least. The beautiful island of Palanai is such a lush and incredible zombie infested world that what few bumps in the road you hit, don't amount to more than just a couple of flies buzzing around your head. However, at least one is buzzing around your head the entire time. I completely understand why people have knocked this game down a notch or two, because with all it's possibilities these continued shortcomings are just downright frustrating, and in a sequel, completely unacceptable. The way this franchise popped up out of the blue and took it's place lingering beneath that upper tier should have made the folks at Techland and Deep Silver focus a lot more attention on the complaints and suggestions of it's fans. But just like Banoi, Palanai still gets so much right that it's easy for me to dismiss what's gone wrong.

From the beautiful jungles to the beachfront villages, and through the dark and cramped sewers to the city of Henderson, every part of Riptide's experience is exactly what surviving in the zombie world is all about. It's hard to take your eyes off of the beautiful landscape and the immense depth of detail that Techland has infused this entire island with, but when that roaring zombie growl echoes off in the distance you're quickly reminded of just how deadly this paradise is. From the Walkers to the Wrestlers and every zombie in between, there isn't an undead inhabitant of Palanai that you won't have a blast dismembering. Add in the fact that you can bring your friends (more on that in a second), and Dead Island: Riptide is an open-world zombie experience that truly does the genre justice. If Techland steps up their game and redesigns and reworks that menu, there is no reason why such an incredible zombie outing wouldn't end up at the top of the heap. But potential isn't all that this game has. The beautiful island of Palanai, it's horrifying and eerie soundscape, it's incredible wealth of weapons and modification possibilities, the fantastic and frightening zombie adversaries and the satisfying ways to take them down, make Dead Island: Riptide, in it's current form, a game that zombie fans should not pass up.

••••

I'm not a co-op player. While Dead Island: Riptide allows up to 4 players the chance to run the streets and jungles in a zombie slaying pack, I haven't personally jumped into the fray. I have yet to hear anything that has led me to believe that this feature has any problems, so while I cannot personally vouch for it, if you're a fan of the mob mentality, Riptide has your back. I do know that from a single-players perspective you can choose to link up with others online based on your particular level and place in the story, but that's about the extent of my personal knowledge. I'm not a video game people person, so I don't really know the specifics; my review is based on the single-player experience. Whether co-opt adds to or subtracts from this experience I cannot say. Let me know.

Blog Post: its freaking awesome, fun as hell. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmrBXEt3pfk

SEBASTIAN — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:53:00 GMT

its freaking awesome, fun as hell. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmrBXEt3pfk

Blog Post: Dead Island: Riptide

John Wrek — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:46:00 GMT

I must state first and foremost, that I am more than a little bit disappointed with Deep Silver's latest showing for the promising Dead Island IP. Here I was, hoping that Riptide would come along- and true to its name, sweep me away. However, instead, I was let down unceremoniously by a whole new host of bugs that I hadn't even encountered and grown used to in the original hit, as well as unpolished gameplay that has no excuse after 2011's excellent melee/shooting drive, and a lack of graphical touch that is just unacceptable. Dead Island had wonderful graphics, and showcased an intuitive if flawed narrative, quest-like design. Riptide is watered down in almost every aspect, and yet, for no apparent reason, I still find it to be incredibly satisfying to play. It must just be the zombies at this point, because it didn't really have too much else going for it, throughout all the twelve or so hours I've already sunk into between yesterday and today. Sure, tons of great games are filled with bugs- Fallout, Skyrim, Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, and Dead Island among them, but few can match this level of bug infestation. Someone call the Orkin man, please.Some of the changes in the game were made due to willing fan response, and are definitely a step in the right direction- however, its more of a two steps forward-one step back jig that the game is doing than a real push for improvement...

The majority of the basic gameplay is exactly like the original Dead Island, with very, very minimal changes in any way, shape, or form. Combat focuses heavily upon impressive melee actions, and coupled with the satisfaction of landing machete headshots, as well as the difficulty not being terribly unbearable- the game gets high marks in that category. The leveling process, whether through imports or with new characters, works just about the same, and has more depth than many RPGs do- making it addicting, exciting, and interesting. Cooperative mode paces players excellently, and also provide just the right challenge for each individual, so that a lower leveled player doesn't feel overwhelmed by capped zombies. In an actually interesting and "good" (I guess) move, Deep Silver has allowed players to import their previous survivors, regardless of if you have completed the game or not. Any skills and levels you received on the same profile with your other character are transferable, which is pretty much all you could ask for anyway, as there are plenty of available new items and tools to cash in on. Even if you took the time to completely max out your tank-like character in the previous game, you can earn additional skills this time around as well, keeping you in the loop and getting some "extra" leveling as well. Of course, if you're starting off for the first time with Riptide, for whatever reason, you get a little buffer amount of points to allocate as you deem necessary.

Now, I know some of you are probably just as confused as I initially was, but despite the name not being Dead Island 2, the game Riptide is in fact a direct series sequel to the original game itself. It features the same survivors, well, plus one, and is located roughly within the same region of islands in the Banoi area. Many other factors transfer over, none of which are truly of much importance, since you're most likely (wisely) going to ignore the story anyway and just enjoy bashing zombie heads in the whole entire game. Which isn't a bad thing, necessarily. Once more, there are several characters to choose from to play as, each with their own relatively unique set of skills in-game and kind of with differing personalities throughout cinematic sequences as well. Side quests return and are relatively exciting once more, offering loads of content that I haven't even begun to trudge through yet, and giving a new spin on some familiar thoughts as well. Don't be fooled into believing that this game is simply a little extra content for the original though, because you're in for a pleasant surprise if that's what you think...

There are several new elements to the game (including, but not limited only to) such as new ways to battle new undead, epic boat rides and the mayhem that results on both sides, an almost "tower defense" like Left 4 Dead position defending element, and also an entirely new, never before encountered character to play as in a completely thrilling experience. The "new guy" is also a melee machine, and hand to hand combat specialist, which works great with Dead Island's already melee focused combat, and makes it a blast to literally rip zombies apart- with your hands! Instead of playing one big repair or fetch quest like the original game was apt to throw in for you every other side quest, the tower defense scenarios, while flawed somewhat, are an exciting change of pace and definitely get your heart going and blood pumping. Replacing broken down fortifications and barricades a la Call of Duty's Zombies mode, manning the 50 cal as the zombie horde pours in, and detonating strategically placed explosives all contribute to an epic new experience throughout the bulk of the game.

...And, now we come to the point in the blog where you wonder how I am going to break us all back down to Earth, after specifically stating that Riptide is just not too impressive and rating it a worse score than its predecessor received, at an average of 7.25 only. You see, Riptide's bane is- for better and worse, it simply just didn't try hard enough to differentiate itself from the previous game at all. Pretty much every bug I ever experienced in the original Dead Island shows up in Dead Island: Riptide, and you know what is even better? This game also has a whole new plethora of content related glitches, bugs, and mixups. Oh yeah.Now, you might be thinking that "oh, that's not too bad, I can handle some glitches..." but let me assure you, these are no simple glitches like retexturing failures and cropping issues prevalent in most every Bethesda game created- these are the mother of all nasty bugs you've encountered, just shy of being truly game and experience breaking, but annoying enough nonetheless. A la Colonial Marines, enemies just can't seem to figure out where they want to go, and as a result, often stupidly bump into each other- and crop through the environment numerous times additionally. The enemy AI can be scarily omnipotent at times and ridiculously incapable at others, so, when you see the zombies rip down your door and expect to be overwhelmed- you might be pleasantly shocked that, 3/10 they'll just stand there and take your cheapshots without so much as a second glance after having broken into your sanctuary.

Some of the other most prevalent and annoying glitches include the 'Falcon Punch' from around the world, in which your enemies somehow manage to melee you from meters away, and actually do damage. (Chuck Norris would approve.) Please, if this is supposed to happen, someone let me know, but apparently Riptide has a flying class of infected as well- these undead just levitate off the ground, and often fly into the midst of your party as well, crashing things...just a bit. Your minimap is more confusing than the actual pause-screen menu map, so you might as well use that one or be forced to wander aimlessly around, fighting zombies until you eventually make it to where you intended to go...or die trying. Oh, and here's one of the real kickers- if you think your revered and impressive arsenal of upgraded weapons are safely stored away, think again, as they'll often disappear without a trace, never to be seen again. On pretty much all consoles, excluding PC for the most part, (I've witnessed the PS3 version played, and have the 360 myself) the game's framerate is nothing to be duly impressed by,a s it is remarkably worse than the original, as are the visuals on the whole. Toss an explosive over there? Expect to be waiting several extra seconds for the smoke, body parts, and screen to clear later than it should be. The textures are muddy up close, but look beautiful from farther away, although even then some are especially distasteful, so if you care about that sort of thing- be aware. The game has some real issues, but nothing that can't be patched sooner rather than later I suppose, and nothing that detracts terribly from what is still an exciting experience nonetheless.

Oh, and you think these guys above are easy to take out, just because they have no arms free to claw at you with, or mouths to bite? Yeah, well take a gander at all that extra padding you've got to beat through as well...and the fact that he's gonna charge you at about ten miles per hour, and then come tell me that's nothing scary. Anyway, overall, I personally think Dead Island: Riptide and Deep Silver missed the mark a little on this followup to one of my favorite games of 2011, but hey, I'm hard to impress, so it's still a good game by my standards regardless. Killing zombies is all I can really ask for at this point, and on that, it delivers soundly.

Concept: Create a sequel to one of 2011's most exciting games, but ultimately fail to live up to the majority of the hype, while still providing a solid and interesting adventure experience.

Graphics: While they are never as good as the original it seems, the graphics can sway between awesome and crappy depending on how close you are to a given modeled texture.

Sound: The soundtrack is perfectly in step every moment of the game thus far, and the accompaniment of zombie moans, shrieks, and bellows should rightly unnerve even the hardiest zombie apocalypse survivor.

Playability: You won't hear any complaints from me about the controls themselves for combat and locomotion, however, it goes to say that the minimap sucks, the framerate is laughable 50% of the time during any action, and the enemy AI is unpredictable...but not in the good, challenging sort of way at all.

Entertainment: As fun as the melee oriented combat specialist is to play, he can't carry the entire game experience on his back, and therefore it ultimately falls through just a little bit.

Replay Value: Moderate.

Overall Score: 7.25

Blog Post: wow, people...

iphil25 — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:35:00 GMT

i cant understand how you rate this game poorly because of

1. lack of a decent story

2. feels like the same game

3. glitches.

if that is all, you people are crazy. example, CALL OF DUTY! its the same damn game every year, just new skins and new levels, but it has a *** story, and it IS the same game. and glitches? come on, all games have glitches when they first come out, but are always fixed.

im sorry Deep Silver didnt pay the reviewers enough to rate this a good game, but i love it so far, and so do my friends

Blog Post: Fun but a bit Aggrivating

dragonswkap — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:47:00 GMT

No I have not finished the game, these are just what I felt after 5 hours of playing it. If my opinions change I will post on that as well!

The game starts off where the last one left off, with a bland story and really bland characters.... but that's really not that important the story serves it's purpose of getting your character from point A to B for whatever silly reason. It is very much like the first in many ways, the weapons, loot, crafting etc... all more or less the same with some new things added (Not the least of which is a new character).

You start the game at level 15 if you do NOT import your character from the first game. So right off the bat you get some skill points to work with even if you have never played the game before. You go through the games built in controls tutorial that's in every game (you know, crouch under a pipe, jump over another pipe etc...) then you get to the new island. All the stuff from the first game is still here, there is crafting, modding, repairing of weapons etc... you can upgrade them to make them stronger or sell them to shops for more money to repair and upgrade. Which I find a lot of fun. The game also was kind enough to give you mroe workbenches in areas farther from the main hubs.

The new character is nice, he is an Australian Ex-Military who specializes in fist weapons and uses a staff for his fury skill (Not sure why to be honest). He is the character I chose to use because I liked him more than the rest. Plus I just like both staff weapons and Australian accents.

So I'm now going to go over my gripes with the game, and their severity!

1. (Biggest Complaint) I feel that the game is a bit more difficult than it need to be, partially because of the constant lack of Stamina, but more so because of just the sheer number of zombies that attack and they are much more dangerous in this one than the last. Using the kick skill is key to surviving most of the time. Kick, attack, kick, attack etc... You also have to be careful not to get surrounded or you will die. Thankfully there isn't a huge penalty for dying so it's not the end of the world but it is still a bit annoying. You never really feel like you have an advantage, particularly when fighting thugs (I hate thugs... it's pretty much pointless to melee them and you don't have much options for ranged in the beginning unless you imported a character). Zombies scale to level which is a good idea, but I wish they weren't higher than my level. That all said, it isn't impossible to win, in fact far from it, you just have to be VERY careful.

2. (Very minor) Another issue I had was with the sound, it's nearly impossible to hear what ANYONE in the game is saying even with all other sounds disabled, they sound like they are a hundred feet away, and whispering... I had to turn subtitles on just to find out what was being said... not that it's really important but it's nice to hear some of the VA which isn't bad when you can hear it... terrible writing though

3. (very minor) The cut scenes suffer from severe Framerate issues, it's almost better to just close your eyes and listen than watch it. You can imagine something better than whats shown. Thankfully they are few and far between and all in all don't interrupt anything important.

4. (Medium) Driving... oh good GRIEF is this probably one of the worst parts of the game. I mean really? I can't look behind me?? I spend more time trying to turn around in the game than driving forward because i can't see what I'm about to run into if I back up. There may be a button I'm missing but ARGH is it annoying. I can't attest to using a boat yet as I haven't gotten to that point, but If it's like driving... it's gunna suck cause you can be attacked while in a boat.

5. (Minor) Movement is odd in this game, but in reality it's just because I'm used to other games that it bothers me. When you strafe you move side to side much slower than you do if your moving forward or backward and it's very odd and hard to get used to. Same with going up and down stairs.

6. (Minor-Major) It's been said in almost every review but the glitches are high up there. So far nothing has stopped me from being able to play the game, but I see bad collisions, stupid zombies (they just stand there and do nothing while I attack em... though sometimes that's a nice thing), stuff like that. One time a quest reset on me because I left the item in a car, went into a side build (Area transition) and when I came back out the car was reset back to it's spawn point with the item in it. It was only about 100m away so no biggie, but I'll have to remember that for the future. I think Bethesda games have more glitches, but this is riiight up there with it. I understand open world games like this are hard to test fully, and I don't mind bad collisions and such.... but really... a quest reseting? What if that car was 1000+m away!

Now that the negatives are out of the way! THE POSITIVES!

1. Despite the difficulty, despite the glitches and overwhelming odds... it is still really fun to hack, thwack, and kick away at zombies left and right. Breaking and slicing off limbs, smashing heads, kicking them to the ground is all really REALLY satisfying. It does take care of my usual biggest complaint with open world games which is the lack of things to do when going from point A to B. In some games the world is so big.... but at the same time so empty. There may be a wolf or a bear to fight maybe an enemy but that's it. In this one ZOMBIES EVERYWHERE! in fact I think they may have gone a bit too far as I mentioned above with the shear amount of zombies that can be overwhelming. But that's when I hit the fury button and go to town on them.

2. Gotta love side quests! And this game sure has em, some of them can even be started remotely. Any quest involving upgrading defenses of your fort or weapons of the characters in the fort can be started anywhere and handed in later. And with the added horde mode (Defend your fort) There is never not something to do in the game.

3. Loot. LOOT EVERYWHERE! I admit it freely, I'm a loot whore. Add a loot system to a game with grey(junk) - orange(Legendary) items and I'm game. This game has lots of shiny weapons in boxes and chests and from enemies to loot, switch out, and sell... and I'm a big sucker for it and I love it in this game as well! Killing a big boss and getting a blue item to then smash zombies faces with is nice, and for a few minutes you feel awesome. Then they swarm you and you feel slightly less awesome.

4. There are new mini-dungeons that I enjoy, you can enter a building with a big group of zombies led by a boss. These buildings are difficult, but give great rewards. Usually I'll get at least 1 blue weapon and some blue items for crafting along with it and a bunch of XP. Great time to use that Fury ability!

5. Customization is nice, having skill trees and different weapons is all a part of that and I enjoy it. I am sad that there is no way to respec your character (that I could find) however I'm looking at it and it looks like eventually if you played long enough you could in theory get all the skills which i suppose lessens the customizable options but if you aren't going to have a respec I think getting it all is the right way to go.

6. I don't remember weapon skills being in the first game, in this one the more you use a weapon type the more skilled you get in it and get more bonuses. The categories are Hand to Hand (Fist weapons), slashing weapons, blunt weapons, and firearms. And it's fun to level each individually. Sometimes you get a damage increase, or a reduction in stamina user... and anything I can do to save Stamina is a good thing!

All in all, I think the game is a good amount of fun, and on top of that it looks pretty good but I'm more worried about the zombies eating me than how good they look. I see no framerate loss while playing the game, only during the cut scenes. If you like zombies and the killing of said zombies with silly melee weapons... this game is perfect. If you are looking for an amazing story with good characters and well... honestly balanced combat... nooooot gunna get it from this one.

I give the game a 7/10 because I think it does deserve to be played and some simple patches can fix the issues I have though they should have been a non issue to start with., it's lower price does help it I think. It won't be GOTY, but it's a nice distraction and just a lot of mindless fun to play.

TLDR Version:

-More difficult than it should be
-Bad vehicle controls
-Glitches aplenty, though not game breaking... annoying.
-REALLY bad Speech volume outside of cut scenes and your character
-Bad cut scenes. Just really bad.
-Bland Story, Bland Characters
-Movement feels awkward

+LOTS of fun killing zombies
+Loot everywhere!
+Crafting is still nice
+Looks nice, no framerate problems during gameplay
+New mini-dungeons are fun
+Horde defense mode is also new and interesting
+New weapon skills are fun to level
+I like the new character that was added

Blog Post: I hoped it was better than the first; It was nowhere close.

Cody R Cantrell — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:35:00 GMT

Riptide does pick up straight after the end of the first game but in all other respects it feels like an expansion pack. This is one of those games were the list of new features starts off sounding inconsequential (there’s a new character to play as) and only gets less essential from there on in. The short story is that you’ve been stranded on a new tropical island that’s also overrun with zombies, with the added problem that there’s a monsoon going on. In actual fact the constantly changing weather becomes the most significant new feature, with visibility proving highly variable and boats becoming the most reliable form of transport, but the boats are infuriating to use and as slow as can be.

There have been some small improvements in the way the game handles, with the melee combat now at least enabling you to connect with your target most of the time. It’s still not very exciting though and that’s a problem because the lack of ammo means that’s what you’re left doing most of the time.

They didn’t spend much time brainstorming new missions either and the endless array of fetch quests are just as boring and thankless as before. Especially when the people you’re trying to rescue still only spout the same one or two lines of badly written dialogue.

Pros: The premise still has obvious appeal and the dynamic weather and improved melee combat is a step forward. Online co-op is fun with friends, especially with the new mission type.

Cons: The controls, gunplay, script, and voice-acting still feel like a no-budget fan mod. Role-playing elements remain simplistic. Very expensive for such a minor expansion.

For better reviews, or at least better than I can write, head over to Kotaku, Shopto, or OXM.

The reviews can be found here;

http://kotaku.com/dead-island-riptide-the-kotaku-review-476715264

http://www.shopto.net/news/42508/Dead-Island-Riptide-Review

http://www.oxm.co.uk/52600/reviews/dead-island-riptide-xbox-360-review/

Blog Post: Zombie-Killing Bliss With Some Rough Edges

Tim Turi — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 07:00:00 GMT

Some of this generation’s most beloved open-world games are riddled with bugs. Even the truest fans of Skyrim, Fallout: New Vegas, and Assassin’s Creed III must concede their lack of polish. Deep Silver’s 2011 hit, Dead Island, also falls into this camp. The sequel, Dead Island Riptide, suffers the same affliction. The changes to its zombie-slaying formula improve the action, but this follow-up also comes with more issues than the original.[Excerpt]

For better and worse, Riptide plays almost exactly like its flawed-but-fun predecessor. The melee-centric gameplay is still weighty and satisfying. Landing deliberate blows on a zombie’s head or limbs feels great, especially when you break an arm or lop off a head. Dead Island’s undead are just threatening enough to keep you on your toes without ever becoming too frustrating. I love watching damage points tick away above enemies’ heads as I dismantle them. Leveling up and progressing through each character’s skill trees is addicting. Teaming up with three friends makes slaughtering the hordes of shambling dead even better. No matter how seasoned your teammates are, all players see enemies scaled to their level, removing the headache from matchmaking.

Importing your survivor

Players can import characters from the first Dead Island – whether you beat the game with them or not -– as long it’s on the same profile. These characters transfer over with nothing but their previous skills and level. This is great for dedicated players who maxed out their Dead Island characters, and there are even a few new skills to learn. If you’re starting fresh in Riptide or your previous character is fairly low-level, you can start a new character with 15 skill points free to allocate how you see fit.

After Riptide was announced, some confusion spread over whether the game was a true follow-up or an expansion. Riptide is indeed its own standalone sequel to the original Dead Island. The survivors of the Banoi Island incident end up on another island in the same archipelago riddled with zombies. The story is still crudely delivered through in-engine cinematics that make the bottom-barrel horror films on Netflix look like works of genius. Thankfully, Riptide’s narrative mostly stays out of your way, allowing you to focus on the joy of slaying zombies.

Between the multiple characters and bountiful side quests, Riptide packs hours of entertainment. New elements make battling the resurrected dead more intense. Boating through a flooded jungle while your teammates beat back waterlogged zombies is thrilling. The new hand-to-hand specialist character is the most enjoyable of the bunch, with punishing claws and a sprinting kick that sends zombies flying. Defense scenarios are an engaging change from the series’ bread-and-butter fetch quests, requiring you to place barricades or man turrets as zombies rush the fortifications.

[view:2241792186001]

Despite the additions, Riptide suffers from the same bugs and blemishes as the first game – and then some. Enemy behavior is erratic, but not in a purposefully scary way. Zombies spend minutes tearing at a barricade, only to wander away the moment it falls. Foes phase through obstacles, glide up walls, and land hits from improbable distances. The mini-map is geographically barren, and objective pathways flicker on and off, requiring you to frequently pull up the full map. Even worse, your treasured and customized weapons can inexplicably disappear from your inventory – a rare but frustrating problem.

The Edge

I found distracting bugs in all the versions of the game, but playing Riptide on our high-end gaming PC results in a smoother framerate and improved visuals

Riptide’s framerate is worse than its predecessor. Things slow to a crawl when the action heats up, especially after tossing an explosive near a large group of zombies. One strange bug occurred when an online teammate left the game, sucking the remaining three players into a choppy vortex of looping deaths that only stopped after resetting. These issues may sound insurmountable, but the game’s highs still compensate for most of the embarrassing lows.

Riptide’s flaws are many, but they couldn’t hold me back from having a blast. Few games nail the visceral feel of melee combat and co-op fun like Dead Island. At its worst, an annoying hiccup breaks the immersion of the grizzly trek through a zombie-infested paradise. At its best, Riptide hits the same high notes as the original.

Blog Post: Zombie-Killing Bliss With Some Rough Edges

Tim Turi — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 07:00:00 GMT

Importing your survivor

[view:2319293373001]

The Edge

I found distracting bugs in all the versions of the game, but playing Riptide on our high-end gaming PC results in a smoother framerate and improved visuals

Blog Post: Zombie-Killing Bliss With Some Rough Edges

Tim Turi — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 07:00:00 GMT

Importing your survivor

[view:2241792186001]

The Edge

I found distracting bugs in all the versions of the game, but playing Riptide on our high-end gaming PC results in a smoother framerate and improved visuals

File: Dead Island Riptide