Dead Island Game of the Year Edition coming soon

The re-rising of the dead

Words: Andrew Groen on May 22, 2012

With a GameRankings rating of just 72%, the PS3 version of Dead Island may be the lowest scoring game we've ever seen granted a "Game of the Year Edition." We're not entirely sure who called it the GOTY, but we're sure somebody out there was that into it.

Nevertheless, the divisive title is getting a retail rerelease later this Summer on June 26, 2012. The Game of the Year Edition will pack in all of the game's available DLC, including the Bloodbath Arena DLC, the Ryder White expansion, and the Ripper weapon.

While this isn't going to be the type of game Dead Island fans will be re-investing in, if you've been stalling on picking this up then now's the time. For our part, we rather liked it. Our reviewer called it big, messy, and unique..

The game's publisher is currently listing the price as $29.99.

Platforms:

PS3, Xbox 360, PC

Topics:

Dead Island, Deep Silver, Techland

27 comments

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codzprc - May 23, 2012 7:41 p.m.

If it's based on developer Techland's game catalog, they could put "Game of the Decade" on the box and be telling the truth.
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Z-man427 - May 23, 2012 6:17 p.m.

I dunno, I kind of want to play it, but it would feel weird to buy a GotY edition for a game that clearly was anything but that.
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talleyXIV - May 23, 2012 2:45 p.m.

Just read about this elsewhere. Apparently the dumb Australian developers who made it believe that because it sold 3 million copies it can be declared as Game of the Year on the box. Wii Sports sold over 50 million copies, do you think Nintendo started embellishing "Best Game Ever Made" on their boxes? I actually found a site that gave it GOTY and is proud for some reason, they aren't very big or I haven't heard of them at least.. http://www.gamecritics(DOT)com/brad-gallaway/game-of-the-year-2011
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talleyXIV - May 23, 2012 2:37 p.m.

Who did it? Who gave this game Game of the Year? Who? With all the games that came out last year... Dead Island is the one they thought of? Skyward Sword, Arkham City, Uncharted 3, Portal 2, Skyrim, Witcher 2, Deus Ex, Dark Souls, and Super Mario 3D Land. "Hmmm associates at this obscure gaming magazine or website? What game are we giving game of the year?" "I don't even remember what we played this year." *Snaps fingers* "There was the one with the zombies... and the island... oh uh Dead Island!" "Good enough."
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DeEss - May 23, 2012 10:58 a.m.

Ya know, I've played computer games since Oregon Trail was on an Apple II, but I'm still not sure what the deal is with GOTY editions of games. Is it the last attempt to make money off of it? It certainly feels like an attempt to screw over customers who bought everything at full price on release...
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The_Ouroboros - May 23, 2012 9:14 a.m.

I personally had an absolute blast with this game, with my only complaint being in the final boss battle. Had more fun with this game and a couple buddies than I have with the entire Halo series... But, haters will be haters.
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mothbanquet - May 23, 2012 6:44 a.m.

GOTY status aside, I first played it a couple of months ago, so post-patches, and I have to say I had a lot of fun with it.
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Blaastoid - May 23, 2012 5:56 a.m.

I liked Dead Island, it had beautiful enviroments, great details in characters and quests and zombie killing has never been so fun. I agree with it's bugs and I agree it's weird it's a GOTY Edition but it's still damn fun to play.
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XLGirthMan - May 22, 2012 11:16 p.m.

Is NO ONE gonna give this game a break?! So maybe it's not game of the year worthy, but it was definitely a very fun game IMO and also the best zombie game I've played (and I've played quite a few). I'm not pretending to be the authority on game quality but still, there's a difference between having a dissinting opinion and just being wrong. In other words, a game has to be freaking unplayable for all this whining and complaining to be justified. And as for bugs, I didn't encounter any, but that's just me.
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BaraChat - May 22, 2012 6:41 p.m.

I did a little research (very basic : wiki and google) and I can't find who called this game GOTY. Hell, Edge Magazine gave it a 3/10 (I know they're usually tougher on their scores, but that's still pretty damn low). Usually when that happens you can go "Complete Edition" or "Ultimate" or "Deluxe"... anything BUT Game of the Yeat edition... And I found a rather amusing sentence in the game's wikipedia entry : "they (dev. Techland) denied a sequel, but they also denied denying a sequel"
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MetroidPrimeRib - May 22, 2012 5:43 p.m.

I played it after all the patches came out. Still not worth more then $20 but still an ok game.
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IceBlueKirby - May 22, 2012 3:39 p.m.

Dead Island is a fun game, but definitely not GOTY material. It's not as if they didn't have any other options - New Vegas' re-release was called "Ultimate Edition" or something like that, so they could have just as easily called it "Ultimate" or "Complete" or "Fantastic Zombie Getaway Island Deluxe" Edition. Then again, that makes it sound like their game wasn't GOTY material, and they don't want the two people without internet to think otherwise.
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talleyXIV - May 23, 2012 2:39 p.m.

GOTY sounds way better. Sad that we can't call them out for false advertising just because one small organization thought the game was great. I am really surprised Fallout: New Vegas didn't catch a break and get one site/magazine to give it game of the year.
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xAlbireo6972x - May 22, 2012 2:59 p.m.

GOTY...played the game for 30 minutes, took out the disk, and got my refund it was that bad. This is only a grab for more money on a game that had a better trailer than actual game play.
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robotdickens - May 22, 2012 2:26 p.m.

The game was fun but Game of the Year quality? Probably considering all the crap they say is game of the year. Still, I may buy it. Hope they fixed the bugs.
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Dman3981 - May 22, 2012 1:27 p.m.

I had fun playing the game, sue me.
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DoctorCrazy - May 22, 2012 1:22 p.m.

I don't care about the title, but I wanted to play this game back in September when it came out but all the bugs really turned me off it. Hopefully this version will run a lot smoother, then I will pick it up.
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Divine Paladin - May 22, 2012 1:20 p.m.

I was afraid this would start happening. Publishers are likely to follow suit and now rerelease "GOTY" editions just to scrounge more money off of fans. I hope this doesn't happen, but I can see EA release a GOTY edition for many mediocre games.
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Redeater - May 22, 2012 1:14 p.m.

I'll never understand why people defend this game. It's one thing if the game is absolute shit (which I think it is) but it's another when a company releases something with so many game breaking glitches in it! How are people so stupid that this has become acceptable? I wouldn't buy a brand new car and later find out that my transmission will be fixed in a month or so but I will still have to wait and see if they are going to bother with other manufactured defects.
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Boonehams - May 22, 2012 1:07 p.m.

Dead Island: Game (Trailer) of the Year Edition.
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