Every now and then a game trailer comes along that launches itself at your eyes with so much rocket-fuelled incredible it sparks an arousing synaptic chain-reaction that causes gamers to spontaneously combust in their pants with the force of a thermonuclear explosion. Like the new trailer for Dead Island. What is Dead Island? It's kind of a first person open-world survival horror with RPG bits. On a sunny island. Think holidaying in Faliraki, but with less Brits-on-the-piss and more brain-eating zombies.
But that doesn't matter right now. What does matter is that you watch the trailer immediately if you haven't done so several times already.
And in three minutes the almost unknown Dead Island becomes the hottest property since George Lucas thought it'd be a good idea to make a film about a war in some far away galaxy. But are we getting carried away? After all, trailers are just fancy-looking adverts. And advertsare scientifically designed mind-control beam weapons used to manipulatethe brains of wide-eyed consumers.
Luckily, we know Rachel Weber. Who is Rachel Weber? She works for the UK's Official PlayStation Magazine. More importantly, she recently returned from a trip to Poland. While she was there she visited Techland, the Call of Juarez developer who is also responsible for, you've guessed it, Dead Island. We asked Rachel if she thought the actual game could end up being even half as good as the trailer makes it look. This is what she said:
"I’ll be honest, Poland was the last place I was expecting to see one of the most exciting games of the year, but Dead Island is just that. Set in the sunny Royal Palms Resort on the island of Banoi in Papua New Guinea, it’s essentially Dead Rising meets Left 4 Dead with added suncream. There’s four player, drop in drop out co-op, and instead of guns (there are a few, but let’s not forget this is a holiday island, not Iraq) you’ll need to use the debris and discarded objects scattered around the beaches and pools to fend off the undead.
"Luckily the brutal open world game also packs some diet RPG elements so your character (there are four to choose from, including hip hop star Sam B) can build their skills as they slash and bash. The trailer might be more representative of the game’s mood than gameplay, but trust me, you’re absolutely right to be excited."
'Dead Rising meets Left 4 Dead with added suncream'. It certainly sounds promising. And the trailer is undeniably kick ass. Even if it did make us sad. All being well, Dead Island should be released later this year for PC, 360 and PS3. More on Dead Island will be revealed in Issue 56 of the UK's Official PlayStation Magazine, which is out 16 March.
Does Dead Island excite you? Let us know in the comments.
Feb 17, 2011
