Like a garbage disposal with a severed arm shoved down it, the video game market is clogged with zombie games. New games featuring the walking dead have trouble standing out from the horde, but Techland's first-person, open-world, action/RPG entry "Dead Island" distinguishes itself. After kicking and slashing my way through the infected island of Banoi, I can say the game has tons to offer.
The long-term goal in "Dead Island" is to escape Banoi. On the way, you'll fight tooth and nail through legions of zombies as one of four characters. The survivors are all unique and loosely class-based, with specialists focusing on various types of melee weapons or firearms. While everyone starts on similar footing, the joy lies in chopping zombies to bits and completing quests to level up and customize your character. Though guns are introduced later on, the core gameplay is viscerally satisfying melee combat similar to "Condemned" or "Left 4 Dead 2." Hit detection is reliable and consistent, allowing you to become a sadistic surgeon who decides which limbs to sever or fracture.
The quests involve many tired zombie movie cliches like undead-proofing a truck, but mowing through the walking dead is a blast. Depending on how you nurture your skill tree, the same character can either become a throwing master with boomeranging weapons that pack a chance to kill on contact, or a gunslinger with improved accuracy and a vicious instant-kill curb stomp.
Misery loves company, and "Dead Island" is best played with friends. Gearing up with three fellow zombie slayers reminded me of the blissful carnage of "Borderlands." Power-leveling underdeveloped characters, swapping new loot, and cooperating to survive are all highlights of co-op. It's in your best interest (and the most fun) to choose a group of friends and stick with them from the beginning, unless you don't mind burning through low-level quests to catch up.
My time on Banoi Island was filled with more memorable moments than I could've imagined. I raced down a city street and was intercepted by a pack of flaming zombies that instantly gave chase. I decided to turn tail and run, allowing the scathing flames to gradually destroy my pursuers. I hurled sickles, scythes and knives into a hulking undead beast, retrieved them from its rotting frame, and threw them again. I sprinted at a zombie, jump-kicked it to the ground, and smashed its brain in with my foot. These amazing moments were made possible by the freedom the game bestows upon creative players.
Speaking of creativity, you'll occasionally find blueprints that transform items in your arsenal into even more improbable weapons. Wrap barbed wire around a baton, or create an electric machete using scavenged items. Cracking zombies over the head with a flaming baseball bat and watching them set their friends ablaze is a riot. Dozens of nasty weapon types, when combined with the skills you've chosen to improve, give you plenty of opportunities to develop a unique play style. Gun nuts shouldn't expect a boatload of ammo, though. This is the apocalypse, after all.
While terror doesn't appear to be "Dead Island's" top priority, being stranded on a huge island packed with monsters is unsettling. I could spend dozens of hours within the gigantic decaying city alone.
"Dead Island," however, is missing a layer of polish. Navigating the menus, getting accustomed to the controls, and generally learning the ropes is a clunky process with few tutorials. And don't get too attached to your favorite weapons if you plan on using them as projectiles, because downed zombies sometimes disappear along with your meticulously upgraded weapons still lodged inside them.
