Dead Island

Dead Island is a 2011 action role-playing survival horror video game developed by Polish developer Techland and published by German studio Deep Silver for Microsoft Windows, Linux, OS X, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. It is centered on the challenge of surviving a zombie-infested open world island with a major emphasis on melee combat. The game's popular announcement trailer made the game to be widely anticipated.

It was originally announced at E3 2006, but was pushed back to 2011. It was released on 6 September 2011 in North America, 9 September 2011 in the PAL regions and 20 October 2011 in Japan. A stand-alone expansion, Dead Island: Riptide, was released in 2013. A spin-off, Escape Dead Island, was released on 18 November 2014. A sequel, Dead Island 2, is set to be released in 2016.

Gameplay

Dead Island features an apparent open world roaming, divided by relatively large areas, and played from a first-person perspective. Most of the gameplay is built around combat and completing quests. Dead Island is an action role-playing game and uses experience-based gameplay. The player earns XP by completing tasks and killing enemies. Upon leveling up, the player gains health and stamina, and can invest one skill point into a skill tree and level up one of their skills.

Dead Island (series)

Dead Island is an action role-playing survival horror video game series published by German studio Deep Silver for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. There are currently 3 installments in the series, with a fourth one scheduled for 2016. It is centered on the challenge of surviving a zombie-infested open world island with a major emphasis on melee combat. Dead Island was originally announced at E3 2006, but was pushed back to 2011. It was released on 6 September 2011 in North America, 9 September 2011 in the PAL regions and 20 October 2011 in Japan. A stand-alone expansion, Dead Island: Riptide, was released in 2013. A sequel, Dead Island 2, is set to be released in 2016. A spin-off, Escape Dead Island was released in 2014. A MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) game based on the Dead Island series called Dead Island: Epidemic was cancelled during the open beta phase in 2015. The free-to-play title had been available on Steam early access since May 2014, but eventually never saw a full release and was completely shut down.

Dead Island 2

Dead Island 2 is an upcoming action role-playing survival horror video game that was in development by German developer Yager Development, but is now being developed by an unnamed studio, and published by Deep Silver for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the sequel to 2011 video game Dead Island and the third major installment in the Dead Island series. The game's main storyline is set several months after the events of Dead Island and Escape Dead Island. Unlike its predecessors, which took place on islands as the titles state, Dead Island 2 takes place in locations in California.

Gameplay

Dead Island 2 features a new open world. The game takes place in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and an undisclosed third location in California, unlike the first game which was set on the island of Banoi off the coast of Papua New Guinea. The game's combat has different mechanics than its predecessors. Dead Island 2 also includes several features from its predecessors, such as the Rage system, which gives the player a temporary boost, and the crafting system.

Dead Island: Riptide

Dead Island: Riptide is an action role-playing survival horror video game and stand-alone expansion to Dead Island developed by Polish studio Techland and published by Koch Media's game label Deep Silver, released in April 2013 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Riptide serves as a continuation of the story to 2011's Dead Island, with the original four survivors, plus a new survivor, arriving on another island in the Banoi archipelago, which has also been overrun by zombies.

Dead Island: Riptide received a mixed reception from critics, who cited that the game did not fix any of its predecessor's problems, nor add anything new to the gameplay. A third title and first official sequel for the series, Dead Island 2, was revealed at E3 2014. It is set for a 2016 release.

Plot

Riptide takes place immediately after the ending of Dead Island, with the four immune survivors: ex-American football player Logan Carter, rapper Sam B, undercover Chinese police officer Xian Mei, and ex-police officer Purna. Along with international terrorist Charon and native Yerema, asymptomatic patient zero of the Banoi outbreak, the survivors land on a military ship after escaping from the prison island. They are immediately taken into custody by the Australian Defence Force Colonel Sam Hardy and Frank Serpo, a civilian VIP. Yerema and Charon are taken away separately; Yerema bites one of the ADF soldiers as she is taken away. In the ship's brig, the remaining four meet another immune survivor, ADF Sergeant John Morgan, who claims he was part of a humanitarian effort on a nearby island until Serpo showed up and halted the mission.