‘Escape Dead Island’ Breaks Away From Old Gameplay [Video]

Escape Dead Island is the last gen console answer to the sequel coming to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and it’s coming this year. Deep Silver appears to be following in Ubisoft’s footsteps and offering a different game for both generations.

Deep Silver’s latest announcement will break away from the gameplay established in the previous titles, even supposedly boasting a new visual style. According to the trailer, the developers are going for a more comic book style look, with silhouettes and simplistic coloring to accentuate what appears to be protagonist Cliff Calo’s descent into panic and possible insanity.

Taking queues from Dead Rising, our new hero is out to film evidence of the outbreak in Banoi, the setting of the first game. He is hoping to expose the origins of the undead outbreak, and he risks becoming one of them. Unlike the previous games’ heroes, Cliff is not immune to the virus that’s plaguing the island, so it gives the game a more dramatic feel and makes it more of a survival horror title.

Can you Escape Dead Island on PC, PS3 or Xbox 360 later this year? http://t.co/7v0odzoQci pic.twitter.com/74p2p5QNph

— VG247 (@VG247) July 1, 2014

The color schemes shown in the Escape Dead Island trailer could also play a role in the game, possibly accentuating the protagonist’s inability to accept what he sees as real. He appears to wake up in a relatively detailed cell-shaded environment and while he wanders about the island it seems the colors begin to vanish as he panics.

While Dead Island 2 appears to be taking a more ironic approach, setting the zombie apocalypse in a visually happier place, Deep Silver’s PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 entries this year are going for a more colorfully inventive approach. Could the new visual style and gameplay elements be enough to bring the core fan base back after Dead Island: Riptide?

Escape Dead Island might not have the depth of its predecessors by taking the more psychological route, but it might add to the horror.

[image via YouTube]