‘Dead Island: Riptide’ Review Roundup

Dead Island: Riptide will be released April 25 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, and some critics have already had an early peek at the game. This is a summary of what they thought.

The original Dead Island was a glitchy mess, but it was an enjoyable glitchy mess. It took the gun out of the first-person shooter, which was a detriment to anyone looking to blast dead heads, at least for the first part. Dead Island was a prime example of how to make an imperfect game enjoyable enough for the masses. In the end, it was a more realistic zombie basher with real life problems to contend with (if you didn’t mind basically playing fetch for a bunch of people who stood around doing nothing, typical RPG fare).

Dead Island: Riptide adds a few new elements to the mix, but doesn’t really improve anything. In fact, the bugs seem to accompany the additions, making it even more of a mess. The glitches in the first game haven’t been addressed at all.

Much like the original Dead Island, you kill, loot, gain experience, and level up, and the four survivors you control are all proficient in different forms of combat. It plays about the same, which may make some pickier players wonder why this is a sequel and not just a continuation of the first game.

Being the same isn’t always a bad thing, however, as Dead Island spawned a Game of the Year edition. Anything that good will be just as satisfying again. Leveling up is like a Pavlovian trigger, making you just want more so you can pick out that upgrade you’ve been eyeing for the last hour.

Dead Island: Riptide, as stated above, is simply a continuation of the story from the first game. The survivors got off the island of Banoi, only to end up shipwrecked on another island full of the infected horde. Despite a boring and uninteresting prologue, this game might be worth checking out.

If you liked Dead Island, its followup is more of the same.

What do you think of Dead Island: Riptide?