Super Frat

Quick video game review.  Dead Island is the new zombie shooter where you are trapped on a tropical island with zombies.

It’s not a bad game and it’s a bit scary.  My main problems with the game is this:  All I want to do is kill zombies.  I don’t mind that they lunge, but I have a problem with running zombies.  This game has both and it doesn’t accelerate too fast.  The zombies have levels, which I like.  They get progressively tougher to kill.

The tough part of the game is driving.  Running over zombies in a truck is all kinds of fun, but the controls are pretty wonky.

The zombies are really loud, which is weird.  The sound of them dying actually threw me off a little.  You also can’t really sneak up on them.  That might be because I had just gotten done playing Batman.  (How awesome would a Batman vs. the Zombies game be?)

The downside is the premise is kind of weak.  For some reason, your character is immune to the virus that turns people into zombies, which is why you have to do the missions.  I guess that would be a good explanation, but some of the missions are a bit pointless.  For instance, going to get gas to burn bodies.  There’s so much stuff on the island (plenty of abandoned cars), why not use the gas from them?  Also, there’s a choice of characters with different abilities, which don’t seem all that different.  I guess it’s just an excuse to have upgrades.

Finally, there are “traders” as you can buy and sell stuff and collecting money is important.  That seems counter intuitive to the whole situation.

Still, overall, the game is a lot of fun once you get used to the controls.  It’s still not my ideal zombie game.  (I could really do without the “boss” zombies.)  You’ll get your zombie-killing fix with this on.

I give Dead Island 7 out of 10 keggers.  I wouldn’t buy it first, but I’d buy it.  Definitely something to pick up in the used bin.