Dead Island hands-on gameplay at E3 2011: Left 4 Dead meets Fallout 3 for Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Written by Alex Roth on June 29, 2011

E3 2011 Preview: The Dead Island trailer impressed, but how does its gameplay stack up? Alex Roth got his hands on the zombie-slayer at E3 the other week to tell you.

Going into Dead Island's hands-on demo at E3 2011, I knew only two things: it was an open world zombie game and had a bad ass, cinematic trailer. That was enough to get me in the door, but as soon as I sat down to play I learned two more important things: it's got four-player co-op and tons of RPG elements. Honestly, I'm a sucker for survival horror; these guys had me as soon as they said "zombies," but after a few minutes of cooperative zombie smashing, Dead Island jumped right onto my must-play list.

Co-op zombie slaying, RPG style
Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising made cooperative zombie killing the norm, but Dead Island is changing the game with RPG-style character classes. They break down like this:

The Leader- jack of all trades with buffs to amp up his teammates

The Tank- heavy hitting meat shield who automatically draws aggro

The Range Specialist- throwing weapons and guns are this guy's bag

The Assassin- hard hitting quick striker without much defense

With classes built to compliment each other, teammates mean more than mic chatter, there's strategic potential here.

Dead Island melee

First-person melee done right
Some people hate first-person melee. Who can blame them? It hasn't always been done well, but Dead Island has it figured out. The bat swinging and machete wielding was visceral and challenging, without any D&D style point-blank misses. It's well-executed with plenty of gruesome animation, and a stamina bar means there's no room for spamming. You'll have to time your swings, even with faster weapons like knives. In addition, weapons degrade with use. Like a true survivor of the apocalypse, you'll need to consider your equipment before taking on that next pack of slavering ghouls. Maybe you should run home and gear up first. There's also an effective system of quick steps for dodging, and the kick. Kicking is essential, the developers called it "the proactive block." It pushes zombies out of biting range and into convenient skull crushing range.

A true zombie pastiche
The crew from Dead Island's publisher Deep Silver had a laundry list of their favorite zombie movies, and you can see that influence in the different types of zombies. The cannon fodder enemies are the slow shamblers from the George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead. Then the ante gets upped with the sprinting, PCP freak zombies a la 28 Days Later. There are many more in between, some who charge headlong like rhinos, and a flailing bruiser with massive limbs.

Dead Island cars

Strategic gore, custom gear
Are they still the walking dead if they can't walk anymore? In Dead Island, there's no better way to stop a zombie from charging than to blow his leg off. Different zombies call for different methods of disposal, and the ability to break or simply sever any limb makes combat a blast. Is a bruiser beating you down? Break his arms, and watch him flap in the wind. Still, there's no need to be a jerk about it. Put him out of his misery with a headshot. Real zombie fans know the dead ones don't go down until you put a bullet between the eyes, a crowbar to the skull, a kayak paddle through the faceЕaim for the head, that's what I'm telling you. Or just blow them right up. You can strap explosives to almost anything. A throwing knife fitted with a C4 charge makes one hell of a sticky bomb. Just be careful not to set them on fire. The only thing worse than being eaten by a zombie is getting cooked first.

The zombie game we've been waiting for
There are a lot of zombie movies out there, so if you want to get noticed, you've got to excel and innovate. The same is true for zombie games. Dead Island takes the four-player co-op of Left 4 Dead, the improvised weapon mayhem of Dead Rising, tosses in the Fallout 3 and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion first-person combat with RPG depth, blends, and pours the heady mixture into the sandbox mold of games like GTA and Infamous.

Dead Island characters

That's the excel part, the innovation is in story and setting. An island is a terrifyingly isolated landscape (is a government quarantine on the horizon?), plus the potential for some locals versus tourists strife. For me, having main characters that are immune to infection is intriguing. Left 4 Dead had immune survivors, but the infection didn't seem to spread by bites. There appeared to be an initial viral outbreak that they were immune to; bites and scratches weren't turning people. In Dead Island, you're the only ones who can take a zombie licking and keep on ticking. As the reluctant heroes of the zombie apocalypse, you're still not immune to having your head ripped off, so therein lies the conflict. Also, what will the other, non-immune survivors make of you? Will they revere you, or will they be suspicious? We have to to wait until Dead Island's September 6 release date to find out (September 9 release date in Europe). Frankly I can't wait until Dead Island comes to life. Until then, sate yourself with 20 minutes of Dead Island in action on Xbox 360. The game will also be available on PS3 and PC.