![]() It's totally seamless allowing you to jump in and out." We've got 8-player co-op in this big open world. "We're taking the co-op aspects and really running with it. "One thing we we really get from players of the original is how co-op play with friends was a big factor in why they stuck with it," offers Ashdown. ![]() One of the main reasons Yager "went for it" is the co-op play, a feature that has given the game longer legs than the average zombie shooter. "Californian music is something we're going to play with. When they heard that they could pitch for the sequel they went for it." "Spec Ops was a great game and I know that while the guys at Yager were developing it they played a lot of Dead Island in the office, to have a break. To try a whole new genre and way of doing things," says Ashdown. Clearly, that's the reason so many other journalists wanted to meet Ashdown too.īut Dead Island 2's zombie smash-up is quite the departure from Spec Ops' anti-war war game. But the fact it's being worked on by Yager is the biggest point of interest for me. ![]() I would have been more blasé about the sequel if a lesser developer was involved. I played it because it was there until something better came along. I got it cheap or maybe even free with a subscription. I found the original Dead Island a fairly simple take on zombies and gore a fun stomp around the undead where its mix of crafting, fetch quests and head shots helped pass away a few hours. But Spec Ops was one of the reasons he applied for the job at Yager. The PR person overseeing the interview rolls her eyes as Ashdown politely explains that he joined the company just after Spec Ops was released. It turns out everyone meeting him today has asked the same question. When I first meet Isaac Ashdown, senior gameplay programmer at Yager, I ask him if he worked on Spec Ops: The Line. "What we're trying to do is make it so other players are just one of many things that are going on in the world and help give it a sense of life." Developed by Techland and published by Deep Silver.What attracted the developer of Spec Ops: The Line to Dead Island 2? Co-op and California. But if you're after something a bit deeper, smarter and better – well, perhaps the Dead Island franchise will finally live up the promise of its trailer next time (don't hold your breath). So, if you're hankering for a mainstream game that's mostly knockabout zombie-hacking fun, enjoy. That demonstrates a serious lack of ambition on the part of the developers and delivers a game that offers few reasons to wade all the way through.Ī few new enemies, a new main character and the ability to get in and out of incredibly annoying and hard-to-control boats – that's the new meat on the bone of Riptide. Worst of all though, there's a serious lack of variety to the actual play – missions are the worst offenders here, they're either "get this thing from across the island" or "protect our base from another wave of zombies". Those are: copious bugs, glitches and errors (although nowhere near as many as in the original game at launch) an incredibly over-complex weapon crafting system that's less fun than jabbing yourself with your own hand-crafted electrified fish knife while trying to scroll through gigantic and nonsensical spreadsheets and plot and character writing that makes Michael Jackson's Thriller video look like 28 Days Later in comparison. And it's still got pretty much all the bad bits held over from the original. It's still at its best when played four-player rather than solo. It's still a dumb, enthusiastic run-and-stab/gun/run over action game. Because in every other detail, this really is a very direct and simple sequel to the original. After all, gamers have seen the little guy behind the curtain now – they won't be fooled again. Now its makers are back with a sequel – a new island, new zombie types and a new hero to take on the shambling undead. Because while the trailer was emotional and elegaic, Dead Island was a scrappily bolted-together affair that cut-and-shut together a paradise island setting, four-player cooperative action and ludicrous weapon crafting for a very dumb, action-oriented take on zombies. And when the game came out it sold over five million copies, despite middling reviews and, worse, despite the fact that the game bore no real resemblance to the trailer.įive million people had been misled by a very smart marketing campaign. It made people cry – for a game trailer, that's unheard of. The original trailer (see it here) used some beautifully heart-tugging music and a time-running-backwards schtick to pick apart a holidaying family's descent into zombie armageddon.
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