You’ve arrived at Dead Island, the setting of
a new video game (out September 6 for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC), which is just about the clos- est thing yet to actually being deposited into the middle of a zombie pandemic. This title marks the current apex of video game technol- ogy, a place we may not have arrived at if the youngsters who became enamoured with gaming in the late ’70s and ’80s – starting with Pong and moving up the technology ladder through Intellivision, Nintendo, PC and various other increasingly powerful systems – had abandoned their passion for it as they got older. But they didn’t, which ultimately created a mar- ket for more mature, involved titles. Side- scrollers led to first-person shooters, and simplistic arcade storylines broadened into full- fledged narratives. As storage media became larger and processors ever faster, so too did the worlds of the games expand and become ever more immersive, introducing headier concepts such as morality-based gameplay and more visceral, brazen thrills, including selective dis- memberment and eventually photo-realistic carnage. We’ve come a long way since 1993’s Zom-
bies Ate My Neighbours, and after spending some time with Dead Island (developed via a partnership between Deep Silver and Tech- land), it’s easy to see how the game marks the continued evolution of zombie titles. Recent mega hits such as Dead Rising and Left 4 Dead deliver bucketloads of gore and non-stop brain-bashing ac-
tion, but the mayhem and carnage were always served up with a side helping of dark humour and over-the-top gore-gag kills. Fun and scary, but not consistently terrifying, which is exactly what Dead Island aims to be: a serious, hyper-realistic descent into un- dead hell on Earth, all played out against the lush and formerly beautiful backdrop of a resort island paradise. It’s a setting that actually serves to make the zombies that much more putrid, not just because of the game’s stunning visual aesthetic, but because of how much decomposing flesh they’re flashing. For proof of this, one need look no further than the game’s of-
ficial announcement trailer, a cinematic and artful outing that hit the internet this past February and almost immediately drew con- troversy for its graphic depiction of a newly zombified youngster. The trailer, which won the Gold prize for Internet Film at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, is just over three minutes in length and completely dialogue-free. Only music and sound ef- fects play as the heartbreaking story of a family futilely trying to flee the zombies to the safety of their hotel room unfolds in re- verse, starting with aforementioned zombie girl child plummeting out a smashed hotel window, presumably to her death, and ending with the happy family enjoying a few precious pre-apocalypse moments. The game itself focuses on four people (all of whom are playable
characters) who are at the decadent Royal Palms Resort, on the fictional island of Banoi, when the dead start walking. For instance, Sam B is a past-his-prime rapper who is there looking to jumpstart his flagging career. As a big, tough fella who grew up poor in New Orleans, he hits hard and has great empathy for those who are down on their luck. Logan is an ex-star high school quarterback (with a killer throw) who let his success go to his head and screwed up his life as a result. He’s in Banoi to chill out and to try to get his shit together. Rounding out the quartet are Xian Mei, the daughter of
a Hong Kong police officer, who works at the resort’s front desk, and Purna, a “kick-ass” character whose motivations Dead Island’s de- velopers are keeping secret. While you can’t actively switch between these playable people midstory, their specific backgrounds do define their unique skill sets (such as an aptitude for closed quarters melee combat or hurling ma- chetes into undead brains from a distance), which are upgradable as the game progresses. Your main goal – as one of the few who are
mysteriously immune to the zombie contagion – is to survive and find a way to escape from the infested retreat. Dead Island is a sandbox title with morality-based gameplay, which means that not only can you explore the island freely (à la Grand Theft Auto and Fallout 3), but that there are both core quests and side mis- sions offered up by the desperate folks you en- counter on your journey. It’s up to you whether or not to help them or walk away. Make no mistake, this game is as much
about zombies as it is about the breakdown of society and what people will do to survive. In fact, Dead Island writer Haris Orkin, a lifelong horror fan, goes so far as to suggest that “the most dangerous creatures on Banoi may not even be the undead, but those that are still breathing.” Producer Sebastian Reichert and senior brand manager Vincent Kummer join Orkin in a discussion about how they took the zombie game to the next level.
17
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72