Welcome To The Jungle: Melee weapons play a huge role in Dead Island, and (below) scenes from the game’s controversial announcement trailer.
What sorts of scares does Dead Island offer? HO: I would say every kind there is. Shocks and surprises that cause you to jump. Unbe- lievable gore. Slow-building suspense that fills you with dread. Sad, desperate existen- tial terror – you name it, Dead Island has it.
SR: You will fight for your life. Every second. You will try to collect every scrap you can get your hands on just because it could prove to be useful later. Don’t forget, this is not a game about little shock moments, where a zombie suddenly jumps around a corner. In this game, you will face them directly and the fear strikes you hard as you try to manage your resources to beat them.
The trailer and early gameplay footage make Dead Island look extremely visceral... SR: Dead Island is bloody hell. Gory, gooey splatter. I’m having a hard time describing that, as we really pushed the limits on this topic. Heh...
VK: Well, let’s say there will be some serious zombie blood on the former white sands of Banoi’s beaches!
Is that so? Tell me, what’s the nastiest thing you can do to a zombie in Dead Island? HO: Wow, I’m not sure that’s been discovered yet. You can chop them apart, set them on fire, blow them to bits, beat them senseless, curb- stomp their heads, shoot off body parts... I’m sure players all over the world will find incredibly heinous things to do to zombies and post them on YouTube.
Left 4 Dead really exposed us to the joys of killing zombies with your friends; does Dead Island provide for any co-operative gameplay? SR: There is the main game – you can play it and experience the story. Whenever you like, you can invite friends, let strangers join or you can join other games. This process is as smooth as possible. Your game continues even if you join another player. If he leaves, the game takes care of the bal- ancing without you noticing. Just continue to play. The Bloodbath Arena –a pre-order bonus DLC – is a type of special multiplayer mode, where you fight with up to three friends against wave after wave of zombies. But it is still fully implemented in the world. You will move with your character to the arena and meet with your friends. So it’s up to you if you want to call it a separate mode, as it becomes a part of the main campaign.
What are your thoughts on the uproar about the inclusion of a child zom- bie in the game trailer? HO: Honestly, I was a little surprised, as horror films and books and even TV shows often have children involved in horror stories, either being threatened or doing the threatening. F.E.A.R.’s main villain is a scary little girl and Dead Space 2 recently featured weird, mutated babies. I think what pushed it over the line for some people was the emotional punch it provided with that ending coda showing the happy family arriving for their vacation. The trailer was so effective at pushing people’s emotional buttons that I often showed it to the actors before voice sessions to get them in the right frame of mind. I had some ideas for child zombies that I wanted to include in the story orig- inally, but I understand why Deep Silver and Techland thought that having players murder children, even if they’re zombies, was probably pushing things a little too far. Some countries have very strict laws about video game content and we want people everywhere to be able to play and enjoy the game.
If you are including little to no humour in this title, does that make it tougher to portray violence without backlash or potential censorship from ratings boards? VK: It can work both
ways, sometimes humour helps, but sometimes it makes things worse.
Zombies have really been the dominating monster in the horror gaming market: why do you think this is? And do you see the zombie video game craze run- ning out of steam anytime soon? SR: Zombies are awesome, as they are so easy to explain. Everyone understands the situation. No one needs additional info and everyone feels the same if “the people over there” could be his family.
VK: Zombies are human beings that are re- duced to pure anger and hunger, without any self-control. I think this is something everyone is afraid of and a common nightmare. That´s why zombies have been around for such a long time and also that is why I think they are here to stay.
HO:As long as the games are great, I don’t think so. There’s something so primal and satisfying about taking out zombies.
RM22
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