Day 129, Game 129 - Dead Island

Oh, Dead Island. Where do I even begin?

Yes, I played the original Dead Island game today, and with good reason to. Well, I like to think it's with good reason, but in all honesty, it just proves further that I have a serious habit that is only growing by the day.

You see, this isn't my first time playing this game. But it is my first time playing it on the PS3. I bought the game on release day back when it came out, but on the Xbox 360. I remember I even got a Blu-ray copy of the movie Zombieland from Best Buy for buying the game, which I thought was awesome, despite the fact I didn't have a Blu-ray player (or my PS3 for that matter) at that time. But hey, free is free, and free is awesome!

Anyway, so I had it on the 360 and it was awesome. I thoroughly loved every minute of that game, start to finish. A few friends of mine even bought it, and despite my disdain for multiplayer or co-op games, I actually had a lot of fun playing this with my buddies. It was even better when all of us were on the same page as far as how we approached the game and in which way we wanted to play it and the missions.

One game in particular, with a friend I won't name, was especially frustrating because all he had it in his mind to do was to run as fast as he could from mission to mission, point to point and complete the game as fast as possible. He wasn't looting, crafting weapons or taking on side missions for the sake of leveling up. He just wanted to blitz through it like there was a time limit or something. 

Like I said, I loved this game. I realize it didn't win over the hearts of many in the game review industry, but it never set out to be a defining moment for video games. It's entire goal was to be a fun, not-so-serious zombie-smashing game, and I think it accomplished it well. Where it went wrong (aside from the many bugs in the game that needed worked out), was the level of hype if put itself up to the challenge of trying to live up to. When the very first trailer came out, it sent the internet and the entire video game universe into a frenzy. It was the coolest, most well-done trailer for a game like this probably ever, and has since set the gold standard for video game trailers. 

Don't remember which trailer I'm referring to? Well, you're in luck:

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Yeah, that trailer. Because of this cinematic, everyone thought the game would be deep, meaningful, emotionally gripping and powerful. Hats off to Deep Silver for drumming up amazing hype with a fantastic video, but they did themselves a disservice by it as well. 

So why am I playing it again, on a different platform you ask? Well, for one, I bought Dead Island Riptide (the sequel to Dead Island), and got it for the PS3. Because you can use your save file from the original game to start with your beefed up character in Riptide, I wanted to go back and complete the game on the PS3 so I have that option, 

In truth, however, I just want the trophies. It's all about the trophies for me at this point. 

Playing the game today, I realized that a lot of the initial bugs in the game have since been patched, and the overall experience seems less choppy and more fluid than I remember it being before. And that is awesome. I can't wait to plow though this game so I can finally get to Riptide. I'll be sure to keep you all posted when that time comes. Until then, I have some zombies to brutally murder with an electrified machete that I so eloquently crafted for this special occasion.