Zombie stories have gained a lot of footing in this last five years, monopolizing numerous film and non-film productions on a large scale.: just think of The Walking Dead, one of the most followed TV series in the world, or the most recent World War Z, a good production starring the very famous Brad Pitt; a trend that has gone all but fading, given the recent presentation of Days Gone, PS4 exclusive based on a world full of zombies with a post apocalyptic background, and the announcement of the sequel to World War Z. Techland, in cooperation with Deep Silver, has tried to write an important story of this particular period, with the arrival of Dead Island and its Riptide retinue, released 4 years ago on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. Today we are going to analyze together the Dead Island Definitive Edition, collection of the two titles and a third exclusive gem with a totally next gen look. Let's find out together if the house has hit the mark!
The long hot summer.
The narrative plot of the series Dead Island it is quite simple: i four protagonists find themselves in a luxurious resort located in Papua New Guinea and, after a night of crazy celebrations, they wake up in a completely disastrous scenario; nothing surrounds the four protagonists: total desolation, blood, dismemberments and a tide of zombies will be the background to a series of numerous adventures, which will lead the protagonists to fully explore the huge island and discover the truth behind all this mystery. In fact, the story starts from Dead Island and continues from Riptide, a very direct continuation that picks up the events from the exact end of the first chapter. The game is presented as a first-person adventure game, seasoned with a strong rpg imprint: the customization of the character at the skill level is in fact fundamental, with points acquired by leveling up thanks to the completion of missions and the killing of hordes of zombies; everything revolves around a deep crafting system, with the ability to properly customize the many and various tools of death present in the title. Were it not for a certain repetition of the turn, the adventure would offer a truly optimal longevity: to complete even just one of the two titles it will not take you less than 25 hours, for a cumulative total of at least 50 long hours in the company of paradisiacal places haunted by every kind of monstrosity. To help the general repetitiveness, here comes the possibility of playing the campaign in co-op with 3 friends, a real holy hand in terms of variety and above all general fun.
Work in progress at the Royal Palm Resort!
We come therefore to the focal point of the review of this re-edition of Dead Island: the technical sector. The work accomplished is undoubtedly to be commended, with almost all the textures in high definition and a truly commendable lighting sector, which gives a very satisfying visual rendering. Some views of the sea, or more simply some glimpses offered by the wonderful resort and the immense island, justify the purchase of this re-edition, in which Techland has really spent time and resources. However, numerous historical flaws in the securities remain, above all a sector of animations of at least two past generations and an annoying blur effect, noticeable especially in the fast movements of the camera.
An appreciated retro gem.
The gem announced earlier is called Dead Island Retro Revenge and is a successful side scroller title made entirely in pixel art: the protagonist, called Max, is a metalhead whose beloved cat has been stolen by some criminals. We will have to help accompany our rocker on a crazy journey on the 2D streets of California, mangling zombies and monstrosities of all kinds until we recover our four-legged friend. The title clearly winks at the numerous coin ups that monopolized the arcades of the fantastic 90s: the protagonist will move autonomously to the right and we, mastering out of the ordinary reflexes, should direct him in the right direction, killing everything that we will stand in front of it, also thanks to power ups of all kinds scattered on the road. The difficulty, as the history of coin ups teaches, is decidedly set upwards, but with various games it will not be so difficult to master our Max properly, leading us to complete levels on levels with considerable satisfaction.
Dead Island Definitive Collection is, overall, a good reissue: the work done on the technical sector is more than satisfactory, and the addition of Retro Revenge it is undoubtedly welcome; sold at the recommended price of 39,99 euros, this re-edition is recommended above all for fans of zombie stories, for those who have not played the titles on PS3 and for lovers of the long and tortuous splatter adventures that Techland can offer us.
