Dead Island

I covered this a bit in the review, but it's important to reiterate—leveling up implies things to the player that Dead Island doesn't deliver. Extra health is meaningless, extra damage is meaningless—over the course of the game zombies will always take the exact same number of hits to kill, so all the experience I'm gaining doesn't seem to serve any purpose.

Been putting some time into Dead Island, so I figured I'd throw out some random impressions for those who are curious. To start with, there is no doubt that this game is buggy.

The recent trailer for Dead Island, an upcoming zombie actioner from Techland, brought about a realisation that there's been a tendency which has been increasing within the media recently; the use of children to elicit emotion.

For our 50th episode we welcome Sam Marchello of RPGamer.com. She offers her perspective on the state of game criticism and helps us break down the mania surrounding the Dead Island trailer. Plus, as a special bonus: our never-before-heard "pilot" episode! Special thanks to RandomRob for his epic musical contribution. Featuring Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, Richard Naik, and Tim "Podcast Angry 3D" Spaeth.

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Links:

• RandomRob's Podcast Music
• Dead Island Trailer

Please send feedback and mailbag questions to podcast (at) gamecritics (dot) com.

You know you've struck a cord with the gaming public when you get "immortalized" by someone in a  game like LittleBigPlanet or Minecraft. I mean, it says a lot when someone is willing to forego another Mario or Legend of Zelda homage in favor of something contemporary like Dead Island—not the game of course, but the trailer! 

Unfortunately, this translation doesn't quite match the haunting appeal of the eagerly anticipated first-person shooter/horror/role-playing game. Instead, it is quite adorable. Not exactly the effect its creator was going for I'm sure.

Apparently, this animated video criticizing Nintendo (in Silent Hill style, no less) made the rounds a while ago, but I somehow overlooked it. It's brilliant, sick and twisted, and a definite must-see.

This is one of the best trailers for a videogame I have ever seen. You don't know what you're in for until it is too late and the game, or at least its premise, has a hold of you. That is what Techland has accomplished with its disturbing trailer for its "first-person zombie-slasher/action-role-playing game", Dead Island. You have to hope that the developer is able to actually create the game that lives up to the hype generated from such a haunting trailer.