By Quintin Smith on March 17th, 2011 at 9:54 am.
VG24/7‘s amassed what can only be described as a tableau of new Dead Island shots, and I found a few others we haven’t posted yet, too. A few points of interest in these screens, including a MASSIVE zombie. Is that new? I don’t know. I guess Resident Evil has had a few massive zombies in its time. Carry on!
Click to embiggen, as usual.
Destroyed beauty! I love me a bit of that.
Huge dude! Excellent. I hope there’s a bit when another one shows up so that you will be facing off against Two Huge Dudes.
That Huge Dude is running straight into the samurai sword! Look out, Huge Dude!
Hang on. He isn’t even huge anymore. What’s going on?
Where would games be without destroyed beauty, eh? They’d have to go out and create some actual beauty, I guess. Which might be interesting, as we talked about in this Bulletstorm verdict.
Urgh. The horror.
This, to my mind, is the most exciting shot of the bunch. I’m not sure there’s a better moment in gaming than cresting a hill, seeing a problem and using your vantage point to map out a solution. My time spent with the first Crysis revolved around that moment quite early on where you arrive at a pitched battle at night and can see the fixed guns you need to destroy. Also, I guess Dead Island has an open world! Man!
Pow! Reminds me of Condemned. Very nice.
“GRGRAHHHRGH I’M HOME,” said Robert Zombie.
“GROOOAOAAA WELCOME HOME, HONEY,” said his wife, Wife Zombie. “BRAINS FOR DINNER.”
“ROAHH,” said Robert Zombie, for he enjoyed eating brains.
A pool of some kind!
Yeah! You can do it, man with backpack! I believe in you!
Ah! That must be of one of the combined weapons that I’ve read about in previews, a leaf taken cleanly out of Dead Rising 2′s book. That said, the combinations in Dead Island are meant to be a little more “realistic”. An electric machete? Maybe that’s realistic. Do we have any MacGyvers in the audience who can confirm or deny this?
17/03/2011 at 10:02 diebroken says:
Needs more blood.
17/03/2011 at 10:04 Quintin Smith says:
The blood is love!
17/03/2011 at 11:09 tomeoftom says:
Still, I hold your hand/
Wrapped as if a ring/
We of flesh & blood are only carrying/
It’s so hard to/
Well, you know/
Pull off/
…Rigor mortis and all that/
17/03/2011 at 10:04 coldvvvave says:
Needs less katana.
17/03/2011 at 10:10 Gonefornow says:
Needs more Daikatana!
//just kidding..
17/03/2011 at 14:31 DJ Phantoon says:
A silly British man by the name of Ben once sang:
We’re not the same Ion Storm that made Daikatana
Our games are good and they stay on scheduuuuule!
17/03/2011 at 10:08 WJonathan says:
The Huge Dude became ensmallened.
17/03/2011 at 15:21 jonfitt says:
These cows are small.
These cows are faaaaaar away.
17/03/2011 at 21:35 Arglebargle says:
From a military pilot introduction lecture: ‘Cows get bigger; cows get smaller’ Obligatory hand wavings, down and up, accompanying…..
17/03/2011 at 10:10 Jimmeh says:
I think every game could benefit from more electric machetes.
17/03/2011 at 10:30 Navagon says:
Not just games. I’m surprised Gillette haven’t released a five bladed electric machete yet.
17/03/2011 at 10:35 Baboonanza says:
They could have done, they probably had one ready in the 80s, but if you jump stright to ‘Fusion Powered 8-Bladed Laser Depiliating Razor For Men’ how will you continue to upsell your customers for the next 30 years?
17/03/2011 at 11:16 Jimmeh says:
Damn them! I’ll bet there is a landfill in Nevada full of 30 year old five bladed electric machetes, ravaged by time and the elements.
If only the world knew, how they would weep.
17/03/2011 at 11:19 Navagon says:
You’re quite right, Baboonanza. We’re decades away from the 1.21GW Nanoblade 9000 simply because they’re predictably going to start with the single bladed 9 volt cut throat version with a white rubber strip on the back of the blade that gets all manky on contact with water (or any other fluid) forcing you to change the damn thing sooner than you intended.
17/03/2011 at 15:36 Snargelfargen says:
The economist says we are closer to “blade hyperdrive” than you might think : http://www.economist.com/node/5624861?story_id=5624861
17/03/2011 at 10:12 Longrat says:
I still don’t get the point of making a dramatic trailer if you’re gonna make a dead rising ish game.
17/03/2011 at 10:24 Anguy says:
It’s more a Left for Risingish game from what I’ve heard
17/03/2011 at 15:05 DeathHamsterDude says:
I kinda imagine it as Far Cry with zombies, and fewer guns. Although maybe the jungle scenery is confuuuuuusing me!
17/03/2011 at 10:18 Alex Bakke says:
“Also, I guess Dead Rising has an open world! Man!”
I know typos are frowned upon, but WOWEE what a typo :)
17/03/2011 at 10:24 logizomechanophobe says:
I was just going to comment on this typo, in the hopes of aiding Quinns in his quest to give this game the quality journalism it deserves, only with a kinder, more constructive approach, even if being nice on message boards is frowned upon these days.
17/03/2011 at 10:39 Alex Bakke says:
Oh, I definitely wasn’t being mean in anyway, just found it amusing.
17/03/2011 at 11:17 logizomechanophobe says:
I admit to having taken your post to be rudeseeming, but in retrospect that smiley face on it just takes all the edge off!
So if our new Dead Rising really had more open worldliness in it, then maybe it wouldn’t have felt like sipping on sour milk.
17/03/2011 at 11:42 Jesse L says:
By the way, on the topic of ‘open world’ – can anyone point to a RECENT preview mentioning anything like open world elements? The previews I’ve seen say nothing about it. It was part of the project early on, years ago, but I think it’s been dropped.
And if you thought these screens were a comedown from the trailer, I don’t want to see the general internet comedown from open world to ‘linear brawler’.
And don’t forget, besides mohawk guy, the only officially confirmed character is a black rapper. I forget his name but it’s something like what you’d expect. And in the screenshots we can see a third character is a “hot chick” with a strategically placed slit up the side of her skirt.
What I’m saying is this game might be about pwning zombies. Which I think is okay. But keep the expectations moderate!
17/03/2011 at 16:23 Dances to Podcasts says:
Too many zombie games. It’s like they’re… spreading.
17/03/2011 at 10:19 coldvvvave says:
Warhammer 40k called it wants Power Sword back.
17/03/2011 at 11:07 Groove says:
Zombies don’t even wear armour, waste of points
17/03/2011 at 11:22 MrWeed says:
http://images.wikia.com/left4dead/images/1/12/RiotInf.jpg
“That Zombie’s got armour! I want armour!” – Coach
17/03/2011 at 10:20 Fondue says:
And here I thought I was going to get to play that fabled game where you slink around like a beast in the night, desperately hoarding equipment and weapons, all alone in a hostile land…instead I get mohawk-guy with a powersword.
17/03/2011 at 10:48 godgoo says:
my sentiments EXACTLY.
y’know, it seems so frequent these days that early impressions of a game are presented to my by a well meaning games journalist as something truly exciting, artistic and original, only to be revealed a couple of weeks later as a far less exciting product.
The thing is, it’s really only a suggestion of said journalist’s desires but my imagination combined with an eagerness to be impressed by a slowly self consuming games industry tends to magnify this effect creating an echo chamber of excitement.
it’s highly frustrating that this industry which I’ve grown up with (a child of the 80′s) seems to refuse to grow up with me. There are rare exceptions to this rule but the fact that there is finally the technology and the financial backing to create really interesting work but so little of it gets through to the AAA market is just plain disappointing, especially to those of us that feel we have grown up with gaming and have a strong sense of ownership of it as an art form.
//rant over.
17/03/2011 at 13:21 Torgen says:
What a shame.
What’s also a shame is the probable non-plussedness of the developers when the game is shunned for being a generic zombie rip-off. “But, everyone was *raving* about the trailer!?”
17/03/2011 at 10:23 Njordsk says:
Zombies *sigh*
Looks al’ight though.
17/03/2011 at 15:42 Teddy Leach says:
Oh come on, what did you think it’s have in it?
17/03/2011 at 10:26 Eclipse says:
The trailer kinda excited me, then… well, It looks average at best
17/03/2011 at 10:27 Fringe says:
That zombie is actually even bigger than that, he’s just really far away…
17/03/2011 at 10:28 faelnor says:
I’m not sure I get the point of those in-engine shots showing mostly third person perspectives, considering the game is a first person brawler.
17/03/2011 at 10:30 Inigo says:
HELP ME KIND MOHAWK MAN MY LEGS HAVE BEEN IMPALED BY THIS OVERTURNED CHAIR, FREEZING ME IN THIS AWKWARD RUNNING POSTURE
FEAR NOT GENTLEMAN WITH POOR SKIN HYGIENE, I SHALL FREE YOU WITH ONE MIGHTY SWING OF MY CUTTING IMPLEMENT – AIEE! MY BLADE HAS BEEN STRUCK BY LIGHTNING IN MID SWING, THE RESULTING ELECTRICAL SURGE RENDERING ME PARALYSED AND NOT TRANSFORMING ME INTO AN OVERLY MUSCLEBOUND SLAYER OF EVIL AS A CHILDHOOD SPENT WATCHING 1980′S SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS HAD LED ME TO BELIEVE
17/03/2011 at 10:34 Navagon says:
I’m still very interested in this even though it seems to have shunned the survival aspect in favour of taking a leaf out of other zombie games books. But yeah, not quite as interested it must be said.
17/03/2011 at 10:36 El_MUERkO says:
You had to link to MacGyver?
Like people wouldn’t know who he is… .. .
I’m old now, aren’t I :(
17/03/2011 at 10:38 Kirrus says:
I only know of it vaguely. Seen one episode.. does that make me young?
17/03/2011 at 10:43 Hoaxfish says:
He was mentioned in the Simpsons.. see, down with the young folks.
17/03/2011 at 11:00 Njordsk says:
McGyver is a classic, a myth.
Every time you manage to create something usefull with your hands it’s the McGyver way.
Or I’m getting old too :(
17/03/2011 at 11:30 karry says:
“Every time you manage to create something usefull with your hands it’s the McGyver way.”
Except there were entire spans upon spans of episodes where he did nothing of the sort, but just being some stereotypical russophobic secret agent, running around shooting people.
17/03/2011 at 13:23 Torgen says:
MacGyver running around shooting people?? Wasn’t the whole premise of the show that he would do anything it took to NOT shoot people? Guess I quit watching before it went to crap.
17/03/2011 at 14:21 Creeping Death says:
Macgyver? Who’s tha… Oh! You mean Colonel O’Neill? Yea, he’s pretty kick ass…
:P
17/03/2011 at 16:53 ChainsawHands says:
According to Wikipedia:
No guns for MacGyver!
17/03/2011 at 10:38 Kirrus says:
Electric Machete, so not realistic. You’d need a massive battery pack, and you wouldn’t get those sparks either..
17/03/2011 at 11:21 logizomechanophobe says:
So sword of +1 Holy Smite, then? RPG trappings confirmed! Everyone loves RPGs, right? Oh, wait…. but not those sorts of RPG traditions.
17/03/2011 at 12:45 Kirrus says:
+1 Holy smite, with extra wrath?
17/03/2011 at 10:38 HermitUK says:
straitjackets at a holiday resort?
17/03/2011 at 11:13 SuperNashwanPower says:
Yup. Even Center Parcs has a family sector, couples sector, and frothing loon sector. Loons need holidays too ya know – its not all fun, fun, fun.
17/03/2011 at 11:38 noom says:
I thought fun fun fun was what being a frothing loon was about at all times.
17/03/2011 at 16:06 BSG11 says:
Here is the twist: the holiday resort was built on top of an insane asylum. *cue dramatic thunder FX*
17/03/2011 at 10:43 JohnnyMaverik says:
An electric machete certainly is possible but why would you? Would make much more sense for a blunt impact weapon like a frying pan or steel (or better yet aluminium if you want to get a bit of extra kick from your battery, although on the downside it won’t be quite as heavy and therefore not so great for caving heads in, so bare that in mind when making that choice) bat. Obviously in the case of a video game I’ll let that pass, and they haven’t denied the possibility of electric frying pans or bats yet, so there is still hope. Just remember kids, in a video game an electric machete is all good and well but in real life electrify those frying pans.
17/03/2011 at 10:50 Spacewalk says:
God damned running zombies, I am calling bullshit on this game.
17/03/2011 at 11:42 Xercies says:
Because slow zombies are of course more believable
17/03/2011 at 13:25 Torgen says:
Actually, they are. The whole rigor mortis/muscles decaying thing.
17/03/2011 at 13:49 Navagon says:
Rigor mortis means that it would be just as easy to animate a table as a corpse.So slow zombies aren’t at all realistic either. That’s why most ‘zombie’ stuff now is all about infected people rather than corpses crawling back out of their graves.
17/03/2011 at 22:46 FRIENDLYUNIT says:
I entirely agree.
So does Simon Pegg http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/nov/04/television-simon-pegg-dead-set
17/03/2011 at 11:41 Ultra Superior says:
What kind of battery is capable of generating visible electric arc around your machete?
Certainly not the small one that’s attached to it.
Also, if one had such battery, wouldn’t it be safer to just power up something longer than a machete (Wire on a stick or antennae) and touch Zombies gently from afar?
*Peter Molyneaux’s voice:*
“Thouch thehm Genthly with your sthick.”
17/03/2011 at 11:43 Xercies says:
Lovely lighting in those shots!
17/03/2011 at 11:48 Lars Westergren says:
I have actually had it up to HERE with damn zombies, but I’m willing to give this and Dead State a chance because they sound pretty sweet when the developers are talking about what they want to achieve with gameplay.
The “huge dude” screenshot: When I first saw it, I also thought it was a 20 meter tall zombie far away standing on a car, but looking closer I think it he is standing close to the camera, on the hood of the car you see just to the right. I certainly hope so at least, I was looking forward to a more “realistic” zombie game world like the devs were talking about earlier.
Sparkly sword: Looks like he has taped something like a taser to the sword which is certainly possible, but if it shooting sparks (especially that size) you have shorted it or will drain the tiny batteries in a second, so… what’s the point? But yeah, I suspect it will be a +1 to damage for 10 minute thing in the game world. If we can suspend our disbelief enough to allow the walking dead, perhaps we can let this slide too if they are adding it to make the game more varied or complex?
Open world and beautiful scenery – yay.
18/03/2011 at 00:01 bigblack says:
I have only had it up to HERE with poor quality zombie games – especially those more interested in slaptstick than tackling horror or survival. Most developers who turn these out seem to be taking the path of least resistance and creating arcade-y gore simulators rather than grappling with what it is that actually makes the thought of a slowly encroaching, unending horde of flesh-eating ghouls so dread-inducing. It’s hard to make characters one cares about, so it’s hard to make a player care when survivors die; it’s hard to simulate survival, so we end up in malls with everything we need. Ok screw it – let’s just let them run around hitting things with electric fucking machetes!
I would like more zombie games that are unafraid to be serious and tactical Left4Dead, with its jokes and stuff, still manages to be marvelous with a good team of friends who can aim and cover each other.
17/03/2011 at 11:56 hjd_uk says:
If i ever start a band i’m calling it “Electric Machete”.
Taser + Duct Tape + Machete ? A *little* more realisitic than Toy-Hellicopter-Machette or Drill-Bucket but its plainly the same game-design.
17/03/2011 at 12:31 Fwiffo says:
Now I haven’t played that game, but my brain is struggling pretty hard to combine a drill and a bucket in such a manner as to be a superior offensive weapon then either single implement. Well, that’s Capcom and JML off the list of my potential employers. :(
17/03/2011 at 13:25 hjd_uk says:
It’s not really the superior offensive bit its the gory/entertainment/XP bonus bit :)
17/03/2011 at 12:15 Sam Crisp says:
Pretty!
17/03/2011 at 13:04 JKjoker says:
i hope they avoid the zombrex and time limit BS from Dead Rising, i know i could ignore them but the game kept screaming at me, “hey, time limit, hey! your daughter is going to die!, HEY STOP HAVING FUN AND GO WORK FOR ME!” which put me off
i also hope they add a little flexibility to the combining system and not make it recipe specific
do both of those and maybe throw in an autosave system and im sold
17/03/2011 at 13:08 McDan says:
Oh Quentin, you are too funny for us mortals. Also that picture with the guy holding the woman in the pool of blood? It looks as if he’s wearing some kind of leather-skin-suit which he can poke his head out of rather than normal skin…
17/03/2011 at 13:59 Lars Westergren says:
You are right…just like in the screenshots from Kane&Lynch 2.
17/03/2011 at 15:59 Dubbill says:
Dragon Age Origins does the same. Everyone with their throat uncovered wears a necklace or collar to hide the unsightly skin-seam.
17/03/2011 at 19:56 Koozer says:
Mass Effect 2 does it too. I don’t think necks exist in the Mass Effect universe, heads are just balanced on top of the torsos. Remove those fashionable collars and there’d be flying bonces clogging up the Citadel left right and centre.
17/03/2011 at 15:44 Gabbo says:
You manage to avoid posting any picturing showing just how dead-eyed the human characters look in action. I’m putting this in my ‘cautious optimism’ pile
17/03/2011 at 16:32 squareking says:
Christ. Some of you should collaborate on a study regarding the realistic portrayal of battery-charged machetes.
17/03/2011 at 17:23 BobsLawnService says:
I would like to nominate “Most Creative Use of a Padded Straight Jacket to Add Dramatic Tension to a Game” as a new category for the BAFTAs.
It rather clever though. The first zombies would probably be restrained like that.
17/03/2011 at 18:00 sana says:
These were all available on the official Dead Island website for a very very long time. What did VG247 amass again?
17/03/2011 at 18:50 Noc says:
See? Huge Dude isn’t huge, he’s just in the foreground!
17/03/2011 at 21:00 Moonracer says:
not seeing the advantage of electricity versus zombies. Are you trying to give them a heart attack? But hey, it looks cool right?
17/03/2011 at 23:03 Hoaxfish says:
okay, machete + battery = lightning sword…
god help any zombie once the player finds a box of Lego
18/03/2011 at 07:06 TheTourist314 says:
“Click to embiggen, as usual.”
Heh. Heh.
18/03/2011 at 09:30 Madlukelcm says:
That better not be an electrified machete I see… I wanted this to be somewhat realistic.
26/03/2011 at 12:54 RegisteredUser says:
This is (going to be) a low poly console action game (with likely frustrating limitations and design decisions – not the least part of which will be due to being aimed towards controllers).
I still have no idea how people could have been so susceptible to a run-of-the-mill emotion button pushing trailer and then think that rendered trailers are in any way connected to what a game is/could be.