You are caught on the brink of a mysterious epidemic that suddenly, and without warning, breaks out on the fictional island of Banoi. As a guest of the Royal Palms Resort, your stay was supposed to be a dream holiday; a luxurious getaway to the beautiful beaches of a tropical paradise. But faced with the reality of a zombie apocalypse, there is only one thing left to do: Survive...

Welcome to Dead Island... a paradise to die for. The Island of Banoi is situated just off the coast of Papua New Guinea, located South of the Equator and just north of Australia. Until very recently much of the island was wild and primitive and totally untouched by the modern world. Meet the friendly people of Banoi. They are proud of their rich cultural heritage... or at least they were until recently. A mysterious plague like virus has swept the island turning the inhabitants into zombies. How did it start? No one knows, but anyone who is scratched or bitten by an infected is turned into one of the walking dead... Well, almost everyone.

For some unknown reason at least four individuals appear to be immune to the virus. Of course, while they can't be infected, it doesn't mean they can't be killed. You can chose to play as one of these four accidental heroes as you roam the island in search of other survivors and a way off the island. Each has their own specialty, but to be honest it doesn't really matter who you chose as it doesn't appear to change how you use the weapons in the game.

You start as part of a team of survivors, and it's your job to move them safety to a more secure area and then travel around the island doing jobs for them (because they can't risk coming into contact with the infected), in order to help them attract help from the mainland.

As you roam the island you can pick up items to be used as weapons, which can be upgraded and mended at the various workbenches dotted around the island. You can also create grenades and other explosives as well as electric weapons by using some of the innocent looking items hidden away in abandoned luggage left by holiday makers who never made it to their hotel rooms. In addition some survivors will create items for you if you bring them the right components - for example some will make molotov cocktails for you if you bring them bottles of whiskey.

Searching the environment for anything useful is also essential as you'll need plenty of money and other items to help you pay for repairing/upgrading weapons as well completing some of the side quests.

You can also play in four-player co-op mode were your friends can help you against the hoards of zombies.

Yes there are a few bugs - but nothing that should spoil the game for you too much. I got trapped in areas a couple of times and had to reload the last checkpoint (but they are saved so frequently that this wasn't a problem). While undertaking another mission I drove my truck to the side of a house in order to climb on to the truck and jump the fence. I must have been parked too close to the fence, as I was squashed the second I set foot outside the vehicle. I respawned inside the building I was trying to enter and the zombie inside seemed unaware of me - so I dispatched him quickly and opened the door in order to let the owner inside.

Another slight grumble is that it's not always easy to work out how to complete the main mission quests. One mission near the start of the game had me driving to two garages in order to pick up packs of fruit juice. This I did and drove back to the person who gave me the mission. All he kept doing was asking if I'd visited both garages. After a lot of running around I finally found where I was supposed to place both cartons in order to finish the mission, but a little more help on the map would have been useful.

Also, the constant stream of zombies can get a bit too repetitive but thankfully there are fast travel maps dotted around the environment that allow you to travel from one safe area to the next without having to spend ages driving or running there.

Overall, this is an engaging and thoroughly entertaining offering that offers zombie fans something just a little bit different.

Now, we don't normally do this, but we were so impressed with the trailer for the game that we decided to include it here so that you can get a taster of what you're in for.

9

Darren Rea