➤ Dead Island Review: Riptide 🎮

Dead Island Review: Riptide

Palanai, a "heavenly hell".

Version tested Playstation 3. Also available on PC, Xbox 360.

That the zombie theme is on the agenda is now clear. It is a trend that over the last few years has met with considerable success also thanks to works that have enhanced its peculiarities and strong points. Last September Techland offered gamers a new title with a "zombie" character which, also thanks to a masterfully crafted trailer, attracted the curiosity of most.

A little over a year and a half later, in the wake of the success of the first chapter and with a strong demand from gamers, here comes the direct sequel to that famous title: Dead Island: Riptide.

The main challenge on the part of the developers was to propose a game that kept the soul of the first chapter alive and unchanged, that feeling that had decreed its triumph, while managing to smooth out the defects that left Dead Island out of the circle of masterpieces. defining it "only" as a discreet title. Having been able to try it firsthand and in depth, here are our impressions of this awaited sequel!

Island that goes, island that comes ...

The plot of Dead Island: Riptide continues the events of the first chapter directly from the point where we left them. Our survivors fleeing the island of Banoi with the help of a helicopter land on a freighter off the coast. As soon as they landed, however, here is a group of soldiers led by Samuel Hardy.

To really dictate the law, however, on board the ship none other than Frank Serpo, whose purpose is to study the immunity from the virus of the group of survivors who have just landed, all for military purposes. Here we are trapped when the virus manages to spread even on board the ship, as it is obvious that pandemonium breaks out and we exploit the chaos to escape from our cell. Unfortunately, a storm rages on the archipelago which, combined with the damage suffered by the ship from the plague, leads all the crew to shipwreck. Bet where we will wake up? On an island called Palanai. It will take little time to realize that this island is also as infected as Banoi, if not worse. Thus begins our new odyssey and struggle for survival. The plot as you can well see yourself, is certainly not the mix of originality and maturity, but certainly better conceived than the first chapter.

To give a hand to everything is also a campaign designed to constantly pursue the player with quests that will lead to turning the game setting far and wide with more or less fun and studied missions. Unfortunately there is no lack of moles also from a narrative point of view. In addition to supporting characters who are not exactly charismatic, the secondary quests offer almost nothing to add to the story, indeed with the course of time they will be at least repetitive and boring. We talk to one of the non-player characters, go to a certain place, find a certain object and that's the end of the quest. In summary, this will be the routine of the secondary quests. Clearly, however, it is the latter that offer a great incentive in terms of experience acquired (for the development of the character) and objects and weapons, so for those who want to collect all the collectible it is better that they do several.

Speaking instead of the setting of the game itself, we will find ourselves shooting on an island that before the infestation could be defined in no uncertain terms as an earthly paradise. The design is well thought out and capable of offering truly incredible panoramic views. Everything is then mixed with gloomy swamps and abandoned ruins. The sense of abandonment is present in the air and manages to give the right charge to the game and make our explorations truly unique. From the beginning we will be able to explore the vast majority of the island, except for some areas that will be unlocked later for plot purposes.

An action, or almost, in first person!

The gameplay setting of Dead Island: Riptide it is basically that of an Action with a first person view, where, however, the word "action" must be understood in a broader way. The movements are those typical of an FPS with the possibility of lowering, jumping and running. The action component, however, is highlighted since most of the offensive actions will be carried out through sidearms. First of all we must say that compared to Dead Island, Riptide is better able to handle the variety of weapons available to our alter ego.

First of all this is due to the presence of numerous projects that can transform our blades, hammers and so on and so forth, put them into poisoned or fiery weapons to name a couple of examples. All this will obviously be possible, once the aforementioned projects and the components necessary to complete them have been collected, thanks to the work benches scattered around the island. In these workbenches we can also decide to upgrade our weapons or even repair them, since the more we use them, the more they will suffer damage to the point of being practically ineffective. Another change from the predecessor is found in firearms.

Compared to the past, this time they will come into play starting from mid-game (with a small appearance also at the beginning of the game ed.) And not only in the final stages of the campaign. These can also be really useful if used by aiming and hitting the head of our beloved enemies. The title does not lack a small RPG component. Whenever our level increases we will be able to spend a skill point by choosing between various upgrades in a tree diagram. We can decide whether to upgrade firearms, or even the Fury. Probably, however, you will come to enhance everything thanks to the numerous experience points offered by the game. The unlockable skills will be both passive, such as increased stamina, and active, such as a running attack or a head-splitting kick.

A little while ago we mentioned the Fury, it is an indispensable element in the course of our adventure on the island. The mechanism is this: every time we kill one of our enemies we will see a bar grow near health. Once the bar in question is filled, by pressing the "circle" button we will enter Fury mode which will allow us to activate the special ability of our character and really make slaughters of the undead. A flaw that resides in the gameplay is the inability to swim, this leads us to not be able to face deeper waters, but passable thanks to small boats (the latter and the Jeeps are really a boon on certain occasions ed.).

Another small aversion to the gameplay was the feeling itself in the movement of the character. Sometimes it really seems to be too cumbersome and not only affects the player's gaming experience but also the actual accuracy of our shots (and escapes, and believe me you will run away quite a few times ed.).

During the course of the campaign and exploration of Palanai we will come across zombies of various kinds. The story tells of a virus capable of becoming active and changing, here are some unusual monsters explained. In addition to the classic undead we will find ourselves facing zombies with the characteristics of runners, able to reach us in a very short time, zombies with a few extra pounds ready to spit

The multiplayer component of the game has remained almost unchanged except for some small improvements. Among the most heartfelt those of being able to become aware of the presence of other players in the immediate vicinity in order to be able to join them or even the warning through a message of the disconnection of one of our partners. I feel I can say that tackling the campaign in a cooperative is ideal, and the game can help you a lot. Furthermore, we will not even have to be careful to enter games where the other players find themselves with weapons and skills much higher than ours since the game provides a system "adaptation" of the difficulty based on the general experience of the party and not of the individual in a way to mix everything perfectly. against a toxin or zombie with incredible endurance and strength that will make us lose balance with each shot (as well as a large part of our health ed.). It is an effective component for gameplay purposes as it allows us to act differently based on the presence of certain enemies on the territory.

A badly aged island!

Here we are at the purely technical component of the title. From the graphic point of view we are faced with an old production. The textures are really of poor quality as well as the modeling of the characters themselves, and we talk about both the protagonist and the supporting characters. It is all probably due to the use of the same engine as Dead Island, which makes its nearly two years feel on its shoulders. We can't even talk better about the animations that turn out to be unnatural as well as jerky and lacking in fluidity. Furthermore, the expressions of the cast are also to be forgotten.

The game is then studded with glitches and graphic bugs of various kinds (such as the famous polygonal "mergers" ed.) That lead to point the scales even more on the wrong side. A note of merit from a visual point of view in addition to the already commented design is the introduction in Riptide of variable atmospheric conditions that will guarantee even more an already well-calibrated atmosphere.

We cannot be satisfied with the lighting either. This in fact turns out to be unrealistic and above all not dynamic at all, with various problems and a general quality that can be greatly improved.

The dubbing in the original language is also neither praise nor infamy!

Final comment

Dead Island: Riptide once played and tried thoroughly leaves a mixed sensation between sweet and bitter in the mouth. The choice by the development team to leave the gameplay almost unchanged compared to the predecessor is apt, also thanks to some improvements made to various aspects of the game. Unfortunately, however, the title suffers from repetitiveness that could lead many to get bored soon, as well as a rather meager processing in technical terms. Gamers will often find themselves wondering if Riptide is really a sequel in the strict sense of the word or just a big expansion. Probably for many the choice will fall on the second option.

Votes

Playability 75

Graphics 60

Sound 60

Longevity 80

Overall 68

For

- Really impressive design

- Fun gameplay, even better if in co-op

- Longevity on good levels ...

Cons

- ... but which leads to repetitiveness