Dead Island: Riptide

 Dead Island: Riptide

They assumed they had escaped the terrors of Banoi and survived the apocalypse on a corrupted paradise. However, their fate took a turn for the worse. The Dead Island heroes escaped in a helicopter to the friendly confines of a military ship, but when an unpredictable storm hits and the virus suddenly spreads throughout the crew, the nightmare starts all over again, leaving hope drowning in the rising tides

I have played a couple of hours and here are some impressions. I like the looting, the RPG-elements and the gameplay. Some elements ruin the sense of realism, but can be tons of fun if you can look past that fact.

The game looks, plays and sounds EXACTLY like the original Dead Island. Graphics looks dated and ugly up close. No AA or AF, graphic options are poor. FOV is narrow and can't be changed ingame. Soundmix is awful (I had to crank voices up to 90%, and lower the others to 20-30% to be able to hear voices properly.) I am amazed that they have carried over the screeching sound for USB 7.1 headsets (makes the game unbearable to play with i.e. a G35.)

Gameplay has its ups and downs. Mouse acceleration is apparent, it makes the fights more intense; that you have to struggle with the aim. But it makes gunplay insanely frustrating. There are lots of exploration to be done. There are lootable containers EVERYWHERE. They introduce very little new, and has put very little effort into fixing and upgrading previous mechanics.

I am very much enjoying this game. And as many others have pointed out; if you did not like Dead Island, you will not like this.