Have just had a quick go on Dead Island for the first time in ages, got a trophy because I hadn't played the game in 28 days or more - nice tribute to 28 Days Later lol. There's probably a few more cultural references through the game too I expect. I really like things like that.
The game is pretty rough around the edges but good entertainment so far. Have just done a few missions so far but am definitely going to finish the game. I like the RPG part of it too. Hopefully Deep Silver have made a few quid out of this as I thought that Cursed Mountain was pretty much the last throw of the dice for them, looks like they just managed to scrape together enough cash to release Dead Island.
I like it too, started almost a few months ago with two mates, but obviously haven't played it too much because progress is dependant on all of us being available at the same time for at least a few hours. Although I think it's a good game, I can definitely understand why people would get bored of it on their own...Alot of the quests are just esentially, "go here, get this and return" and if you're not finding an item for them, you're only finding a person or something...Same shit, different disguise.
Most of the fun comes from the fact you're with 2 mates (in my case anyway) and the general banter and camaraderie of all strolling round killing zombies and progressing deeper into the game. It's still quite a good game, I'm just not sure I'd be enjoying it anywhere near as much if I had ti play it alone though.
Envrionments and enemies are nicely varied and fresh, and even though the quests are all quite samey, you can get alot of different rewards from them that make them worthwhile. Combat is solid, dialogue is iffy....Some people will hate the OTT accents, but I find some of them quite hilarious so I guess that's a positive....?, the skill tree is done excellent, plenty of weapon and mod variety and an engrossing levelling system.
All the negatives are just niggles tbh, aside the awful technical errors that plague the online and connectivity...Sometimes we get into games first time, and sometimes it takes half an hour...Completely kills any urges you had to play when you're taking that long to do something as simple as just get into the same lobby with each other.
It's a shame it got mixed reviews, because most reviewers probably played the whole game alone. It's quite explicitly advertised as a co-op game, and theres no doubt you'd get way more enjoyment out of playing this with a few mates, rather than on your lonesome, so it seems harsh to judge a game on a category that doesn't truly reflect the game at it's best.
I like it though, great fun.