Steam opens Dead Island preorders with bonus content

Matthew DeCarlo

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We've had no shortage of zombie-themed games in recent years, but if you haven't had your fill of undead carnage, you might want to step in line for a taste of Techland's forthcoming zombie-slaying simulator. Due on September 6 in North America for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Dead Island vows to deliver a fresh take on the post-apocalyptic genre by blending the corpse-smashing slaughterfest of Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising with a healthy side of roleplaying and open world exploration.

Officially described as an "open world horror action adventure" game, players will traverse a zombie-infested tropical island as one of four class-based characters. Former rapper Sam B will serve as the tank, local hotel staffer Xian Mei has assassin-like attributes, a bodyguard named Purna has ranged attacks, while retired football star Logan is a jack of all trades. Naturally, by implementing class roles, Dead Island has set itself up to be team-oriented, so you should expect a rich multiplayer experience.

Dead Island E3 2011 Trailer (NSFW)

Based on what we've seen, Polish developer Techland (best known for creating Call of Juarez) is aiming for a drop-in, drop-out co-op mode that supports up to four players. We imagine the game won't support duplicate roles, so you and your comrades will have to commit to different characters during a given co-op session. This is the case with Left 4 Dead, but we suspect it will be especially pertinent in Dead Island because of the individual classes, not to mention the game's RPG-like experience and skill systems for character progression. It should be interesting to see how that juggling act is handled.

Along with your typical flesh-gorging zombies (both the slow and fast-moving variety), Dead Island is home to various special infected that are more powerful. Unique zombies include "The Suicider," a hefty boil-riddled enemy that explodes on you. "The Butcher" is expected to be an agile opponent that attacks you with bones protruding from its arms. "The Drowner" has a spit attack and can engage you in the water, while "The Ram" is a straightjacket-bound psychiatric patient with a charge attack.

Steam has opened preorders for Dead Island with pricing set at $49.99 for a single copy or $149.97 for a four-pack ($37.49 per copy). If you pre-purchase either offer, you'll receive a special weapon called "The Ripper," seemingly a baseball bat with a buzz saw mounted on the tip. You'll also get a free immediate access to the Bloodbath Arena DLC, which includes four survival arenas, a new weapon and more. Non-preorder customers will have to wait a month for the content, which will reportedly cost $10.

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The game looks great and I want to play it, but i wish the special zombies descriptions weren't so similar to SI's in L4D.

The Ram - Charger
The Drowner - Spitter
The Suicider - Boomer
The Butcher - Hunter?
 
Looks like left for dead 2 with slow zombies, 4 player max co-op. Thumbs down. Will be good for those in love with left 4 dead and just want more content. How hard is it to think of new enemy types and hell how hard is it to have more then 7 types of enemies?
 
I like sandbox type games anyway, zombies are a plus, so I'm getting this. Looks like "Far Cry" with zombies to me. I personally don't give a rip about zombie comparisons to L4D. If I worried about similarities in games, then my game library would amount to about 5 games instead of 100.
 
Some BnM establishments have much better deals featuring the same digital content as well as Turtle Beach PX21 (or X2s in some stores) gaming headset. Some even feature the usual 'pre-order pack' of a tee, keyring, postcards and what-not.


I am leaning towards the BnM pack on this one…
 
TomSEA said:
I like sandbox type games anyway, zombies are a plus, so I'm getting this. Looks like "Far Cry" with zombies to me. I personally don't give a rip about zombie comparisons to L4D. If I worried about similarities in games, then my game library would amount to about 5 games instead of 100.

This is how I feel to be honest. I think I'll definitely wait for a couple reviews to shed some light on the game, but I have enough interested chaps to play with that it could make for some excellent weekend multiplayer :)

We shall see. Fills a nice void since I didn't bother with L4D2 import to Australia to avoid the censored POS that we got.
 
How hard is it to think of new enemy types and hell how hard is it to have more then 7 types of enemies?

Just thought of one! (meaning its not that hard)

"The Plague Bearer" inside his skin crawls thousands of (insert bug here) the plague bearer can communicate with said insects and send them to swarm you, causing Damage over Time (until a teamate knocks them off) or makes you take amplified damage for X time. also causing blindness and slowed movement, due to the bugs swarming your skin/added weight.

Amidoinitrite? also - this plays off the fears of many individuals, fear of bugs etc. not to mention the gross out factor. imagine like on your screen you see nothing but bugs crawling around on your screen *shudder* and that zzzzzz noise that we all love so much.

(i should copyright this, soon some DLC will come in L4D with an "ALL NEW, ENTIRELY ORIGINAL, special infected thought up by Gabe himself!)
 
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