Being a PC gamer, I’m still actively waiting for the day that Capcom ports Dead Rising so that I can get knee-deep in zombie-killing mayhem once again. Sure, I’ve already went through my share of entertaining mods or games that somewhat focus on zombies, but I have to say, there hasn’t been that many recent zombie games for PC. If you share my views, don’t worry; Polish developer Techland is planning its own zombie-stomping weekend with its upcoming horror/FPS title Dead Island.
As of now, the plot is a bit left to your imagination. You and your wife crash-land on an island resort and it’s infested with zombies. According to Marcin Pioro, product manager for Techland, "You can find hotels, marinas, and pool bars there. There are a few small villages and a town." There’s no explanation for the origins of the zombies yet, so my guess is that Techland is keeping it under wraps.
Even though the game will be a FPS, there will be opportunities to make choices and the game will have a sandbox-esque gameplay feel to it. Pioro said, "You will have a lot of choices to make, different tasks to accept, and some of them will help or harm you.
"For example, there are factions on the island that fight with each other. They fight for food, water and other things. If you help them, other groups will be hostile to you. You can decide to help one of them to get something extra. It might be a weapon or some vehicle. Or you can just go around sightseeing and killing zombies."
If you folks noticed Techland’s Call of Juarez, which was one of the first games to utilize DirectX 10, the developer may know a thing or two about engine development. Heck, check out screenshots from Chrome 2 and Warhound. With that said, Dead Island will boast plenty of fine-looking visuals as you can see from the sampling of screenshots we have for you.
Additionally, the game will feature a unique damage system which will show inflicted injuries directly on zombies depending on what weapon was used and where on their bodies they were struck. The engine will allow Techland to show rather gory injuries, breakable and detachable bones, along with dynamic animations — shoot off a zombie’s leg(s) and they’ll crawl. If tech words like "real-time skin injuries" or "true body per vertex deformation" interest you, then you’ll be happy with Dead Island.
It appears Dead Island will take some hints from other games like Condemned: Criminal Origins, because the game will feature plenty of melee weaponry. You can pick up seemingly anything off the ground to start swinging away at zombies. Note that a chair will eventually break if you smash it over a zombie, but a crowbar will get the job done. Hey, it never hurts to get your hands dirty.
For you horror buffs, Techland will be adapting different types of zombies in Dead Island. Pioro said, "I’m sure that both Romero fans and 28 Days Later fans will be pleased." You’re right Pioro, I’m pleased with the news!
Dead Island is coming to PC and Xbox 360 sometime in 2008. Also enjoy the brief GC 2007 trailer below, it’ll give you an idea on how the game will look.
*Quotes taken from Games for Windows magazine, November 2007 edition.
