Dead Island: Riptide (PC, X360, PS3) (2013)
Developer: Techland

Review by Faididi and Co.

Dead Island Rip-Off

Story: Average

Apparently, island terrain can do little to contain zombie outbreaks. The original four heroes escape the undead-ravaged Banoi only to get stuck on the equally infested Australian island of Palanai. Once again, they need to help themselves and their pals in finding a way to escape. The story is as generic as before, if less retarded thanks to the ultimate villains not being as nonsensical as the first game's final boss. The new supporting characters are mostly interchangeable people with no real personalities (they even reuse the same names from the previous installment), and the heroes oddly seem to forget about their friend Yerema, whom they have struggled so hard to rescue from Banoi.

Gameplay: Below Average

Techland's Dead Island: Riptide is a straight-up sequel to the original 4-Player action adventure RPG, advertising new features but really playing like the same. Almost one-third briefer despite recycling many of the same assets (from character models to the very layouts of rooms), its 13 chapters feel like a redressing of the first game's material, minus the exotic island resort themes. The heroes need to explore a jungle, visit a biological laboratory hidden within this jungle, work through a maze of subterranean tunnels, go through an alley-filled city, and conclude their journey in another drab-gray corridor shooting fest.

Although the enemy density is greatly increased, the combat remains as stupid and pointless as ever. Dying not only carries virtually zero costs but can actually warp your character ahead through the areas faster, sometimes causing event-scripting glitches. Bare hands still deal more damage than worn steel pipes, and the incorrect level-scaling still lets the bad guys kill high-level heroes instantly but not low-level heroes.

The additional features are nothing worth praising. John, the new playable character, comes off like a mix of the original four heroes in terms of traits. He may have some unique strengths, but so many of his potential skills are copied over that he can't help but feel like a last-minute add-on. The defense scenes merely require the good guys to slay a quota of enemies, so deliberately leaving open the barricades to allow enemies to approach faster actually makes these scenes easier and quicker to finish. Furthermore, the computer-controlled allies here are stupid, often failing to notice enemies a few steps away, when they're not getting grappled by zombies and incessantly calling for help. The boats, which are used in shallow water areas, are worse than the cars, because they let bad guys drag out your characters, which is a problem given how the boats also magically alert enemies. Oddly enough, ignoring the boats and repeatedly jumping through the water (or sticking with the cars on roaded detours) gives the heroes less hassle.

The option to import your characters' experience levels and skill upgrades (but not items) from the original game sounds great, until you realize Riptide botches it through more bad design changes and glitches. The idiotic redefinition of weapon types plays havoc with Xian Mei and Sam, suddenly causing them to lose their expertise with hand claws and brass knuckles, respectively (because those weapon types are now lumped together under the "hand-to-hand" category). Fans of Logan beware, too, for Riptide fails to import certain Rage Attack skills for him.

Controls: Sucks All Ass

The best news about this sequel is that it correctly saves and loads files straight out of the box, so you can actually play the game without fear of file corruption. Another positive change in the controls is the new ability to highlight objects during multiplayer sessions, which is a handy way to communicate for those not using a microphone headset.

So shitty then is the bad news, because the controls are riddled with new problems. Your character can no longer use firearms while riding in cars (yet they can swing weapons or shoot guns while riding on boats). Worst of all, the cursor jumps over every other entry on the menus, so it's impossible to highlight even-numbered entries, and that is fucking unacceptable.

Graphics: Poor

The visuals remain virtually unchanged, except the new flowing water effects cause massive framerate drops when enemies get hit in the water. The weather effects are more abrupt as well. The sunny day can suddenly warp into a cloudy rainstorm and then instantly snap back to clear skies, all within seconds.

Audio: Poor

A lot of the vocal effects and the music are copied from the first game, and enemies are still completely silent when they're positioned behind your character. Upon entering a different area, your character will yell out why she or he is working alone, even though you're in a multiplayer session and your friends' characters spawn right alongside yours (also yelling why they're on their own). Another nasty glitch in this sequel is Purna and Xian Mei grunting with a male voice whenever they perform the new charging attack. It's funny for a while, and then it just gets gross.

Overall: Poor

Dead Island: Riptide is an unneeded sequel to a deplorable game, and it does nothing to fix its meaningless combat and missing incentives for survival. Its half-assed retreading of the original Dead Island's material is almost criminally lazy, and its controls are still fucked-up, except now they have the audacity to make the cursor skip over entries on the menus. This series is garbage. Stop paying for garbage.

Updated Version: Below Average

In about a week after its initial release, Riptide has received a patch that corrects the menu cursor glitch, so congratulations; it's now a game that is only barely more enjoyable than some Biohazard pile of trash. Unfortunately, that's about it. The importing option continues to fail for Logan's Rage Attack skills, and Xian Mei and Purna still grunt with some dude's voice whenever they make charging attacks. It's a sad, sad day when playtesting is thrown out the window not just for initial releases of games, but for patches, too.