What's wrong with Dead Island?!?

Ok, so I just started playing Dead Island for the first time (I know, it's been like 3 or 4 years since release) and I can't find any reason for it too have such low scores, besides for the drop-in multiplayer.

The combat is amazing. When you are being rushed by a zombie and swing your machete at the perfect moment to wack his/her head off, there is nothing more satisfying. The gun combat is a little clanky but the melee combat more than makes up for it. I LOVE the fact that you can have all the weapons you'd want but always feel vulnerable around every turn. The noise ambiance is amazing in Act 2. I love how the storm rolls in and you hear screams in the distance but can't tell if it's a zombie running at your or just zombies in the distance. It's got a lot of creepiness, which I think has to do with your vulnerability.

So, to get to the point, I want to know why people don't enjoy this game. I love the melee combat and creepiness and how you have to take your time as to not rush into a crowd of Zombies. Everything feels so balanced.

What's your thoughts? For people who've played both Dead island and Riptide, is Riptide just like the original? I want to know if I should look into buying it if I enjoy the first one so much.

Thanks for any responses. :)

Riptide is just like the original. Not really anything different at all. I liked both the games but I can see why people wouldn't...

Everything is really bland on Dead Island. All the missions are fetch, go here and there, or kill this. There is no real depth to any missions, plot, or characters.

Without depth then there is not much attachment to anything. That being said, most people probably put it down a few hours in.

I like the always-looming threat fact in which any given time just about zombies can ambush or overrun you. The weapon mods are really cool to see what kind of contraptions you can build to kill zombies with.

Riptide mostly got bashed for not changing anything from the first one.

Try the analog controls with blade weapons. This will making it more immersing.

@bowchicka07: I'll definitely give analog a try. Thanks for the tip. I guess I can see why the lack of depth is an issue to some. I think it still gives a good realistic story though. I mean, it's what I'd expect in a zombie game, in terms of depth. I'd think you would be fetching supplies for people or clearing areas out, etc. But that's just me.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Just wish I would've known I'd like it back when it came out. Looking forward to completing the first one and moving on to Riptide :)

Only played the first one. Haven't finished it yet. I payed 5 dollars for it so you won't see me complaining. Was it worth $60 when it first came out? Doubtful. The missions can get quite repetitive but the combat is fun. If you like killing zombies than this game is for you.

It's not a bad game but I remember before it was released, there was major hype about it and than it didn't quite live up to the hype.

some people honestly wouldn't know a great game if it kicked them in the face, and i think most of the hate came from COD groupies who were just butthurt cause the whole thing wasn't based on multiplayer. Riptide remains one of my favorite games of all time and i still play the hell out of it!

Never played, but Dead Island is a good reminder to never trust a pre-rendered CG trailer. What you see is not always what you get.

I don't know i found the whole thing pretty cliche'. It felt like an mmo fetch quest. The combat really wasn't that good in my opinion. It didn't really require much thinking or skill and i really hate weapon durability in any game.

see, thats why you need to learn how to mod saves my friend. i use a save editor on DI: Riptide and i NEVER have to worry about that annoying weapon breaking bs cause i just mod the weapon durability through the roof and problem solved! :D

played the first one and got bored with it.

The melee combat feels great the first time you chop off a zombie's head but that's basically the entirety of the game. It gets old after a while, especially since weapons all function the same way.

Other than that, the story is as cliched as possible, characters are absolutely awful and backed by some of the worst dialog and voice acting imaginable, the last two areas of the game are completely forgettable and the end game is somehow worse, and the game can't decide if it wants to be totally serious or completely ridiculous. Human enemies are stupid, and ranged combat is clunky and glitchy, which is ok I guess since the game challenges Bethesda for the almighty Bug Crown.

It can be fun with friends though. Kind of like watching "The Room" with a group of people and you all have a great time laughing at it. It's hard to straight up hate the original Dead Island because it's so B-movie stupid that it's still entertaining.

the Island is dead

Rough around the edges, but I loved it. One of my favourite RPGs.

Dead Island was an OK game. I love a good zombie game, and this one had great combat. But I think it was a premise spread a bit too thin really. From the sounds of it, you're about to the part where I lost interest and stopped playing.

Of course I didn't stop playing just because of losing interest. It also came out at the start of one of the busiest holiday seasons on record. Dropping the same day as Warhammer 40k: Space Marine and only a week before Gears of War 3. That did it no favors.

Ultimately, I have good memories of the game. I enjoyed what time I spent on the island of Banoi. But for the life of me I can't imagine why they didn't make the analog melee combat the default setting or at least give some hint that it was the better choice within the game. As it comes out of the box, with the standard melee combat option, I would probably have only had about 1/3 as much fun. The only reason I even knew the superior setting existed was because of Giant Bomb's Quick Look video told me about it.

Both games are very good, but they do get repetitive and start feeling like you are just doing the same things over and over. I found that I liked Riptide a little more than the original myself.

I know, right? I found the game really fun to play. The world was big with lots of areas to explore, and the combat was great. It could've used a better story, but it was still fun.

@Baroni88:

DUD ISLAND: DUD OF THE YEAR EDITION

I played Dead Island: Game of the Year edition for about 20 hours, before putting it down.

Lots of fetch quests.

Then I gave Dud Island: Dud of the Year edition a two star review on Amazon.

The game doesn't get much more exciting at 20 hours in than it was in after two hours in.

They did on Riptide at least.

Getting really tired of the "people who hate this game are the COD crowd who don't like to think" excuse.

I just can’t play zombie games anymore.

I’m just getting fed up with them.

Almost becoming repetitive like COD.

Kill Zombies Kill Zombies...........

Dying Light might show us something new with the free running feature etc.

Maybe it’ll get me back into zombie games.

Dead Island is too bland for me to finish.

I haven’t finished it so I can’t say a lot about the story etc.

But in terms of the action or gameplay it’s basically a repetitive chop your zombies.

But when I get bored or I don’t feel like starting something else in my backlog of games I just go on Riptide and smack the crap out of zombies.

That’s all it has been doing for me.. really.

But I have some really cool games in my backlog that I didn’t even know I had.

So busy with that.

Dead Island is a good zombie mash ’em up but not a good story, character oriented game.

nowhere near as tired as i am of all you online multi-addicts ruining every game series you touch like the plague..

I don't play multiplayer games.