Dead Island Riptide

I have reviewed the first Dead Island game and really liked it. If you are looking for more of the same then you will love Dead Island Riptide, but if you were looking for something new then look elsewhere. Dead Island Riptide plays just like Dead Island, combat the same, story same, zombies pretty much the same, skill tree small and creating weapons same. I think you get the picture.

Here are a few of the new additions:

One new person, who specialize in hand to hand combat.

New dead zones, which are small areas where you kill all the zombies and one special zombie to clear the zone.

Defend your base missions.

Few new special zombie types.

Cons:
Dead penalty or lack of it. You only lose a little cash, so after a while you don't really care if you die or not.

Story, get off island before it's too late. You care less about any of the other characters and what happens to them.

All Side quests felt like I was a delivery boy. Go to this location, pick this up and bring it back to them.

Too much running around, after a while I just ran by all the zombies. Needed more fast travel locations.

I can't recommend buying this game at this price; it feels more like a large DLC with a few small updates. Go ahead and pick up the first game if you haven't played it. It's cheaper price and plays the same as Dead Island Riptide.

I really enjoyed the first game and was excited for the second.

This game is very pleasing to the eyes, even on the 360.
I really like that i was able to use my same character from the first one and keep the upgrades such as weapon skills etc.

The big problem arose when I was about 1 hour into the game. After an hour of playtime, the game just freaked out and said I died while in a conversation with a non-player character. This is not a big deal in itself but the game would not allow me to re-spawn. So i quit to the main menu and went to last save I had and my character randomly died again (I did not enter the conversation this time because I thought this caused my death). So i completely shut off my 360 and tried again. Again my character died for no reason and would not allow me to re-spawn (this time i was even signed out of Xbox live just incase there was an internet issue). Eventually I had to restart the entire game with a new character. I still encountered some weird glitches (and more random deaths even when not in combat), but at least i was able to more past them and re-spawn.

Overall this game is really fun, but it has some tragic glitches which lead me to believe this was rushed to market. Hopefully there are some patches on the way.

I would firstly like to say, Dead Island:Riptide is not a sequel to Dead Island. DI:R is in fact more like an add-on if anything.

In the original Dead Island, I remember thinking to myself how much potential that game had. If the developers had gotten a few more things right and fixed several issues, Dead Island had potential to be a great game. So, with DI:R I had thought they would do all they can to make this amazing. I was wrong. Dead Wrong.

Dead Island: Riptide, essentially feels and looks EXACTLY like it's predecessor. Perhaps, graphically, it has improved a bit. It has all the same problems and glitches of the previous game. I feel the developers were uninspired and lazy at times.

The combat is still more focused on melee and the guns can still feel underpowered, despite what their DPS says. The issue of zombies being OVER-POWERED is still present. It is ridiculous a walker with 2 or 3 good swings could kill my level 47 Sam B. Combat is still satisfying but can feel like a grind after a while.

The game play is good. I like how you repair and upgrade weapons. Trading is pretty standard. But, once again, not much has changed.

The voice acting can vary from being exceptionally good to cheesy and weak. I will say the five main characters are great. Especially Phil LaMarr, I love that guy.

This game has great characters. I get attached to some of the NPC's and I get upset when they die. The main characters are the best. I played as Sam B in DI and now DI:R and he is my favorite. I still love Xian, Purna, and Logan to pieces. John is pretty cool too. There are moments where some of the NPC's are completely weak and their story is paper thin.

I noticed they re-used some of Dead Island's sound track and sound effects...that irked me a little. However, it was all very good. I guess when you get something right the first time don't mess with it. Though Sam B's first song, WDYVB, was better.

The storyline still could be cliche, but I feel it improved a little from the first. Definitely themes of betrayal and plot twists. Of course you have your quintessential conspiracy plot. The story is decent but not great. The ending is a little vague and after reflection I think that is a good thing. Hopefully it is not what it appears to be.

Overall, I would give DI:R a 7 out of 10. (Amazon's rating system is a bit awkward for me, so I rounded it up.) It's a fun, solid game no doubt. If you enjoyed the first one, then there is little doubt you won't enjoy this one. Everyone is different. Some people may be disappointed and some many not understand why critics have so harshly reviewed it. However, it is pretty much the same game with the exception of new main quest, which are basically boring fetch quests, new zombies, you can drive a boat, it is a different island, still an how island how original, one new character, and the story, however weak, is continued. Dead Island and Dead Island Riptide have the potential. There's just so much holding them back from being great games.