And I killed the first DI zombies, with a canoe paddle and a piece of pipe. At first I wasn't too keen on the story, but I'm starting to get into it. And the graphics are awesome.

There's a deal on Dead Island at the moment, the franchise pack for £6.somethingorother.

Plus a load of other WB games. It's worth checking out the Batman ones for a couple of quid if you've not already.

I think I already got the full DI pack and still working my way through the first release, which is fucking awesome. Batman does look tempting.

Dead Island's a bit wank.

Lego Lord of the Rings is a *lot* of game for the money.

I thought I'd try dead island, it was worth a punt at the silly price.

I've got the Lego lotr and it's a nicely paced game. Slowly working through it with the elder nipper. :)

I'm plodding through the missions on it myself. I'd like to be able to scroll through the available weapons with the mouse wheel though, going into a menu to pick another weapon is a tad cumbersome.

There's a way to do it. I googled it but haven't bothered to try it, and didn't save the url. While the environments are generally awesome, and some of the missions are better than others, the actual zombie fighting is tedious and repetitive. I don't think the weak damage caused by gunfire is particularly accurate e.g. three clips from the 'dangerous automatic rifle' didn't bring down a 'ram' (big zombie in a straight jacket), so that's kind of disappointing. Anyway, I'm about ready to pack off to the prison.

The fighting is repetitive, but I'm only two hours in, so was hoping it'd get better against the bigger baddies. :/

I find myself resorting to kicking them to pieces to avoid wasting/weakening weapons. There do seem to be a load of pickups though, so maybe I'm being ultra conservative for no reason.

I've just got to the bit where you get to drive about for the first time at the Life Guard station and have to run a few errands for people.

WTF is a prison doing in a coastal resort?

The most fun I had in Dead Island was trying to drive up and down these stairs.

The game is a great deal more fun playing with someone else. Weapon mods are also fun. Seeing the damage two people can do can be laugh out loud funny. As is driving off the beaten path, as Xen says. :)

I did something similar last night, but seemed to get the truck embedded in a palm tree after launching it off a high cliff face. Some sort of replay option would be ace.

Are bandages of any practical use in the game, can you use them to patch yourself up, or are they just a trade commodity?

I can see how it would be. I was playing last night when some other dude joined my game and he spent 10 minutes trying to shoot me (unsuccessfully, friendly fire doesn't seem to register).  :-S

I'm sure the playing experienced is enhanced when playing with a non-pleb.

In the pack I got there's a DLC weapon mod for a circular saw bolted onto the end of a stick. I'm looking forward to how that turns out.

 

The prison is offshore, you go to it near the end supposedly to get on a helicopter. This is some sort of island nation (or part of). It even has a name which I forgot already. Unlike everything previous where you can travel all over hells half-acre on foot, vehicle or those fast transport map thingies, once you go to the prison there's no going back. The guide needs to stock up some stuff in the city first. I assume that means trailing him around and keeping him alive. The character animations are surprisingly good, though not excellent by hollywood standards.

Kicking is good. After a certain point you can aim at a zombie's head after kicking it to the curb and stomp it. Most satisfying, though you are momentarily vulnerable to being attacked by other zombies. The weapons get better, but the zombies get tougher, faster, and better coordinated. Some even have weapons.

The big bad zombies are actually less interesting, and less dangerous once you learn how to kill them.

Also, you never actually die, you just get knocked out a lot.

That's a great weapon, and really good for killing thugs (kind of wasted on anything less). You don't actually need DLC to get one, you can build one quite early in the game from stuff that's lying around.

The key is to keep picking up everything, and repairing and upgrading your weapons as often as possible. Oh yeah, and keep topping up your health, it makes a huge difference in fights.

With all the stuff you can collect at once, I'd love to see the size of rucksack required to hold it all.

You can actually 'store' stuff, but there's no real benefit except possibly simplifying the list. Engine parts? WTF?

Are you lot talking about the old Dead Island still, or the new one (Dying Light, I think)? I haven't played either, just curious!

Has the new one even been released?

I honestly can't remember. I played for an evening with a bunch of friends but we'd all had enough after that one sitting.

Found this: