Producer Says Dead Island is More Borderlands than Heavy Rain

[Teimuraz]

DVD menus more complex than HR gameplay? Lol.

 

[BrunDeign]

It's a zombie game people. Not a zombie book like World War Z. It isn't going to be as "deep" as most emotional games.

And I'm glad that, as far as game design will go, the game is like Borderlands. As long as the plot and story aren't similar in tone, I'll be fine.

Implying that a book is somehow automatically better than a game in this regard.

Woah there sonny Jim. I said nothing of the sort. I'm just saying that as far as zombies go, books have the better track record by several lengths. I can't think of any zombie game with a really great plot. Meaningful characters yes, meaningful plot no. I hope Dead Island proves me wrong, but I don't think I'll look at it and say "Yep this is better than World War Z."

 

[Tohuvabohu]

I dunno why people are so surprised at the Borderlands comparison. The devs already told us that each chooseable person acts as a sort of "class" with their own inherent stats and even special abilities.

I read an article a few weeks ago of one of the devs was talking in depth about one of the characters. I forgot what his name was, but it was that huge Rapper guy. He talked about how he can function as a sort of "tank" and comes with his own Enrage ability that and increases his melee damage. He also has his own unique ability to stomp zombie heads into the ground, instantly killing them. He seems to sport more health than the other characters do as well.

^^All that instantly reminded me of Borderlands.

I was kinda surprised to hear about each character having Borderlandsesque abilities, but it doesn't really conflict with what I've heard the devs talk about. It does fit in well with the character differences and I think those differences inspire better coop gameplay. It may not be "realistic" that the Rapper is the only human being on the island capable of getting pissed off, but you all should know that realism doesn't equate to fun. And if each character really is that different from each other beyond inherent base stats, then it seems like there's more depth to each character than I thought.

Them comparing to Borderlands also means that they probably want the game to be played cooperatively with other people to experience it's full potential. People are reacting to the comparison as if the game will suddenly contain Heavy Machine Guns and Lightning Rocket Launchers.

 

[jawakiller]

As long as I can dismember zombies, I couldn't care if the game was like hello kitty island adventure

O.O
That would be fucking awesome. Quick question; would you be killing zombies as hello kitty, killing mutated forms of hello kitty or just blowing said baddies on her island??? Just asking. This could be awesome. As in mind-blowing.

You can choose from a selection of characters! Clear the game on ultra cute mode to unlock hello kitty. Other modes include "cuddles mode" all the blood is rainbow goodness! When the zombies die they turn into nice fluffy kitties!

GOYT, amirite?

Haha, just asking what you meant. I'm thinking, "hello kitty and zombies..." Its taking a sweat and innocent concept and putting a cartoon cat in it.

 

[Stevepinto3]

So after releasing a trailer that hints at a deep, heart-wrenching story, they compare it to a game that arguably didn't even HAVE a story.

This does not sound good. Guess I gotta wait for gameplay footage now...

At the best, I would hope it would resemble the gameplay of, say, Condemned (though perhaps not quite as subtle what with the hoards of zombies). No RPG elements, no wisecracking as you finish off an enemy, no stupid little companions like claptrap. Condemned avoided these things and was all the better for it. The simplicity but danger of the combat really drew me in. In that kind of situation you aren't making stupid comments like "BOOOOM HEADSHOT", you're fighting for your life and you're scared crapless. Plus the lack of RPG aspects meant that nothing interrupted your gameplay. Well arguably the different melee weapons had some stats, but it was simple and felt very organic rather than arbitrary.

Point is, Condemned is pretty much my standard for immersion in horror FPS games.

 

[Thorvan]

It's a zombie game people. Not a zombie book like World War Z. It isn't going to be as "deep" as most emotional games.

And I'm glad that, as far as game design will go, the game is like Borderlands. As long as the plot and story aren't similar in tone, I'll be fine.

Implying that a book is somehow automatically better than a game in this regard.

Woah there sonny Jim. I said nothing of the sort. I'm just saying that as far as zombies go, books have the better track record by several lengths. I can't think of any zombie game with a really great plot. Meaningful characters yes, meaningful plot no. I hope Dead Island proves me wrong, but I don't think I'll look at it and say "Yep this is better than World War Z."

Okay, I'll admit that that was a bit out of turn. But still, I'll also admit that I dislike the certainty of your post; again, we know that these guys have talent to some extent, and considering that we know so little otherwise either way, I'M staying in the "vaguely optimistic" corner over here.

 

[Xanadu84]

On one hand, thanks for clarifying...on the other, I am no longer interested in Dead Island, as hoping it was a more story oriented, emotional investment was what perked my interest in the first place.

 

[Raziel_Likes_Souls]

So this means that Dead Island is going to build up to finding a vault full of money, only to make me fight a giant gonad that's the weakest boss in the game:

and not get anything for it, and put more story and game in DLC?

If it's as fun as Borderlands, fine, I'll deal with it.

But if it's not, Techland, I'm sending the teaser to Fox News.

 

[kidigus]

Okayyy, I appreciate the honisty, but I thought Heavy Rain was BETTER than Borderlands.

 

[thejoshualee]

Step 1: Make a super popular video for your game that is emotional, complex, and compelling.
Step 2: Watch as people from all over get excited about a non-typical gameplay experience.
Step 3: Backtrack, insult the type of game that made people excited about your own game and instead put out yet another mindless killing spree game with no emotion or compelling reason to play it above any of a hundred other games just like it.
Step 4:?????
Step 5 Profit!

 

[Madkipz]

Could have been L4D meets mass effect GOTY.

is A l4d / boarderlands mashup clone.

well bioware. it seems you have many themes left to explore.

;/

 

[Sarge034]

When I heard of the game I thought of L4D meets Borderlands meets Dead Rising.

All I have to say is......

Spoiler: I have a lot to say. ;)

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