Dead Island Previews
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The Sixth Axis:
When asked whether or not the game shaped into a zombie RPG as it developed, Vincent says that the game was always going to be an RPG but they wanted to focus on different elements as well. Since it was announced in 2007, the game has changed in many ways and they dropped many mechanics.
Dead Island is said to be about 65% of the original idea they had for it. In regards to being compared to Left 4 Dead, Dead Rising, and Borderlands, they feel that some of the mechanics are similar but their focus is different since those games aren't story driven.
Elements that were dropped include a full fledged RPG with different storylines and having a bunch of different gameplay mechanics. The developers didn't want to have a bunch of mediocre mechanics so they focused their attention more specifically. The story was changed so that co-op actually makes sense. At one point they wanted to have a competitive multiplayer mode where it was survivors versus zombies.
NowGamer has a brief piece:
One of the features RPG fans will be familiar with is crafting; allowing you to repair, upgrade and modify your weapons to maximise PZD (potential zombie damage).
Modifying your weapons requires components though, which are scattered across the island. We often found ourselves rummaging around corpse-littered alleyways in the hope of locating a much-needed battery to complete a new weapon modification.
Playing co-operatively posed new ways for us to play, utilizing certain character's specialties to our advantage, such as Sam B's bulky physique making him ideal as a '˜tank' character additionally, each character has their own skill tree with which points can be invested in upon each level up to further improve their abilities in a specific area.
Working together seemed to make combat a great deal more enjoyable too with one character knocking enemies down while another throws ranged weapons from afar.
