Dead Island Riptide Preview
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The first game was a solid idea sullied by janky controls, ruinous glitches and sometimes lazy level design which, towards the end, took you on dull trips through linear sewers. Riptide aims to refocus on that undeniably great 'zombies in paradise' concept by removing the niggles that got in the way.
The improvements at first sound like they belong in patch notes. Weapons degrade slower the more proficient you are with them, remedying the frustration many felt after crafting an expensive poison machete they could barely use before it crumbled to dust. Guns pack a punch, and now headshots definitely drop zombies in one. Even the menus are different, with loot now organised into an intuitive menu leading to less fumbling when trading with merchants.
However, there are new features too big for any patch. The most prominent is defense scenarios, not disimilar to Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. They play into classic zombie fiction; hordes of zombies attack your base, and you need to make a stand. Our demo took place in ancient crumbling ruins where a flooded underground chamber blocked the only way out. A water pump set the scene, providing a tense ten minutes before the tunnel drained and we could escape.
