Dead Island for Xbox 360 Reviews by Gamers

If you are expecting this game to be L4D or Undead Nightmare you will be disappointed. Instead, as others have noted it borrows elements from Borderlands and the like and requires you to level up before you reach the frantic pace of zombie rampage found in other popular games.

In the beginning, you will encounter only the low-level "walker" zombies that are akin to Dead Rising's slow-moving nuisance undead. It is only after leveling up a bit that you encounter the "Infected," "Floaters," "Rams" and more powerful zombies and in greater numbers.

There is a fair amount of strategy involved in this game as weapons deteriorate and break if you continually swing for the fences, requiring you to locate and periodically visit workbenches to repair and upgrade your weapons. Weapons management is definitely part of the game and for some, this will be a turn off. The game is melee-focused so don't expect to find a shotgun around every corner. You can, however, throw just about any of your weapons to keep your attackers at bay.

Health can be found in abundance but cannot be carried with you, so you'll need to high tail it to one when energy levels get low. The exception is the portable medkit, which I have yet to encounter but understand are scarce.

The expansive, open world environment lets players roam where they want to (within reason) and choose which quests they want to participate in, which is nice. A la Borderlands there is much looting to be had and money and weapon upgrade parts are to be found everywhere, although you will need to complete side quests in order to obtain the blueprints required to make use of them.

There are glitches and a list of things I would like to see done differently, but nothing so egregious as to hinder the experience for me (so far anyway). Highly recommended for fans of RPGs who like to kill zombies in their spare time. If you like your undead experience frenzied off the bat you should look elsewhere, but a welcome new zombie genre imo.