Review

Escape Dead Island

When you are a fan of any one particular franchise, you are often looking forward to the many different media manifestations thereof. For instance, because I enjoy reading the Walking Dead comicbook series, it was easy to sell me on Telltale’s acclaimed adventure series. The same thing can be said about Fatshark’s Dead Island (DI) spinoff, Escape Dead Island. A single player, story-driven game set in the DI universe just seemed like an interesting idea at first…

The plot of Escape Dead Island is primarily centered on Cliff Calo, an aspiring photo journalist who is seeking the approval of his media mogul of a father. Anxious to investigate the zombie outbreak in Banoi and the possible government cover-up of said outbreak, Cliff persuades a couple friends into sailing to an adjacent island. He feels that if he can find proof of foul play he can not only make a name for himself but also show his dad that he has what it takes to be a successful investigative journalist. Unfortunately for all parties involved, none of them are immune to the zombie virus like the previous Dead Island protagonists…and so we, as the gamer enter the story.

In order to keep Cliff alive while he searches for answers, players will need to use stealth to avoid being chewed on. Hacking, slashing, or shooting enemies is a sure fire way to become overwhelmed as the commotion will attract unwanted attention. And due to Cliff’s absurdly low tolerance for pain, a few swipes is all it takes for him to kick the bucket. So for a decent portion of the game, sneaking up on zombies and stabbing them in the head is the preferred method of combat.

That said, there are parts of the game that will require you to fight; getting caught out in the open would be one example. Escape Dead Island uses simple melee attacks and firearms to handle these tough situations. There’s the fast, yet weak attack, a slower strong attack, a dodge move and a push ability – all of which are regulated by a stamina bar. Dishing out punishment will deplete the bar, leaving you less stamina to dodge an attack, for instance. This restriction adds a strategic element to your open combat as you will need to weigh the benefits of your attacks against the necessity of maintaining a strong defense. Learning how to quickly and effectively dispatch the undead is the key to not getting killed.

Outside of dealing with the island’s undead inhabitants there is the mystery of the island itself (who was behind the outbreak and all that). Using Cliff’s digital camera, you’ll snap pictures of incriminating evidence and odd findings in order to piece together what went down. You’ll also collect documents, tape recordings, and postcards, all detailing shady events. It’s the normal survival horror backstory mechanic we’ve come to expect from this genre.

What shakes things up though is Cliff’s mental state after reaching the island. For some reason he suffers from wild hallucinations and an odd sense of Deja Vu. One second he’ll be in a room looking for clues, the next he walk through a door and end up in a completely different place. With the door he walked through gone, he’ll be seemingly trapped before snapping back to reality. Some of his hallucinations directly affect gameplay; there was one point where I stepped through the threshold of a door and ended up on the ceiling. Because I was upside down, the controls were reversed which added to the confusion. The game can be rather trippy, but in a good way. I was always left guessing what was real and what wasn’t, especially since everything that happened to him (whether in a so called dream or not) had real world effects. A weapon found in a room that supposedly never existed stayed with Cliff after he woke up.

So far so good right? I mean, on paper we have what seems to be a Dead Rising and Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem mash up – a game where a reporter tries to solve a mystery behind a zombie outbreak while dealing with a psychological assault that messes with the player, all within the DI universe. That’s a game I can get behind. Unfortunately, this great idea is crippled by poor design and an unrealized plot. The first issue comes in the form of backtracking. As a survival horror fan, I can understand grabbing a key and running back a ways to unlock a door or solve a puzzle. That sort of thing isn’t new. But having to run clear across an island multiple times is a pain. Making my trek worse was the fact that there are always new zombies to fight along the way. The stealth based gameplay meant that I wasn’t actually running for point A to B back to A. I was crawling, trying not to draw too much attention to myself for fear of dying and having to start my journey all over again. After a while I grew bored of the gameplay, only moving forward because I was intrigued by the plot.

The next thing that bothered me was the action segments where the game really ramped up the difficulty. Remember, this isn’t really an action-based game and Cliffy isn’t that durable. This means that facing multiple zombies can be tough. Early on, this posed a challenge which reinforced the need to use stealth; you’re prize for alerting enemies was a difficult fight. Then there were the times when you’ll be confronted by large groups of zombies, often alongside special breeds that featured unique traits (like being able to spit acid with amazing accuracy).

During these moments the game starts to feel a bit unfair. There were only a few melee weapons and two guns to use through the entire game, so it wasn’t like you had a lot of options in a fight. This is especially true when it comes to the game’s last few chapters; the last stretch of game is just plain ridiculous. It basically boils down to an entire chapter of fighting waves and waves of zombies capped off with a boss. I don’t know why developers feel the need to throw everything and the kitchen sink at a player just because they’re about to finish the game, but it isn’t fun. I want a worthy challenge at the end that forces me to use all of my learned skills. Not an enthusiasm slaughtering, gauntlet of frustration that takes place before a grueling boss fight.

All of what I said above can be forgiven. Hey, the backtracking sucks and the game gets difficult towards the end. But for the most part though, the gameplay is decent. What really sunk my ship was the game’s ending. The parts that are explained well, mainly the island’s backstory, didn’t provide any revelations about DI that actually mattered. If you’ve played any of the Dead Island games, you’d pretty much know who and what. The why isn’t really worth your time. When it comes to Cliff and his story though, the ending didn’t make any sense. I was given hints at a reason for some of the crazy (his hallucinations) but that conclusion is undermined by an odd occurrence that picks up after the credits. At least that was the case via my first playthrough. I won’t spoil the vague plot here outside of saying that the game requires you to complete the campaign more than once to understand what happened. The problem with that is the game isn’t fun enough for me to go through the whole ordeal again, even if there are new things to see.

Escape Dead Island has some cool things going for it. The excessive backtracking, frustrating gameplay and lackluster story ultimately ruined what could have been an entertaining experience though.