Dead Island Has Made Quite a Splash

Tweet
Get it? Because islands are surrounded by water? Ha ha! You're a bloody genius Jeff! 

I have to italicize for effect. Makes me feel better inside. Anyway, the little game from Deep Silver has been causing quite a stir. Dead Island has spawned an almost cult-like following, many reviewers peering through the awkward glitches and extraordinary third-person animations to notice a splendid recreation of Borderlands in paradise. Suitably, after tussling with bandits galore, the gang could use a vacation, and lonely nerds can start salivating over a half-naked Lilith.

The original trailer scored major points with the gaming media, receiving universal praise for its articulate use of emotion to convey a zombie outbreak. It was then revealed that the family isn't actually in the final release, but movie buzz started almost immediately. Dead Island is the perfect example of how powerful a trailer can come across. The hype train was off and at the caboose laid scarce details regarding the plot and characters. The doomed setting was the beautiful island of Banoi, a fictional isle off the coast of Papua New Guinea. (Talk about bad press for their tourism industry.)

Four characters, all with a distinct specialty, and an extreme emphasis on co-op. Copying the formula of Borderlands, an established and successful model, was genius. Then the storm of controversy came roaring in and now, who knows what's next in the fabled adventure of this game. As Dead Island launched, expectations for sales weren't great, but the lingering controversy has given the game more headlines than rightfully deserved. The sexist comment and the botched PC release have tarnished the game's reputation, but in the industry like this one, any notoriety is great notoriety. Deep Silver could have a hit with such a shoddy release; funny how the world works, huh?

Developers rely heavily on presence and brand recognition for sales. Currently, Dead Island is instantly recognizable as having a failed launch, but the fact it's instantly recognizable speaks volumes when gaming fans look for something to play with friends. The game actually looks like loads of fun, and for anyone that watched the Destructoid/Bitmob stream (I caught some), you'll know what I'm talking about. The number of copies should be an interesting statistic indeed.