Dead Island is a 2011 survival-horror action role-playing video game developed by Techland and published by Deep Silver for Microsoft Windows, Linux, OS X, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Centered on the challenge of surviving a zombie-infested open world with a major emphasis on melee. The plot focuses on 4 playable survivors trying to survive and escape off the fictional island of Banoi.
The game was announced at the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo, but delayed until 2011. The game's cinematic announcement trailer was met with controversy over its depiction of a dead child. However reception was nonetheless positive, with praise going towards the emotional impact, animation, and story, with the trailer being held as one of the best in any medium. The game was released in 2011. September for North America/Europe and in October for Japan. Despite the pre-release acclaim, the game received generally lukewarm reviews. While praised for its atmosphere, gameplay and playable characters, it was also criticized for large technical difficulties and in-game glitches, graphics, and most notably being hampered for lacking the emotional themes presented in the trailer.
A stand-alone DLC expansion, Dead Island: Riptide was released in 2013. The spin-off, Escape Dead Island was released on 18 November 2014. And a sequel, Dead Island 2 was set to be released in 2017, but has been delayed indefinitely. A remastered version of the game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 31 May 2016. Under the title Dead Island: Definitive Collection; it bundles the game with Riptide, all DLC, and a 16-bit side-scrolling game called Dead Island: Retro Revenge.
Main campaign[]
The night after a high-profile party, 4 playable main characters (hereafter referred to as "the survivors"): Rapper Sam B., hotel receptionist and spy for the Chinese government Xian Mei, former football-star Logan Carter, and ex-police officer Purna—are awakened by a voice over the emergency intercom system directing them to evacuate the hotel. They discover that the majority of the population have been overcome by a contagious and infectious plague, turning them into psychopathic, flesh-eating creatures. Briefly overcome by one of the infected, they are rescued by lifeguard John Sinamoi.
The survivors discover that they are apparently immune from infection, and with "The Voice" out of contact, the survivors are tasked by Sinamoi to try to find supplies and contact the outside world. As it becomes obvious that the resort lacks enough supplies to survive for long, Sinamoi instead has them travel to the city of Moresby to find help. The survivors take along Jin, the daughter of the bitten mechanic who modifies an armoured car they use to break out of the resort.
Upon arriving in Moresby, after taking down a new special infected known as the Ram, the survivors aid a holdout at a barricaded church. Directed first to the wealthier sections of town, they ultimately raid a supermarket under the control of "Raskol" gangs. Jin tries to offer supplies to another Raskol faction, in the abandoned police station, who capture and rape her. The gang rescue Jin, but her actions angered Sam B.
Upon their return to the resort, the survivors make contact with "The Voice." Introducing himself as Colonel Ryder White, a Banoi Island Defense Force (BIDF) commander. He is currently trapped in a high-security prison located on a remote island, only accessible through the jungle. He states that due to the characters' immunity he could create a cure/vaccine, and in-turn save his bitten wife. White directs the survivors into the jungles of Banoi having them find a smuggler named Mowen who can reach the prison.
Mowen stonewalls the survivors on the prison, but does take them to a lab studying the plague. Their researchers determine the infection is a mutation of Kuru that originated from the indigenous population. At their behest, the survivors collect a tissue sample from a mummy to better examine the pre-mutation form of Kuru and rescue a native woman, Yerema, who was about to be sacrificed by her tribe.
Mowen finally agrees to take the survivors to the prison. After the survivors complete the preparations that he and Jin requested, they hurry back to the lab when White reports that somethings' gone wrong. They find the zombies the scientists were studying were accidentally released, with only Yerema still alive. Rescuing Yerema and retrieving what appears to be a prototype vaccine, the survivors proceed to the prison island.
The survivors initially help the surviving prisoners to arm themselves in exchange for reaching White, but when White finally contacts them again he urges them to abandon the prisoners and proceed to him. The prisoners' holdout eventually falls and Mowen dies helping Jin and Yerema escape. As the survivors are about to reach White, however, they are hit with a knockout gas inside their elevator. Awoken by a tech-savvy prisoner named Kevin, they learn that White stole the vaccine and are warned that, he intends to flee with his wife and call in a nuclear strike to purge the island.
Racing to the roof helipad, the survivors find themselves held by White at gunpoint. Jin, disgusted by White's plan, releases White's now-zombified wife from her restraints, and she bites White on the wrist. White kills his wife and shoots Jin dead, then injects himself with the vaccine, only for it to accelerate and amplify his own mutation. The survivors kill White, then finally escape Banoi with his helicopter as Kevin intones that things will never be the same.
Ryder White's Campaign[]
Two weeks prior to the outbreak, Ryder White, a Colonel in the B.I.D.F, is interviewed by a commanding officer. He's presented with targets and asked if he would kill without question. Agreeing to all including, after some hesitation, his wife Emily. Those viewing the interview note this and have him reassigned to Banoi, where Emily also works. They speculate that "he won't push the button because of her."
Upon the zombie outbreak, White is overseeing the bombing of bridges to slow the infection, but his helicopter crashes in Moresby when the co-pilot turns. Alerted that the main bridge in Moresby remains intact, he proceeds to recover the demolition charges from the Raskols and carry out the demolition himself. He is contacted by Emily, who has taken shelter inside the prison with the help of a man known as Kevin.
Upon extraction from Moresby, Ryder hears from Emily that she has been bitten by one of her zombified patients. Disregarding her pleas to leave her, he has himself dropped off at the prison, intent of saving his wife before ordering a nuclear strike to purge the island. By the time Ryder arrives Emily has almost turned. Kevin then contacts Ryder over the intercom, offering to help him as well. When they meet, however, Ryder identifies Kevin as Charon, a notorious terrorist-affiliated hacker. However, with no other options, he follows Charon's instructions to restore emergency power and find antibiotics for Emily, fighting off armed escaped prisoners. Charon also tells Ryder he has survivors en route with an antidote.
After administering the antibiotic to Emily, Charon notifies him that a group of prisoners are approaching in reprisal for the ones that Ryder killed to obtain the Tetracycline. With the prisoners dead, Ryder travels to the control room in Block C and meets up with Charon. As Ryder approaches Charon, he discovers that Charon was behind the deaths of the scientists, including Dr. West, at the Laboratory but hides his suspicion. He is then instructed to clear the zombies from the shower room in Block C for when the Heroes arrive.
With the shower room cleared, Ryder uses the sewers to return to the control room. While eavesdropping on Charon's conversation with the group(the main characters), he discovers that Charon has been posing as him (The Voice). Out of rage, Ryder threatens to kill Charon for endangering Emily and making him betray his country. Charon then assures him that the group have the 'antidote' and that the Heroes won't trust either Ryder or Charon if it is revealed that they were never actually speaking to Ryder. Charon then instructs Ryder to store knockout gas above the elevator lift that the group will be using to steal the antidote from them to avoid having to make any negotiations.
After placing the gas and returning to the control room, Charon and Ryder watch the Heroes pass out from the gas. Before leaving to retrieve the gas, Ryder destroys the control room's computer to prevent Charon from pulling off any more tricks. He then locks Charon in the control room and tells him that he's going to get the antidote for Emily. Charon then replies to Ryder stating that the antidote would only work on people that were only in the early stages of Infection while Emily was already past the first stages. Shaken by his words, Ryder runs off to get back to Emily in the intensive care unit. With Ryder gone, Charon reveals that he had a hidden backup key card and taunts him stating that Ryder should have killed him when he had the chance.
Afraid of being too late, Ryder collects the antidote from the group and frantically fights through countless waves of Zombies to get back to Emily. Upon finding Emily, Ryder finds she has already become an Infected. Ryder then vows to make a complete antidote out of the serum. He brings Emily to the roof where he discovers that Charon has turned the group against him. Jin then releases Emily to attack Ryder, forcing him to kill her and Jin in retaliation. He then injects himself with the antidote only to discover that the antidote was actually an enhanced version of the plague that transforms him into a powerful Special Infected. He is then killed by the group. The survivors then flee to safety using Ryder's helicopter. It is revealed that Charon plans on using Yerema as Dr. West called her, "a walking timebomb" to spread the plague, as he shows a smirk on his face.