Hefty Dead Island Walkthrough Finally Shows Off Gameplay

Dead Island‘s 12-minute walkthrough trailer is nothing short of impressive.

Deep Silver has the perfect solution for anyone that was a little disappointed with the lack of gameplay in Dead Island‘s first in-game teaser. How about a 12 minute gameplay demo instead?

Dead Island made a lot of noise when it first came onto the scene with a heart-breaking cinematic, but gamers have been curious about what the game would actually be like. Going by the gameplay demo, my thought is: “possibly awesome.”

Deep Silver brand manager Vincent Kummer runs us through a game that looks something like Dead Rising mixed with Fallout 3. Players exist in a free, open-world environment where they take on missions, fight various types of zombies, and craft Diablo-esque weapons.

The demo starts in a lifeguard tower, which is a hub of sorts. Kummer reveals that players can either follow the main storyline, or wander around the island of Banoi on their own, which looks just as gorgeous as it did in the teaser. You might come across a woman who has barricaded herself in a home with her car. You can either choose to help the woman, or steal her car and leave her to die.

There will be 4 different characters and classes to play as in Dead Island. The character shown in the demo is a business woman, still wearing her heels. Kummer says that as she progresses, she’ll begin to exude more confidence through her one-liners and related dialogue, so players won’t be silent protagonists. He adds that Dead Island‘s storyline will provide 25-30 hours of gameplay with seameless drop-in, drop-out 4-player co-op throughout the entire thing.

There are guns available in Dead Island, but combat is primarily melee focused. Players can craft baseball bats with nails, weapons that shock, or even knives with explosives attached. The demo shows a wide variety of weapon types, including those that can be thrown and then pried out of dead foes.

Zombies themselves, called “vessels,” also come in various types, including the slow type, the quick Infected, the straitjacket-wearing Ram, and the exploding suicide zombie. There are even mini-bosses such as the Thug that knock the player down with punches if they get in close. If enemies get too tough, players can go into a powerful rage mode where they slice zombies to bits. Defeating enemies awards XP, as does completing quests, which can presumably be used to beef up your character even further.

At E3, Kummer promises Deep Silver will show off more of the game’s city and co-op multiplayer. I didn’t expect Dead Island to look this good, did you?