There’s a New Orleans rapper, a PRC spy, a failed quarterback and an Australian ex-cop, all set in a zombie-infested dreamland. These are not the first lines of a joke from the father of horror cinema, George Romero, but rather the tragicomic prequels to the first episode of the Dead Island series, which left an indelible mark on making undead-themed video games. .
Developed by technology country and the first Dead Island, released by Deep Silver in 2011, was initially able to produce a lot thanks to a cinematic trailer (considered by many to be one of the best ever) that retraces the last moments of a little girl’s life. after being bitten by a zombie.
But once dressed as Sam B, Xian Mei, Logan Carter, and Purna Jackson, the game took a less serious and emotional tone from this trailer and focused more on a flashy narrative that was strongly inspired by the cheap genre.
At this special event History of the Dead IslandWhile we wait for Dead Island 2, we will retrace the events of four unlikely survivors in the first episode and its sequel, Riptide, which aired in 2013. creates an intriguing and encouraging exploration of time and post-apocalypse.
once upon a time
The story of Dead Island begins the morning after a celebrity party at a luxury resort on an island near Papua New Guinea. When our heroes wake up, they realize it’s just them. survived into a murder spree wave that wipes out all other hotel guests. A voice from the loudspeakers orders him to evacuate the building, gather resources and survive. Even if the party is famous, Dead Island’s heroes are anything but respectable: Sam B is a rapper on the verge of bankruptcy who arrives on the island to perform the only song that has made him famous, Xin Mei disguised as a hotel. The receptionist is actually a spy for the Chinese government, Logan Carter is a former American football player who ruined his life in a secret race, and Purna Jackson is an Indigenous Australian who joins the police trying to kill a serial criminal after the justice system. Thanks to his connections and money, he found him innocent.
Realizing that the resort won’t be able to feed them for long, the survivors must contend with a local gang, the Raskols, who get in their way while trying to collect some supplies from a nearby supermarket. Back at the hotel, we learn more about what’s going on: the sound on the speakers reveals its identity, the name Ryder White and a Colonel in the Australian Defense Force. He came in contact with the survivors because he was trapped in a maximum security prison where he was trying to produce a vaccine for his wife, who started the zombie process after being bitten. Survivors must get to it at all costs, as they are immune to the virus and needed to create a cure.
Origins of Dead Island zombies
White gives the four heroes the theme of a smuggler who can take them to him, but the latter informs them that a group of researchers in the jungle are investigating a mutated form. Dry, a neurodegenerative disease (originally existed in Papua New Guinea) that was the basis for the transformation into zombies in the Dead Island universe. The survivors join them and, with the help of a native islander named Yerema, manage to develop a vaccine. From there, the heroes go to the prison with the help of the smuggler, and upon arrival they help the prisoners fight the zombies.
But when they come in contact with White, they enter the elevator where they are sedated with sleeping gas. They are awakened by a prisoner named. kevin explaining that the colonel had knocked them down to steal the vaccine, and that he and his wife had fled in a helicopter and ordered an atomic attack on the island. The survivors chase him to the roof, where White’s now completely zombie wife is free of the ropes that bind him. White is hastily bitten and has to shoot his wife. He injects himself with the vaccine to save himself, but instead of eliminating the symptoms of the virus, he strengthens them and turns into a super zombie that the heroes have to kill. Mission accomplished, 4 heroes escaped the island by helicopter with Kevin and Yerema.
Betrayal
in the DLC Dead Island Ryder WhiteReleased in 2012, it traces all of its ups and downs, from the arrival of an Australian defense force colonel on the island to his desperate attempt to rescue his wife, who is working in a maximum security prison. After a series of ups and downs, White manages to reach his lover, but discovers that the building is full of zombies. To prevent the virus from completely depleting him, he must team up with Kevin, the same character who helps the protagonists of the main campaign, and who is actually a notorious terrorist and hacker named Charon.
We soon discover that it was not White who was directing the actions of the survivors at the facility, but also the terrorist, who won the colonel’s favor by saying that the four of them came with a vaccine. It is Charon who prepares the sleeping gas to steal the bottle, but White decides to betray his partner by locking him in a cell. Here, unbeknownst to the heroes, the character of Kevin was born, who now wants to use the sick zero Yerema, from whose blood the fake vaccine was taken. spread the infection Worldwide.
Riptide’s Story
dead island riptide begins a few minutes after the end of the first episode, with the survivors landing on a military ship of the Australian Defense Force. After being separated and interrogated, they soon find themselves surrounded by walkers, presumably because Yerema bit a soldier as he left the group. The ship crashes into the rocks and the heroes once again find themselves on an infected island. Here, the story follows a similar rhythm to the first chapter, with obstacles to overcome and undead to eliminate, but at the center of the narrative is the rivalry between Harlow, a WHO researcher obsessed with the virus, and Frank Serpo, a member. An organization whose aim is to weaponize the virus.
One of the most interesting additions to the mechanics of the first episode is the introduction of the mutagen agent, a chemical weapon with which the protagonists come into contact and unleash uncontrolled anger and aggression: in short, anger mode. This will be crucial to defeating Harlow, as he decides to inject himself to start an adrenaline-pumping battle, desperate to stop the survivors. Serpo’s end comes shortly after the heroes find a boat to escape, abandoning him to the infected after discovering it was his organization that orchestrated the virus epidemic that turned everyone into zombies.
From Papua New Guinea to Los Angeles
After escaping the zombie-infested island, the heroes trace their adventures on the boat they used to escape and say they are ready to start a new life on land. In the final cutscene of Dead Island Riptide, after the survivors speak, a black screen appears that reads “six days later, on the shores of a distant land.” We discover from a radio show that the infected emergency has returned to the islands in the middle of the first two episodes and everything is back to normal. The scene then shifts to a boat arriving at an apparently empty dock. We suddenly realize that the heroes were rescued, but they came from the barn. strange grunts and screams. The doorknob begins to turn and the words “Finish” appear soon after.
This obvious ending has fans speculating for years: did the heroes get infected and die? Are they the reason why the infection came to the United States? These and many other important issues, Dead Island 2 When will it be released on February 3, 2023. However, from the analysis of the cinematic and gameplay trailer shown so far, we don’t see much connection with titles from the past. The resort and the Banoi archipelago are long gone, as Dead Island 2 takes place in a Los Angeles (now HELL-A) completely left to itself after a failed military quarantine attempt. Players will take on the role of six playable characters, one of which is the protagonist of the cinematic trailer and the other is a girl named Amy. It will be interesting to learn how the narrative universes of the two games connect.
Source: Multiplayer
