DEAD ISLAND’S STUNNING, AFFECTING TRAILER

BEYOND stunning. Truly awesome.

But I feel so bad for the little girl I'm really not sure I want to play the game...

It's indeed a stunning and fancy trailer. It's so focused on emotions that seem counter to the zombie game experience, where the fun is usually derived by the indiscriminate murder of thousands of walking corpses. The gameplay and RPG elements seem interesting, but I'd be really surprised if the game ended up to capture half the emotion of that trailer.

Yeah, it's doubtful. But the last image in the article hints that there will at least be moments that strive for that kind of emotion. I'm waiting for a game to finally hit me like that, honestly... it'll be pretty funny if it happens in a zombie title, of all things.

A zombie game without guns and wacky gadgets, where your only way to fight back is to run and/or flail about with a blunt object, at least promises more suspense than something like DEAD RISING can hope for.

Thanks for posting the original trailer for comparison Alex. Watching them both side-by-side is like comparing rotten apples and a delicious orange smoothie.

On top of the trailer being a neat concept, that's some of the best, non-uncanny human CG I've seen in a long time.

Nice commercial.  I am nervous about any game trailer that doesn't show off gameplay footage though.

The trailer is nice. Very nice. I wouldn't be so sure about the game though. Apparently it's been stuck in development hell for years.

The trailer has been shared on FB and Twitter by quite some people I know give a rat's ass about either zombies or gaming- so it's doing something right. While I've grown weary of zombie flicks somewhere around the DOTD remake, I'm always prepared to give a fresh take on a played out trope a fair shot (after all, it's how genre trope cycles work). And the resort setting combined with the  feel they're going for in the trailer gives me hope these guys are onto something. Something about that last screenshot gave me the creeps in a good way.

Also: the mention in your article of the emphasis on melee combat.. with L4D, DS and the likes, survival horror has become completely action-oriented the last couple o'years. I'd welcome a return to the anti-hero approach where your inept character haplessly stumbles around swinging feeble weapons. Doing it on a sun-soaked palm beach instead of dark narrow corridors might give the genre the novel twist it needs.

But I remain cautious in my enthusiasm. Maybe it's just the art director we need to watch.

That was simply beautiful.

I love how the father reaching out for the girl at the end, being the movie backwards, actually portrays him as giving the last goodbye to her (as we also know she's going to die)...

Still feeling too sad for the kid.

I found this digging at IGN

If the game can capture half of that drama, and hopefully include that beautiful music, I will be happy. Wonderful, wonderful trailer.

 I thought I'd never, ever want to play anything with zombies in it again and that trailer has almost, almost changed my mind. And it's funny, cause I usually hate those reverse time commercials (insurance commercials seem to like them for some reason). Now, I just wonder what the actual game is going to be like? Trailers like that set the expectations pretty high.

I understand that I'm being manipulated thoroughly throughout the entirety of that trailer, but dammit, I've seen it a bunch and really still enjoy it. It's nothing new or groundbreaking perhaps, I dunno if it can be classified as 'art' (and I honestly don't care if it is or is not) but it's still effective and does precisely what a trailer or teaser is supposed to do: get you aware of something coming out, and does it in a way that is appealing. I guess I'll say, 'Guess I'm a sheep falling for basic societal modifiers'.

Love, love, love that music.

It's been a long time since I lamented the fact that I can't play first person games (I'm one of the 30% of gamers that gets simulation sickness) - but today I'm smarting after watching that.

Damn it, why can't this game give you a third person option???

I think if this were a film trailer people would be left pretty cold by it. It's so basic and cliché.

Just putting this here.

Hahahaha, love the montage of using other game ads with the sad music.  Of course, you put ill-fitting music on even the most amazing footage, and the emotions will be diluted.

Oh. I keep hearing snippets and mumbles about this Dead Island zombie thing only to discover that it's a goddamn videogame. From what I was hearing I was totally under the impression that it was a movie. Reminds me of the time that I walked in on a conversation between two friends where, for about three or four minutes, they appeared to be talking about a camping trip they went on until they started going on about gold coins and swords and shit.