Dead Island: Definitive Collection Reviews
"The collection does not look at all out of place on the Xbox One/PlayStation 4 and gives players the chance to return to Hanoi once more for some good old fashioned blood-splattered fun. The setting is perfect, the action – fast and frantic but the most important cog in the Dead Island engine is its ability to allow players to team up with friends and other players to take on the infection, that feature remains and that alone would be enough for me to part with my hard earned cash".
Definitely one of the strongest remasters available on the current gen consoles, with enough improvements to more than compete with most new games. In a surprise turn, it also manages to better its original release - it’s been a long time since the title “Definitive Edition” was this well earnt.
Dead Island Definitive Collection is one of the better value remastered bundles currently available, serving up one genuinely good game, one relatively crap sequel, and a reasonably enjoyable bonus game in Retro Revenge. For the cash, you could certainly do a lot worse, and few other games do zombie slaughter quite so well.
Dead Island: Definitive Collection presents a lot of fun, albeit dated and repetitive gameplay for an affordable price. As a remaster, it's not perfect, but that's almost part of these games' charm.
Dead Island Definitive Collection is a competent collection which vastly improves the two Dead Island games included, adding a third game which can be fun in short bursts. Both Dead Island and Dead Island Riptide never looked better, with a slew of technical enhancements and solid performance which makes revisiting both titles quite enjoyable. Most the gameplay issues, however, haven't been addressed, so those who couldn't stand the original releases won't change their opinions with the remastered releases. Solid games, for sure, but not for everyone.
Though the visuals sparkle and small improvements have been made, overall Dead Island Definitive Edition isn’t different enough from the original to be worth a purchase. In fact, it seems worse in some ways. Only give it a buy if the arena mode sounds appealing, or if you want to show off how powerful your new graphics card is.
Dead Island Definitive Edition is a great example of how a previous gen title can be improved on current-gen. Techland has done more than required in porting the games over to PS4 and Xbox One.
Dead Island: Definitive Collection may not be enough of a reason for those who have already experienced the original and Riptide to warrant making the return trip, but for everyone else this is the best way to experience these games. The improved visuals and lack of bugs makes getting through the main courses less of a chore, and Retro Revenge is a fun little side dish.
With the Dead Island Definitive Edition, Dead Island and Dead Island Riptide have never looked so good. The use of Dying Light's graphics engine means almost every setting looks better and more realistic than it did at the start of the decade, but it unfortunately doesn’t run any better now than it did then. With around 35 hours of gameplay packed in and a fun little retro beat 'em up to complement it all, though, it's the best way to play if you missed these zombie-smashers.
Both games in the collection look better than you might expect with its new gen makeover and they come bundled with all previously released DLC. However, even at a reasonable price, will it warrant a purchase?
For those that played through Dead Island and its standalone expansion before, it really comes down to how they felt about it. If you get the itch to go back to Banoi and don’t mind getting “who do you voodoo” stuck in your head again, then check it out. Otherwise, there isn’t much there (other than the 2D game) that you haven’t already seen and you can safely skip it.
Dead Island and Dead Island: Riptide land on PC, PS4 and XBO, matched with the readjustments made by improving the technical component. The high definition new look of the game is supported by Chrome Engine�s latest version, which enhances the wonderful setting made by Techland.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Dead Island Definitive Edition brings two great games together into one package that will provide hundreds of hours of zombie slashing fun.
Dead Island and the expansion Riptide are good examples of how to combine RPG, action, survival horror, splatter and exploration with solid gameplay mechanics, especially in the combat system area.
Review in Italian | Read full review
I’ve spent dozens of hours playing both games for my Dead Island Definitive Collection review, and it certainly has been a fun time! There’s still plenty for me to do in each game s they’re huge releases, and unlocking both Platinum trophies is certainly something currently on my to-do list. I highly recommend that you purchase this collection as it offers great value for a very low cost.
Some remasters can feel a bit mailed in when it comes to how much they’ve actually been improved, but Dead Island: Definitive Edition is not one of them. Who knows what is going to happen to Dead Island 2 at this stage, but one thing that is true is Deep Silver has reignited the franchise with Dead Island: Definitive Edition.
Has it toppled Dying Light for the best first person zombie slaying game? Not really; but it has charm that is entirely its own.