The best thing about Dead Island is its co-op, so I'm a little curious about why it's getting a single-player spinoff in the form of Escape Dead Island. It's a third-person action/stealth game set in the Dead Island universe, and it's coming to PC (and last-gen consoles), blimey, next week. The above trailer offers a glimpse of what we're in for, which as it turns out is a cel-shaded game about mystery and battering zombie brains in, with psychological am-I-going-crazy bits thrown in too.

Publishers Deep Silver are calling the game "a survival mystery, where you follow the story of Cliff Calo as he attempts to uncover the truth about the zombie virus". You're a journalist, see, and uncovering the truth about a zombie virus sounds like something a journalist might want to do. Escape Dead Island is being developed by War of the Roses/Lead and Gold developers Fatshark, rather than series creators Techland.

In addition to that launch trailer, a few new screenshots have been uploaded, ahead of the game's release next Tuesday. I've stashed them below.

The newest game available on Steam s now-ubiquitous Early Access program is Dead Island: Epidemic, the zombie-themed MOBA announced last fall and revealed at Gamescom. The public reaction to the game s very existence has been, well, confusion. Now that it's here, the public can decide for itself.

Developer Stunlock Studios, previously of Bloodline Champions, has popped Epidemic up on Early Access to get access to your soft, delicious brains. There is no better way to gain valuable feedback and concrete suggestions than by allowing you guys to actually jump in and have at it, the introductory post on Steam reads. o we decided that Steam Early Access is the best way for us to achieve this.



All of the usual reservations aside and believe me, I ve got them too it is nice to see a MOBA that isn t set in a cartoony, fantasy-based universe. The game will also feature three teams instead of the requisite two, and the art shows off a nice sense of humor. Who knows maybe this unholy alliance will be the new chocolate and peanut butter. Can it cut through our MOBA fatigue? If you re interested in finding out for yourself, Epidemic is now available in closed beta release on Steam.

Uh oh. Humble Bundle is already in the midst of a tempting Spring Sale (Saint Row IV is currently $10!) at the same time as GOG s Spring Insomnia Sale, and your wallet cowers in fear of Steam s next seasonal sale. The last thing it needs is another opportunity for amazing savings, but that s just what Humble Bundle announced with its new Humble Daily Bundle.
For the next two weeks, Humble Bundle will put up a new bundle every day. For the next 24 hours it s offering the Humble Deep Silver Re-Bundle, which includes Saints Row: The Third, Risen 2, Metro 2033, Dead Island, and others. You can get all the games including their soundtracks if you pay $9 or more. As usual, a designated portion of your purchase will go toward the Electronic Frontier Foundation or Child s Play.
This first daily sale looks just as good as Humble Bundle s usual offerings, so it s definitely worth checking in regularly over the next two weeks to see what games pop up there. It s okay. You weren't using that money anyway.

With the mashing-together of the words "Dead Island MOBA," Deep Silver risks finally bringing its Dead Island franchise into the realm of the truly horrifying. Don't count it out, though, as the publisher has confirmed that it's brought on board Bloodline Champions developer Stunlock Studios, which is apparently steering Dead Island: Epidemic from the treacherously tepid LoL-clone waters.

The free-to-play "ZOMBA," as Deep Silver has been calling this new invention, was originally announced earlier this month, but its developer was confirmed today in a report at Polygon. Stunlock emphasizes that it won't be doing the usual League of Legends-style thing, instead aiming more for the multiplayer arena combat of Bloodlines. (Hopefully with less of a learning curve, though.) This will become especially apparent in its Capture the Flag mode, charmingly referred to as "PvPvPvE" by its designers—players in three teams may occasionally have to put aside their distaste for each other by teaming up to overcome the swelling zombie waves.

Players will also be able to craft their own weapons to suit their own "personality and play style," which explains the miniature cannon that the hunchbacked guy in that screenshot above seems to be lugging about. Hopefully, this will warrant the inclusion of a zombie-repelling cocktail umbrella and a party blower, to suit my ZOMBA-on-the-beach partying ways.

The Deep Silver Humble Bundle turned some heads last week, with a great deal on games like Saints Row: The Third and Risen 2: Dark Waters. Now the bundle has expanded to include Dead Island and Metro 2033, making it a deal that is just ridiculous to pass up.

Paying more than the average ($5.14, as of this writing) gets you Dead Island, Metro 2033, Risen 1, Sacred Citadel and all Saints Row: The Third DLC. You can also pay more than $25 to get the recently released Dead Island: Riptide.

As with all Humble Bundles, you get to name your price and divide your purchase between publisher Deep Silver, charities like the American Red Cross, Child’s Play and World Vision, or Humble Bundle itself.

In my opinion, too many gamers have overlooked Metro 2033, which would be worth the $5 purchase price alone. If you're still holding off on the excellent Metro: Last Light, maybe exploring the previous game in that series will convince you.

Head over the Humble Bundle site and check it out. Over 400,000 bundles have already been sold, but the deal runs out next Tuesday, August 13.

Kill zombies. Survive. Loot. Complete fetch quests. That's the core gameplay loop in Dead Island, a series that hasn't really proven itself yet but manages to sell really well anyway. As a result of the latter, publisher Deep Silver has announced a new MOBA based on the franchise. According to the publisher, the game will "pit three teams of players against each other in a desperate fight for survival." So don't expect a relaxing, non-intense fight for survival.

Deep Silver is set to reveal more at Gamescom later this month, as well as more news regarding "the Dead Island universe as a whole." If you're keen to play the Dead Island games then now is probably the best time to get on board: this month's Humble Bundle is Deep Silver themed, and if you pay more than the average pledge you get a free copy of Dead Island GOTY. Pay $25 or more and you'll also get Dead Island: Riptide. All up, nine games are included so best check it out.

 

With the release of Saints Row IV just around the corner, it seems that publisher Deep Silver wants to set a charitable tone with a Humble Bundle consisting of its more delinquent titles. After all, crime’s perfectly legal if it’s done in the name of sick children.

The Humble Deep Silver Bundle base package consists of Saints Row: The Third, Saints Row 2, Risen 2: Dark Waters, and the Gold Edition of Sacred 2, along with the soundtrack for each game. Chipping in at least $4.70 will get you Dead Island GOTY edition, along with a DLC-laden version of Saints Row: The Third. And finally, if you chip in a whopping $25, you’ll nab yourself a copy of Dead Island: Riptide, though you might want to hold off on that one.

We should also mention that the PC version of Saints Row 2 was a poorly-optimized mess when it first came out, so keep that in mind if you’re nabbing the bundle for that title alone. There’s a chance things have gotten a bit better since we last visited the city of Stilwater, but we still recommend you proceed with caution.

The very first video for Techland’s latest zombie-survival game might not carry the same emotional weight as their previous game’s debut, but weight is the last thing you want when the infected are sprinting after your delectable flesh.

The Dying Light trailer doesn’t make the “Dead Island with parkour” comparison any less avoidable. You fight zombies with custom weapons you cobbled together from spare parts, in an urban environment, while trying to avoid becoming the undead’s next meal. It sounds a little too familiar, but Techland’s trying to shake things up with a day/night cycle that alters how zombies behave. Hanging out with zombies during the day time isn’t a picnic, but the horde supposedly gets downright vicious once the sun goes down.

The trailer’s completely CG, so we don’t exactly know what gameplay looks like. WB Games says it's hoping to have Dying Light out sometime next year, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more of Techland’s latest next week during E3. We’ll keep you posted when we know more.

"Developer known for zombie games making a new zombie game" isn't terribly shocking news, but what if I told you they were going to twist it up with a day-night cycle and a dash of Mirror's Edge? Dying Light is Techland's current project, a zombie-infested horror game that encourages fleeing across an open-world tropical town's unexpectedly parkour-friendly rooftops. Check out the first screenshots of your flailing feet, as well as zombies wearing an awkward amount of face paint.

Dying Light features a weapons-crafting system, so you'll be able to make electrified axes and the like to hack into zombieflesh with. Come night, however, the zombies grow a lot more aggressive, and that's when you run. The screenshots were revealed on the newly minted Facebook page, and incredibly, preorders are already available. Warner Bros. is hopeful for a 2014 release date. No further details yet, but we can expect an onslaught of zombie photos this burgeoning E3 season.

Last week, Techland announced its new game, Hellraid, with a few screenshots and some promises. This week, though, they’ve got a teaser trailer full of gameplay that backs up some of those promises, and it’s looking pretty interesting.

There’s a distinct taste of Skyrim in the visuals, but the melee combat in The Elder Scrolls has never had this much gravitas without extensive modding. Enemies counter and duck your sword, and parrying has an impact you can feel.



Watch for the trademarked front kick familiar from Techland’s last game, Dead Island, at about the 0:20 mark.

Hellraid will feature up to four person co-op, and I’m betting that it will follow the same drop-in-drop-out connection formula that worked pretty well (mostly) in Dead Island. Four classes are announced so far; the warrior and the mage get a lot of screen time in the trailer. It’s just a teaser, of course, but so far we haven’t seen any sign of the other two classes, the paladin and the rogue.

The other mystery involves the Game Master, the overseeing AI that will tweak, balance and randomize parts of the game like loot and spawn points. Like the director in Left 4 Dead, having a part of the game that is playing you can be an interesting experience.

Hellraid should be released later this year.