You're better off playing the Definitive Edition of the first game, then just moldering on to the second one.

After coming back to the base game and this spin-off after many years, I was really looking forward to some kickass satisfying nostalgia. Base game achieved that. But Riptide? It just seemed to get worse and worse the further the game progressed.

There are some "improvements" upon the base game, but they are few. A few new skills, but they're meh. A few different new weapon types, but again, meh? Guns are actually more useful and accessible now? Neat. The idea of legitimate hubs with traders that you have to tier up by turning in crafting materials? Neat. Their stores are typically garbage though, and rarely change out. Often times, these traders have missions that you need to accept (main story included) before you can access their shops, too. Sometimes these missions are significant events that progress your game. Real suave move, there. The base defenses are a neat addition, though they seem kind of.. lacking for some reason? The new and "unique" enemies are so underwhelming or just plain tedious. It's all very lackluster.

But the downgrades since base game? They are many. The map somehow got worse since base game? How? Questline is a yawn-fest. It's buggy. It's boring. Tracked quests change whenever you change instances. It's a slogfest through so many zones. NPCs get stuck on countless things. Fast travel points are so terribly-placed and there's so many missing junctions. There's copy-pasted assets everywhere, and it becomes all the more noticeable the further you get into the game. Several "instanced" zones are just the same thing slapped in a different spot. The order in which you get mods? Their rarity and impact? Way less logical and sensible than base game. Also the boat? It bugs out sometimes. Just doesn't drive. Or the driver will take damage when hitting zombies sometimes. The glades? The overabundance of water literally everywhere? It made me want to consume all of the alcohol I had loot-goblin'd in one sitting. The further you get in this game, the quicker you'll just want it all done so you can move onto something else.

But what about characters? What changed with them? Sam B stayed mostly the same, along with Xian. John is a neat slugger who is pretty fun even though you exchange around 1 minute of legitimate dialogue with him. Logan got nerfed a bit. But Purna? The "support specialist" gets actives and passives that heavily eclipse every other character (even in melee and durability) despite being a gun-focused character. She can do just about everything all of the melee folks can do, but better for reasons unbeknownst to me. Heavily overclocked. Standard? Raging out? Doesn't matter. Her damage and durability bonuses are through the roof with just about everything. Unsurprising as well, she's just as annoying as she was in the base game. The new folks you meet throughout this campaign are somehow even more forgettable than base game was, as well. It's like this massive swell of incompetence that drags you in for the non-consensual ride.

Is the game playable? Well, yes. I don't think there's really anything "game breaking" to deal with here in just my friend and I's experience. Worth the chump change it costs? That's up to you, champ. Is it enjoyable? At first. Then it tapers, and wanes, and becomes aggravating after time. I'm not gonna slap a recommend on this simply for the "hurr hurr, more bonk zombie for fun" memes. This game somehow took base game and made it fundamentally worse. How? Maybe the scientists back on Banoi could tell you, because the ones on Palanai surely couldn't.

"Dead Island: Riptide - Definitive Edition" offers an enhanced and expanded zombie-slaying experience, building upon the strengths of the original game.

The game's open world and focus on melee combat provide a satisfying and visceral experience, allowing players to unleash their creativity in crafting unique weapons.

A dlc pack with padding to make it feel longer than it is.

Maybe because I haven't played Dead Island 1 or Dying Light 1, but I really had fun with Riptide solo as Xian Mei.

More of the same. 7.0/10.

I was a fan of the dead island series, I didn't like dead island 2 as much since I felt the game was lacking the same exploration and dynamic zombie placement as the original games had so I figured I would come back and play the older games. I wish I could play the games but the optimization is just really bad for me I have a good spec computer but I constantly have rubber banding, unstable frame rates and overall poor performance. I've tried all the hacks I've seen online but at most I gained a slight improvement but still overall unplayable for me which is a shame. If you are thinking of buying the game then I would say that is the main thing to take into consideration, see if you have those issues and return the game if you do because it doesn't get better at least from my experience.

I like the game.

A good game

Zombies