Remember that time you saw a trailer for that new movie coming out that looked so incredible that you had to run immediately to the bathroom? So, of course, the next time you hang out with your friends you suggest that you all go to see it. But instead of the unbridled enthusiasm you expect, they look at you like you have lobsters crawling out of your ears. One of them even goes as far as to question your taste in cinema. So you’re stuck going to see it with your mother, or that guy from work who smells like broccoli. But the joke ends up being on your stupid friends, as the movie kills, like you knew it would. That is basically the story of “Dead Island.” Awesome lead-up, to being shit on by the big video-game media, to a cult following. It all starts with some very creepy music. A dead and bloody little girl lying on the ground suddenly rises upward like a rag doll and ascends a building. Shards of glass assemble around her as she gets sucked inside a window. The girl floats onto the back of a man in his hotel room, where she chews on his neck like your dog chewing your shoes. This trailer, a scene in reverse of an infected daughter turning on her family and subsequently being killed by her father, is a real attention-grabber. In fact, it’s becoming a bit of a cult classic in its own right. Cinematically speaking, it’s one of the most impressive trailers I have seen in awhile. “Dead Island” is an RPG-style, open world, first-person horror action-adventure developed by Techland and published by Deep Silver. This enormous game features hundreds of quests and millions of zombies. Set up much like “Fallout 3” or “Borderlands,” missions progress the main storyline, with an abundance of side quests. The campaign is jam-packed with customizable weapons, useful items, hidden areas and a plethora of the undead. The amount of game on this disc is actually impressive. After choosing one of the four playable characters, the storyline has you waking up at the Palms Resort Hotel on the fictional island of Banoi. You soon discover the island is infested with zombies and you are the only one immune to them. Interesting. This isn’t exactly as fortuitous as it seems, however, because for the remainder of the game, almost all friendly characters cower indoors while you run around with their errand lists. While most of the tasks you set out to do are perfectly acceptable, some of the side quests are dumb as shit (go get your own fucking teddy bear). From the beach to the city to the jungle, the many locations keeps things fresh while you search for a way off the island. “Dead Island’s” hack-and-slash gameplay mostly focuses on close combat. Until late in the game firearms are absent, but don’t be surprised if you see an armed companion pop up and help you slay zombies. Dig this: Other players are able to join your game at anytime, as long as they are around the same place in their story progression. Your newfound friend may have already beaten the game, only to go at it again as a high-leveled ass-kicker with an arsenal of heavy weapons that your noob ass hasn’t found yet. As you advance through the campaign, an experience system, skill tree and deep inventory will help you to build your character. I did notice, however, that the game keeps the zombies right around the same skill level as you no matter where you are, making leveling up feel a little fruitless. While the story isn’t groundbreaking material and some of the character animations are pretty robotic, it’s hard to come up with any big complaints about the game. If I had to, it would be this: “Dead Island” completely lacks any real scares. Anyone who played “Resident Evil” when it came out in 1996 probably remembers the moment zombie dogs came crashing through the windows in the mansion’s hallway. That’s wet-the-bed scary. “Dead Island” doesn’t have that moment anywhere. With that being said, people fucking love killing zombies, and this game is utterly addictive and fun as hell. The bar for zombie games has been raised again, or maybe kicked straight through the roof. Get a copy while you can — they’re becoming very hard to find, and used discs have been seen on eBay for more than $75.