Deep Silver has made numerous attempts to bring Dead Island to a wider audience, and none have been particularly successful. That’s not to say the string of pseudo-sequels and spin-offs we’ve seen since the series made its debut half a decade ago haven’t built up any momentum, because they most definitely have, but in a general downhill direction.
Dead Island could use a savior, but it might have to make do with something called Dead Island: Retro Revenge if we’re to believe a listing spotted earlier this week on the Australian and Brazilian ratings boards for a Mature-rated computer game with “online interactivity” and “bloody violence.”
The listing also mentions San Diego-based Empty Clip Games as the developer, and PC, PS4 and Xbox One as the target platforms. Empty Clip hasn’t shipped a game since the release of their stylish shoot ’em up Symphony in 2012, but an update on their website mentions multiple game announcements to look forward to this summer. One of those games may be Retro Revenge.
I have serious doubts that another spin-off is what this series needs right now, but I will absolutely be rooting for this game to prove me wrong.
Riptide would’ve made for a better expansion than the barely budget-priced — it was $50 — Dead Island 1.25 we ended up getting, and since the only decent spin-off went offline in October, we’re left with Escape Dead Island, and that game was so bad it made me angry.
At this point, I can’t tell if Deep Silver genuinely wants to make a good Dead Island game, or if they recognized its death rattles and are desperate to milk that cash cow before it tips over.
