Dead Island: Riptide dev details horde-mode areas, new features

Dead Island: Riptide's creative producer Anthony Cardahi has discussed a handful of new features included in Techland's latest zombie title. Horde-mode 'defence hubs', flesh hurling zombies and more have been outlined in a new interview. Get the details below.

Speaking with OPM, Cardahi said of the game's 'defence hubs', in which survivors must hold an area for as long as possible using land mines, barricades and other tools to repel the undead.

"They introduce something that is a classic zombie trope that you see in a lot of movies," he said, "where survivors fortify a location and try to hold on as long as they can. It’s something that makes complete sense in the world of Dead Island."

It's no secret that water and storms have a big role to play in navigating the island of Palanai, as survivors must use row-boats and other means to traverse bodies of water teeming with zombies.

Cardahi. added, "The monsoons that were mentioned in the first game have now come to the archipelago. So a lot of the areas are flooded. This then allowed us to bring in the boats, which open up a lot of new gameplay possibilities in regards to movement and exploration”.

On the inclusion of a new weather system, Cardahi continued, “That allows us to play around with the atmosphere of the game a lot more thanks to the different lighting systems, from sunny blue skies to dark, torrential rains storms that will obscure your visibility”.

You'll need to move fast to avoid the game's new zombie type, warns Cardahi, "The first one we’re talking about is called the Grenadier. He’s a lumbering monstrosity who has cancerous growths all over his body and he flings parts of his body at you. He’s a ranged attacker, which brings a freshness and variety into how the zombie combat takes place.”

Disgusting. But not quite as disgusting as how hard it was to pull off a critical head-shot in the original Dead Island. Cardahi is aware of the fact, and promises slicker gunplay in Riptide, "Because of the new shooting system, headshots are now really devastating. You can also improve and upgrade the guns to the same level as melee weapons. Guns now represent a completely viable combat choice that you can maintain throughout the game”.

If you want more Dead Island: Riptide goodness, check out our own interview here.