Too much hype, not enough gameplay footage or knowing a single thing about the mechanics of the game!
I hope the game is in reverse, so it starts off with a big climactic battle with zombies, and the end game is a vacation simulator (mash A to enjoy pina colada). The last boss is packing your clothes and driving away to the airport in reverse.
All you people seem caught up in this idea that, to make a movie off of a game, the game needs to be perfect. Or that the game even needs to be released. Or that anything at all needs to be known about the game.
If any of you knew anything about the game, aside from the fact that there's a trailer out (this is actually the second trailer they've released) you'd know the developers have stated time and again that it was always their intention for story to take a back seat to zombie-killing fun.
Why does a game need to be released for them to make the movie? Why does it matter if all we've seen is the trailer? The concept is interesting, and they've certainly got their name out there, now, with this sudden popularity surge. That's already halfway through the marketing process for the movie, and it wouldn't be that hard to write up a script - hell, it wouldn't even be that hard to write up a good script.
Also, oh look, DeadIslandGame.com is back up for the first time in at least a year.
Wait just a minute folks...I wouldn't be so quick to judge this one.
It's not as if they're lining up to do a cheap action flick based on an already popular licence. And hell, while videogames are a little zombie-crowded (but hey, ain't crowding things what they do best?) films aren't really. Aside from the tv series the walking dead, and some straight to DVD releases (some good, most terrible) there hasn't been a decent zombie film in quite some time, with the only current films being the questionable but harmless resident evil series, and the fantastic rec series, which has two more films in the pipeline.
It seems to me that they just saw this as a good concept and wanted to get started on it nice and early. This may be because the trailer showed great understanding of how zombie films, and horror films, scare people.
Spoilered for length, but please read if you have the time.
For one thing, the main characters being a family unit. If there's one thing more disturbing than strangers being ripped to shreds by walking corpses, and then having to kill them again when they get back up or be killed by them, it's having someone you know, especially a family such as the unfortunate daughter which raised so much (mostly ill-thought out, if you ask me) controversy. Remember; it ain't the first time, and if it really disturbed you so much, good. That's what it's aiming for, like all great art, to provoke an emotional response and if more games did it, we'd be a step closer to gaming being recognised as the art form it is, and can be.
The locale is genius when you think about it. For one thing, the isolation. What are you gonna do, swim like hell and hope you're headed for another island? The sunny visuals and a location that would be built to be a "happy place" provide unsettling juxtaposition between the locale and the occurences, and a great departure from the run down cities and crumbling mansions popular to the sub genre.
But that's obvious. The true genius lies in the reasoning behind coming there. People who go to a holiday resort are not asking for trouble. They are not going to an undiscovered island the locals warned them against, nor the creepy mansion the crazy old man warned against, or the underground caves where people have gone missing that common sense warned against. They are going there for a holiday. They are going there to simply have fun. There probabally werent any warning signs, not enough to make your average person cancel their holiday plans over anyway, and now they are dying. The best horror movies/games never warn their protagonists where their perfectly innocent decisions are going to lead. They just let them make their own ultimately fatal but nigh on unavoidable mistakes.
This is also made clear with the zombies themselves. The trailer shows what makes zombies scary obviously, such as being hard to kill, and their carnivarous and merciless MO, but also that all of these people also never asked for this. People in tropical shirts, a woman in a bikini, and a bellhop who probabally just wanted to make a damn living in a sunny place. All of them, also victims of a mistake they never could of known they made before it was too late.
Basically, this is a simple, but brilliant premise, and I can't blame film companies for wanting to pick it up ASAP. Sure it could be terrible, it could be a cash in, but I'm going to give this one a chance.
And this year's winner for recognizing patterns is...
OT: What he said. I just can't see a movie for this being released, especially when we no next to nothing about the game itself. Not only that, but haven't we learned by now that any movie related to video games in any way is destined to fail?
All you people seem caught up in this idea that, to make a movie off of a game, the game needs to be perfect. Or that the game even needs to be released. Or that anything at all needs to be known about the game.
If any of you knew anything about the game, aside from the fact that there's a trailer out (this is actually the second trailer they've released) you'd know the developers have stated time and again that it was always their intention for story to take a back seat to zombie-killing fun.
Why does a game need to be released for them to make the movie? Why does it matter if all we've seen is the trailer? The concept is interesting, and they've certainly got their name out there, now, with this sudden popularity surge. That's already halfway through the marketing process for the movie, and it wouldn't be that hard to write up a script - hell, it wouldn't even be that hard to write up a good script.
Also, oh look, DeadIslandGame.com is back up for the first time in at least a year.
I think it's because they're basing how successful their movie will be off the popularity of a trailer. It's just a trailer, it doesn't prove anything about the concept, and hell it doesn't even show the concept. Memento with zombies? The game itself probably has nothing to do with backwards storytelling, and it took a trailer to come up with that? Pshaw.
It's too early to base anything's popularity on anything, just because the video's gone viral doesn't mean it's going to last.
But as for the game, I want to wait until we see some gameplay footage. It's certainly gotten my interest, and those screenshots look gorgeous, so we'll see what Techland comes up with.
And if the trailer is anything to go by, Techland better not fuck up.
Wait just a minute folks...I wouldn't be so quick to judge this one.
It's not as if they're lining up to do a cheap action flick based on an already popular licence. And hell, while videogames are a little zombie-crowded (but hey, ain't crowding things what they do best?) films aren't really. Aside from the tv series the walking dead, and some straight to DVD releases (some good, most terrible) there hasn't been a decent zombie film in quite some time, with the only current films being the questionable but harmless resident evil series, and the fantastic rec series, which has two more films in the pipeline.
It seems to me that they just saw this as a good concept and wanted to get started on it nice and early. This may be because the trailer showed great understanding of how zombie films, and horror films, scare people.
Spoilered for length, but please read if you have the time.
For one thing, the main characters being a family unit. If there's one thing more disturbing than strangers being ripped to shreds by walking corpses, and then having to kill them again when they get back up or be killed by them, it's having someone you know, especially a family such as the unfortunate daughter which raised so much (mostly ill-thought out, if you ask me) controversy. Remember; it ain't the first time, and if it really disturbed you so much, good. That's what it's aiming for, like all great art, to provoke an emotional response and if more games did it, we'd be a step closer to gaming being recognised as the art form it is, and can be.
The locale is genius when you think about it. For one thing, the isolation. What are you gonna do, swim like hell and hope you're headed for another island? The sunny visuals and a location that would be built to be a "happy place" provide unsettling juxtaposition between the locale and the occurences, and a great departure from the run down cities and crumbling mansions popular to the sub genre.
But that's obvious. The true genius lies in the reasoning behind coming there. People who go to a holiday resort are not asking for trouble. They are not going to an undiscovered island the locals warned them against, nor the creepy mansion the crazy old man warned against, or the underground caves where people have gone missing that common sense warned against. They are going there for a holiday. They are going there to simply have fun. There probabally werent any warning signs, not enough to make your average person cancel their holiday plans over anyway, and now they are dying. The best horror movies/games never warn their protagonists where their perfectly innocent decisions are going to lead. They just let them make their own ultimately fatal but nigh on unavoidable mistakes.
This is also made clear with the zombies themselves. The trailer shows what makes zombies scary obviously, such as being hard to kill, and their carnivarous and merciless MO, but also that all of these people also never asked for this. People in tropical shirts, a woman in a bikini, and a bellhop who probabally just wanted to make a damn living in a sunny place. All of them, also victims of a mistake they never could of known they made before it was too late.
Basically, this is a simple, but brilliant premise, and I can't blame film companies for wanting to pick it up ASAP. Sure it could be terrible, it could be a cash in, but I'm going to give this one a chance.
Great analysis, I love reading different interpretations and whatnot. The game certainly has potential, as does the movie, but only time will tell if Techland will successfully go down that route.
The cynic in me says they're going to fuck it up somehow. The optimist also say that...
OT:Seems a bit hasty to make a movie out of it, but yeah an island full of zombies is a quick and thorough ''you're fucked'' to anyone on that island, lots of untapped opportunities.
This wont work, the only reason the trailer got so much atention was controversy. A movie can have controversy but still be bad see human centerpede as an example.
The trailer was also beautiful in every way, have you not noticed all the anger, love, concern in that trailer? never before have i seen such desperation on videogame faces.
To compare it to the human centipede is controversial.
Ace: What, do people get a Tax cut if they make zombie games and movies? Is a way to teach people how to live? Are we becoming so ignorant as how to use an Axe? What the hell? ENOUGH! The only thing I will forgive is Nazi Zombies in Space with Lazer guns, and no, Dead Space is not a zombie game you bloody hoplites.
Angel: Oh dear, this is not going to end well, I wish them the best though.
Luigi: YAY! More zombies! I love 'em! More fun for me...although I hope I can watch the movie on my PC, would suck if it was a PS3/360 exclusive.
OT:Seems a bit hasty to make a movie out of it, but yeah an island full of zombies is a quick and thorough ''you're fucked'' to anyone on that island, lots of untapped opportunities.
Nope, I'm a 20 year old student. I just feel that the trailer doesn't have constantly reinforce the fact they are a happy family. I get it, sometimes bad shit happens to undeserving people but I don't need to see the girl die then kill her parents. It's just unnecessary.
Holy shit don't tell them man!
[sub]Never thought of that >.>[/sub]
LavaLampBamboo said:
Nope, I'm a 20 year old student. I just feel that the trailer doesn't have constantly reinforce the fact they are a happy family. I get it, sometimes bad shit happens to undeserving people but I don't need to see the girl die then kill her parents. It's just unnecessary.
This wont work, the only reason the trailer got so much atention was controversy. A movie can have controversy but still be bad see human centerpede as an example.
Can someone explain to me what's so controversial about this trailer? It's not the gore in a videogame that's old hat. As for kids dying, or patricide? Last I checked any controversy caused by that in the zombie genre should have went out the window when Mekhi phifer got to deliver his very own mutant undead infant in the 2004 dawn of the dead. On this site of all places we should not judge games with a double standard especially when doing so creates the brilliant feeling of horror and dread that all zombie stories should have.
If this trailer left you with an unsettling feeling, it's not because it crossed any lines. It's because it did exactly what it set out to do.
The Zombie genere is very durable, and honestly I think the movie studios are making a wise movie. All told the success or failure of a movie based on a bunch of zombies on a resort island is not liable to be all that heavily influanced by the success or failure of the game. It's a very general plotline.
Overall I think the funny thing is that the simplest gimmicks are the ones that have writers and directors smacking themselves on the head for not figuring it out first. The whole angle of this trailer seems like an obvious fit for the genere, especially when you consider how JJ Abrams has used similar techniques all through his shows like "Alias" as an attention getter and they are widely imitated. The thing is that if someone just went out and made a movie ripping this scene/trailer off heavily, then the guys doing "Dead Island" could probably turn around and sue for someone stealing their idea in the genere. It sounds like it shouldn't work, but when it comes to things like movies and TV stuff like that has been upheld before. Someone wanting to do a "Memento-like" spin on a zombie movie now is wise to get the "Dead Island" rights since it's trailer inspired this, to avoid later legal complications.
At any rate, it will be interesting to see what happens. I have to admit that even if these guys fail utterly with a game, they will have created one of the most powerful pieces of zombie fiction ever set to video.
But I'll also say that "Memento" isn't quite what came to mind at first, as I sort of implied above I thought of JJ Abrams for some reason. While other people imitated it (and he certainly didn't seem to invent it) one of his trademarks is to start a story by showing absolutly horrible things happpening to the main characters, then backing up to hours/days/whatever earlier and showing the events leading up to that occurance, followed by how the characters wind up getting out of what would otherwise have been certain death, usually involving some gimmick or events that would have been obvious if you had been following the events sequentially.
Being a game my initial thoughts there were that even if it wasn't the intent, it seemed like the kind of utterly tragic "no way this could get worse" thing he'd set up, which would then be defanged by what you didn't see happening either earlier, or at the same time. Sometimes utter cheez like how the girl isn't actually dead from the fall, just in shock, and 2' off scene Chuck Green (or the equivilent) was picking off the zombies with the family above with a sniper rifle, and oh look, he's got a backpack full of Zombrex (Cheddar or Provalone?, how do you like your cheez?). I know this wasn't the intent given the theme of the game, but it's still what it made me think of. Probably because "Memento" was just one movie and JJ Abrams has done it dozens of times now.
Bulletstorm AND Dead Island are from Poland? Holy crap! I love the Witcher series to the point of worship. Now I have three more Polish games to look forward too? XD Joygasm!
I think people might be getting the wrong idea to about this movie. I don't think it'll have anything to do with the game at all. Much like the trailer, it'll simply use the concept; a zombie apocolypse, breaking out on a beautiful holiday island. It'll occur in the same universe, but probably won't use the games storyline. Which, judging from previous game-movie entries, could be a really good, or a really bad thing.
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