14 DAY TRIAL // Deep Silver's multiplayer online battle arena Dead Island: Epidemic has just become available on Steam Early Access, allowing player to join the closed beta testing phase and get a taste of the apocalyptic action before the game's final release.
Marketed as the world's first ZOMBA, Dead Island: Epidemic is a cooperative action game in which teams of players make use of various character abilities and crafted weaponry in order to fend off wave after wave of zombie hordes.
Players who join the game during its days of Early Access will get exclusive weapons and upgrades that are not going to be available in the final version of the game, to be released later this year.
That is in part to offset the fact that Dead Island: Epidemic will be a free-to-play game, while access to the closed beta comes with a price tag. Actually, with several price tags, as there are three different price tiers, each of them coming with various in-game exclusive perks.
Developer Stunlock Studios is constantly updating the game with content and balance fixes, along with trying to deliver an experience that is more in line with Hi-Rez Studios' Smite rather than traditional MOBAs.
As such, Epidemic features WASD controls and skill shots that allow players to have a more direct link to their in-game avatar and to feel like they're a part of the action, instead of merely a hovering entity pushing and prodding the on-screen champion, giving the game the feel of an isometric shooter.
Dead Island: Epidemic allows players to team up with three other survivors of the apocalypse and to tackle the zombie menace together, in either PvE co-op or the unique PvPvPvE three-team Scavenger mode, where 12 players will fight in a competition to grab supplies and hold key points on the map in order to prevail against their opponents and the undead horde.
The game features the robust weapon crafting system from Dead Island, allowing gamers to create their own insane arsenal from hundreds of available weapons that are custom-tailored to accommodate all possible play styles as well as all preferences for causing mayhem, from Spikey Planks to Flaming Chainsaws and Double Flaming Machete Gloves.
Dead Island: Epidemic also features an ever-expanding roster of heroes with unique skills, allowing its users to choose their preferred role, from up-front face-smashing to reclusive sniping or even supporting allies in the heat of battle.