Incoming 2013: Dead Island – Riptide

What we know: Dead Island was a surprise hit when it launched during 2011 although much of the hype that surrounded the experience was due to the impressive cinematic trailer that had been launched for it earlier during the year.

With Riptide, the development team at Techland is aiming to capture the attention of the public with the same concept again and build on the initial success.

This time, the action moves to the island of Palanoi in the Pacific, with players needing to escape the vessel that was supposed to save them as the crew is affected by the zombie virus.

The new location allows the development team to introduce new environment types, including a swampy one, which will allow new enemies to take the player by surprise, and more variety is promised for the various quests and set pieces.

The four characters from the original Dead Island are returning to the game, complete with new items to use and new abilities.

A newcomer will join the undead powered party in order to test his own strength against the hordes.

Dead Island – Riptide will be launched on the PC, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 on April 23 in the United States and three days later in Europe.

Why it matters: Dead Island was much appreciated for the slow motion reverse time trailer that first revealed the core themes and mechanics of the game.

Developer Techland and publisher Deep Silver have tried producing something similar for Riptide, but the promotional efforts have failed to ignite the same effect.

It will be interesting to see whether the expanded mechanics in Riptide will manage to get fans back into the undead-infested Pacific or whether the initial action experience was enough to satisfy our appetite for crushing zombie skulls.

The full Incoming 2012 series of articles can be read on Softpedia right here.