Following our initial look at Dead Island back at GDC, I recently got our first chance to play the game for real. And "real" is the appropriate word here. Despite the zombies, wacky weapon combinations and a creepy Lost vibe, Dead Island does a lot to emphasize the reality of your admittedly unbelievable situation.

It starts right away in the demo, with an opening first-person cinematic that has my character living it up at one of the island's clubs, as signs of the big Z start to appear at the corners of my blurred, drunken vision. Is that woman just resting in the booth over there or is that blood near her head? Wait -- did that man just bite his date? Eventually, I'm too drunk to tell or even care, passing out in a nearby corner. This is when the game proper starts.