2011: Impressions of Dead Island (Xbox 360)

http://diehardgamefan.com/2011/06/10/e3-2011-impressions-of-dead-island-xbox-360/

Aside from the tropical setting, Dead Island sounds like it might not be all that different than any other zombie game, right? That's when things got odd. You see, Dead Island is a horror game, but it is also an Action RPG. The first thing you do is pick up a weapon, which shows the weapons stats and what level you can use it. You go outside and the zombies have little lifebars above their heads along with what level they are. When you attack them, numbers show on the screen how many hit points of damage you've dealt. After defeating the initial zombies you are then given a quest which you can choose to accept. From that point on you move along the beach as though it were almost a dungeon crawler. You get weapons which degrade over time and then break.Some are level specific, and when you defeat zombies you gain experience. When you gain experience, you can choose to level up and unlock different branches of three different skill trees.