Dead Island: Epidemic

In regards to customisation of your character(s), you have fairly little opportunity to change your physical appearance, but combinations of weaponry and abilities are huge. With loads of different base weapons to find and create you already have a pretty mixed arsenal, but combine those with blueprints found and bought as you progress through the game, your methods of dealing damage increase exponentially (provided you have the appropriate equipment level). Customisation/Loadouts

When I started up the introductory level, I literally recoiled in shock at how good the graphics were. I was not expecting much from a free game and with zombie games being almost done to death, my hopes weren't that high. The lighting and shading is exquisite, the water is surprisingly realistic and the textures look very high quality - the clarity and cleanliness is no doubt aided by its cartoony/stylised visuals, but it's impressive nonetheless. Now, yes, I'm judging this based on it being a free game, but frankly the graphics are good by any standards and that's just the start of it. One of my favourite things about the graphics (which I will try to capture in a screenshot below) is the way in which the game dissolves trees and other large objects that would otherwise obstruct your view, ensuring you don't run straight into a pile of brain-munching death. The SFX are fairly simple and repetitive, though I had to make a conscious effort to realise that - I would never expect unique, realistic and HQ sounds from a horde mode zombie game, and these sounds are certainly good enough to give you a satisfying crunch when you hit something with a giant wrench - what more do you need?!. Sound & Visual

Despite it's MOBA-like game mechanics, DI:E uses good ol' WASD for movement, aiming your weapon with your mouse, with just a handful of other hotkeys for special attacks/dodging etc. It's fairly easy to control and get into smashing skulls - the game is even kind enough to not punish you for looking the wrong way, in that if you've stopped running in a particular direction and notice a zombie behind you, you don't need to try to face them by moving with WASD, as you can just use the mouse to aim and click, which will result in your character turning the appropriate amount to do your dirty deeds. Control and gameplay

To accommodate different players' play styles and PvP/PvE preferences, DI:E comes with multiple game modes for you to choose from. The 2 main ones are "Horde Mode" and "Scavenger" - there's a 3rd option under 'Select game mode', but that's "Prologue" and not really worth calling a game mode as such - it's just a single player introduction to how the game works. Game modes

Horde Mode, once selected then takes you to another choice of 3 difficulties, which are "Scout Mission", "Horde Mode" and "Heroic Horde Mode". The difference between the difficulties are, as expected, more zombies which hit harder plus some new types to keep you on your toes. It involves running through the level, breaking down large obstacles (typically fences or large faulty doors) and waving a flag to start a capture on a supply point. Once started, you will face a number of waves of zombies (determined by difficulty; 2/3/4) which will need to be completely wiped out before the next wave starts. Once you've successfully completed all the waves you capture that point and can move towards the next. After all points have been taken you are directed to a final room where you face a big fat boss. The boss will favour AOE attacks and charges fairly frequently, making timing very important when trying to land melee attacks. Horde Mode

Scavenger is the PvP game mode which involves three teams of four competing for supplies. You can earn supplies by capturing supply points and killing zombies/boss monsters. Once players have collected some supplies, they must then return to their base to deposit them. The first team to fill up their supply meter is the winner of the game, which is why you'll want to keep your eyes peeled when you've got a stash of supplies on you - although there's a lot of PvE in this game mode, it's still PvP enabled and opposing teams can attempt to kill you if your paths cross. Scavenger

In terms of variety of content, DI:E doesn't currently have all that much to offer. There only seems to be a smattering of different maps, and fairly limited zombie types - it is worth re-stating here, however, that weapon choices seem quite plentiful which is helped by blueprints and the workbench (just like the previous Dead Island games, if you've played them). The gameplay itself can also be rather varied and inconsistent, due to the fact that you're being randomly matched with other online players and different play style combinations result in different situations for you and your team. One game might see 2 people taking down a blockade while the other 2 defend them, but another game could have all 4 people trying to take down the blockade, resulting in a much more stressful attempt (in-game communication has been extremely minimal in my experiences thus far). Despite the arguable lack of variety it is still very replay-able, which is no doubt down to the fact that I just love killing stuff. You can jump straight into a game and start smashing apart waves and waves of zombies to your heart's content, and frankly that rarely gets boring. If you do want an extra reason to play it for the nth time, you can treat it as a time trial with bronze-gold stars for timings and personal bests to beat. Replay-ability/Variety

Whichever game mode you play, you're likely to have a lot of fun crushing/slicing/exploding zombies. A horde zombie game with melee weapons, guns, magic/special powers/attacks was looking good from the start, and it most certainly is. If your idea of fun is a gruelling challenge where you really need to concentrate and work as a team to survive, just jump into the Heroic Horde Mode (only available from level 4). Otherwise, if you just want to beat the living crap out of a load of zombies without worrying too much about health or anything, then do the scout mission. The standard horde mode is somewhere in-between, but closer to the ease of the scout mission than the challenge of heroic horde mode. Fun factor