I was not a fan of the first Dead Island. I thought Deep Silver's zombie-killing adventure was filled with uninspired tasks, ridiculous characters, and more technical glitches than you could shake a barbed wire stick at. That's not to say I found the game to be an irredeemable mess, because it did have some interesting ideas--ideas I had hoped to see shine through in a more-polished sequel. Dead Island Riptide is not that sequel. Rather, it's hopelessly crushed under the weight of the same problems that bogged down its predecessor.

Read more: Boring zombies that kill you a lot »

The original Dead Island was the classic example of a cult hit. It had its share of flaws, but fans saw past that to the pure fun of RPG mechanics built into cooperative zombie killing. Dead Island: Riptide is emblematic of iterative development, retaining many of the first game's foibles for better and worse.

Read more: Defending the village with partners »

If you are interested in pre-ordering Dead Island Riptide (sans bloody torso), Deep Silver has revealed a couple of DLC perks available to get you into a zombie fighting mood on its tropical island paradise.

Read more: Killing in style »

Dead Island Riptide has shown off screens and CG trailers and special editions and disembodied torsos, but it's been very light on actual gameplay footage. That changes today with a lengthy walkthrough of nearly 10 minutes of gameplay.

Watch: More than nine minutes of Riptide »

Dead Island Riptide is getting its own Collector's Edition, with a set of baubles for devoted fans of tropical island zombies. The "Rigor Mortis" limited edition will cost $79.99, and includes the previously announced special edition goodies along with some extra physical items.

Read more: Zombie hula girl! »

Fans of classic Steven Seagal movie Under Siege, your prayers have been answered. Dead Island Riptide publisher Deep Silver today unveiled the zombie FPS-RPG's new fifth playable character, and he's the closest we may ever get to seeing old Steve's character star in a video game--a Navy cook with furious fists of martial arts fury.

Read more: Also, he has a mohawk »

We're approaching the end of the calendar year, which means it's time for publishers to start putting stakes in the ground for next year's releases. Dead Island Riptide has broken out of the gate, with a release date of April 23, 2013 in North America.

Read more: Special Edition adds digital goods »

Dead Island Riptide is following the footsteps of its predecessor by releasing a sappy pre-rendered trailer that is nothing like the game it is supposedly "inspired" by.

Similar to Dead Island's much-viewed teaser, When All Hope Is Lost shows what happens when "ordinary people" get caught in a zombie invasion. Emotional piano music accompanies a couple's tender embrace--before the zombies get to them, of course.

Watch: When All Hope Is Lost »

The announcement of Dead Island Riptide at E3 was unusually terse, merely saying that such a game was being made for PC and consoles. How mysterious! Publisher Deep Silver has since realized it might need to show something of the game, and today released the FPS-RPG sequel's first screenshots and along with a few details. The five shots show our zombie-slaying heroes returning to pootle around in boats, mostly.

Read more: A new playable character and defense missions »

Sometimes publishers use E3 to spill their guts about a new game, blasting screenshots, fact sheets and trailers into our soft faces. Other times, they casually drop a small announcement then walk away, like a lout tossing an empty cola can on the pavement.

The latter's the case with Dead Island Riptide, Techland's sequel to zombie shooter-RPG Dead Island, announced at E3 by publisher Deep Silver for PC and consoles. And that's all we know.

Read more: A thrilling logo! »