Deep Silver Defends Dead Island Trailer

We all know that good trailers don't necessarily make good games, which is why when the first Dead Island trailer became an Internet sensation some people were understandably hesitant to jump on the band wagon. Deep Silver producer Sebastian Reichert, however, has defended the trailer while speaking to Eurogamer today.  Stating that the emotional feel of the trailer is reflective of the world in which the game takes place.

"It gives you the feeling about the world we are in...Our main approach is you have a realistic... I don't want to say sad approach, but due to the fact it's a harsh topic and you are forced to do awkward things, our game doesn't want to be funny. It's a gritty game.

"You have some characters who are funny because the way they handle their stress is over-the-top comments. But the feeling of the trailer is something we have in the game all the time."

The trailer in question, shown below, was created by Scottish animation company Axis, and apparently led some people to believe that the game would be a gritty adventure game in the vein of Heavy Rain. They thought this, I suppose, even though every gaming outlet on the internet reported that it was going to be a 4-person FPS. Why do we do this again?

"The trailer catches the atmosphere of the game perfectly," he insisted. "But if people think they will get Heavy Rain because this was sad and Heavy Rain is sad, that's the completely wrong approach.

"We are an action game. We are forcing you to play fast, to be brutal. This is something the trailer shows. The father has to be brutal to save his kid. The trailer works great.

"A lot of people are pushing in the wrong direction. Like everything, if you present something the first time, it brings up some expectations. With a trailer so far from the game mechanically, those expectations cannot be matched."

Personally, I've grown weary of the same old trailers we see all the time, and I applaud Deep Silver for taking a different approach. Even if that exact scene isn't in the game, it still raised curiosity and awareness much better than your typical trailer would have. Apparently, this is exactly what Deep Silver was going for.

"Should we go for this risk and have this awesome trailer, or should we remove the risk and have a trailer like anyone else?" he said. "It was no big question. You go for the risk because you're aware the trailer is not something completely different from your game. It's just a story on that island in this f***ed up world.

"I also heard there are people out there who hate the idea of the trailer because it lies to them. This is something we just didn't want to do. We just want to make sure, 'Hey folks, we have a really cool zombie game,' - that's basically one of the core messages of the trailer. And we have a serious setting, so enjoy it. I don't want to cause any hate. It's just about getting the people to the game because it's worth it."

[Source: Eurogamer]