Dead Island: Riptide gameplay video shows shows hub defense, indestructible boats

The first in-game footage of Dead Island: Riptide has burst forth from its sandy grave with nine minutes of the same enjoyable brain-slicing and power-kicking action from the previous open-world survival RPG. We also see a couple new elements Techland plans for the return to Banoi, including driveable boats and hub defense missions.

Hub defense is essentially Riptide's Horde mode where waves of mindless undead assault your fortified position. You'll scramble to set up turrets and rig makeshift fences between waves. It looks like a good fit for epic last-stand scenarios, but the failure condition of letting just a single survivor perish doesn't sound appealing at all. In fact, wouldn't the harshness of skirting death on a zombie-infested island only become stronger as you lose more allies?

Dead Island: Riptide hits shores on April 23. Though publisher Deep Silver defines it as a spin-off from the original Dead Island, it's more of a sequel in disguise, continuing the story from where it left off at the first game's conclusion. New characters, weapon types, and vehicles are all included in the...er, spin-quel.

Omri Petitte is a former PC Gamer associate editor and long-time freelance writer covering news and reviews. If you spot his name, it probably means you're reading about some kind of first-person shooter. Why yes, he would like to talk to you about Battlefield. Do you have a few days?