Every Dead Island game, ranked
All 3 Dead Island games we hold, spanning 2016 to 2023: 3 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 70,413 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: Dead Island Definitive Edition (GamingPickz Score 7.2), the highest-rated entry we can score.
- For the money: Dead Island 2 gives the most score per dollar right now.
The Dead Island games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 3 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
3 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 3 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
3 best Dead Island games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
- 1
Dead Island Definitive Edition
Best for: Playing through with a friend online
7.2GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceDead Island Definitive Edition at a glance Released 2016 Studio Techland Player sentiment 82% positive of 28,183 Critics No aggregate Price $19.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 10 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 82% shrinks to 82.0 on 28,183 reviews, giving 7.2. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- Small install at 10 GB.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Dead Island 2 at a glance Released 2023 Studio Deep Silver Dambuster Studios Player sentiment 77% positive of 29,228 Critics No aggregate Price $9.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 70 GB Accessibility 7 declared features Raw 77% shrinks to 77.1 on 29,228 reviews, giving 6.5. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- Declares 7 accessibility features, well above the catalogue norm.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- 3
Dead Island: Riptide Definitive Edition
Best for: Handheld play, small install and Deck verified
6.3GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceDead Island: Riptide Definitive Edition at a glance Released 2016 Studio Techland Player sentiment 71% positive of 13,002 Critics No aggregate Price $19.99 Steam Deck verified Install size 10 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 71% shrinks to 71.4 on 13,002 reviews, giving 6.3. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- Valve has tested it and rates it Verified on the Steam Deck.
- Small install at 10 GB.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Dead Island game we can score is Dead Island Definitive Edition at 7.2. The lowest is Dead Island: Riptide Definitive Edition at 6.3, a 0.9-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
How the series scored over time
GamingPickz Score against release year, 2016 to 2023. The later entries score lower than the earlier ones: the series has been trending down.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Dead Island 2 at $9.99. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Dead Island 2, the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Dead Island entries on Steam:
- Verified: Dead Island: Riptide Definitive Edition
- Playable: Dead Island Definitive Edition, Dead Island 2
Platforms across the series
Where the 3 Dead Island games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 3 of 3 |
| PlayStation | 1 of 3 |
| Xbox | 1 of 3 |
The Dead Island series, game by game
Every Dead Island game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 2016
Welcome to the zombie apocalypse experience of a lifetime – and now more beautiful than ever. Caught in the midst of an epic zombie outbreak on the tropical island of Banoi, your only thought is: Survive! (Steam)
Plot
Riptide takes place immediately after the ending of Dead Island , with the four immune survivors landing on a military ship after escaping from the prison island. They are immediately taken into custody by the Australian Defence Force Colonel Sam Hardy and Frank Serpo, a civilian VIP. Passing out from sedatives, the player's character wakes up to find the ship overrun with zombies. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Dead Island: Riptide received mixed reviews, with most critics praising the gameplay and new setting, but criticizing the many unfixed issues found in the original, as well as the lack of new content. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 62/100, the PC version 61/100, and the Xbox 360 version 57/100. IGN s Greg Miller stated that although he found it to be 'great gory fun', it still contained bugs and glitches… (Wikipedia)
- 2016
Welcome to the zombie apocalypse experience of a lifetime – more beautiful than ever. Caught in an epic zombie outbreak on the tropical island of Banoi, your only thought is: Survive! (Steam)
Plot
Riptide takes place immediately after the ending of Dead Island , with the four immune survivors landing on a military ship after escaping from the prison island. They are immediately taken into custody by the Australian Defence Force Colonel Sam Hardy and Frank Serpo, a civilian VIP. Passing out from sedatives, the player's character wakes up to find the ship overrun with zombies. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Dead Island: Riptide received mixed reviews, with most critics praising the gameplay and new setting, but criticizing the many unfixed issues found in the original, as well as the lack of new content. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 62/100, the PC version 61/100, and the Xbox 360 version 57/100. IGN s Greg Miller stated that although he found it to be 'great gory fun', it still contained bugs and glitches… (Wikipedia)
- 2023
A deadly virus is spreading across Los Angeles, turning its inhabitants into zombies. Bitten, infected, but more than just immune, uncover the truth behind the outbreak and discover who - or what - you are. Survive, evolve and become the ultimate Zombie Slayer. (Steam)
Plot
About 15 years after the events of Dead Island , the US military is forced to put Los Angeles under a full quarantine restricted zone due to a new and stronger zombie outbreak. As Los Angeles is being quarantined, six individuals (dubbed "Slayers") board one of the last evacuation flights out of the city, but an infected person ends up on board, and the military shoots the plane down. The Slayers narrowly survive the crash but are bitten trying to help… (Wikipedia)
Reception
Reception Dead Island 2 received "generally favorable" reviews for the PC and Xbox Series X/S versions, while the PlayStation 5 version received "mixed or average reviews" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic . The game was nominated for "Best Action Game" at The Game Awards 2023 and British Game at the 20th British Academy Games Awards . Several critics praised the game's focus and ability to provide mindless escapism to players… (Wikipedia)
Dead Island, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Dead Island vs other series
How Dead Island stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: Dead Island vs Doom, Dead Island vs Just Cause, Dead Island vs Serious Sam, Dead Island vs Wolfenstein, Dead Island vs Borderlands, Dead Island vs Crysis, Dead Island vs Dishonored, Dead Island vs F.E.A.R., Dead Island vs Max Payne, Dead Island vs Quake, Dead Island vs Red Faction, Dead Island vs Sniper Elite, Dead Island vs Sniper Ghost Warrior, Dead Island vs State of Decay, Dead Island vs Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Dead Island vs America's Army, Dead Island vs BioShock, Dead Island vs Bright Memory, Dead Island vs Deep Rock Galactic, Dead Island vs Friday the 13th, Dead Island vs Homefront, Dead Island vs Infestation, Dead Island vs Killing Floor, Dead Island vs Left 4 Dead, Dead Island vs Metal Gear, Dead Island vs Outlast, Dead Island vs POSTAL, Dead Island vs Prototype, Dead Island vs RAGE, Dead Island vs Red Dead Redemption, Dead Island vs Sea of Thieves, Dead Island vs Shadow Warrior, Dead Island vs Slime Rancher, Dead Island vs Sniper, Dead Island vs Squad, Dead Island vs Subnautica, Dead Island vs The Evil Within, Dead Island vs Thief, Dead Island vs World War, Dead Island vs Z1 Battle Royale, Dead Island vs Zombie Army
Common questions
How many Dead Island games are there?
We hold 3 Dead Island games in the catalogue, released between 2016 and 2023. 3 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Dead Island game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, Dead Island Definitive Edition rates highest at 7.2. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Dead Island games in?
Release order is listed below, from 2016 to 2023. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
More franchises
Browse every game franchise ranked the same way, or head to the full grid.