Dead Island: Riptide

I seriously love Dead Island Riptide for its satisfying zombie dismemberment and co-op, but technically, it's done nothing to build itself into a great game. Rather than fix the graphics and the performance problems that plagued the original two years ago, Techland slightly modified the setting and delivered a new character and more content. It’s a fun time, but there are no surprises or killer new features to make it an impressive package.

Sequels are sometimes second chances, and few games need a second chance as much as Techland’s Dead Island. The game was a minor hit, but nearly everyone who played it agreed that while somewhere in there was a decent game, it was buried in a mess of technical issues, shoddy design and poorly conceived game mechanics. If the Call of Juarez developers could just fix those up and polish the action, it might just have the beginnings of a blockbuster franchise on its hands.

As a co-op game it’s best played with friends – Riptide feels cold and anonymous with random strangers – but the experience is pretty seamless, and you can opt in and out of games with ease. Sensibly, the game even levels zombies according to your own level, so that you can jump in with a mate who’s been levelling up all evening and still feel like you’re playing your part.