Several details surrounding Dead Island Riptide have been revealed by publisher Deep Silver. According to Joystiq, the upcoming zombie title isn’t exactly a full-blown sequel to the original Dead Island. Instead, Riptide is more of a spin-off, which is strangely interesting considering the events that took place in the first game.

Gamers who played Dead Island will be able to import their character stats to Riptide. That’s great news, especially for folks who devoted a lot of time completing side quests and really leveling up their characters. We can only assume that the game’s difficulty will be nicely adjusted to give players with hefty character stats a decent challenge.

Some gameplay tweaks are being implemented into Riptide. While the game will run on an updated version of the Dead Island engine, several modifications are being added to the overall package. The biggest change is the weather system, which includes flooding that will force you to travel by boat and in some cases kill zombies while in water. Additionally, some environmental focus is being included in the game, as you’ll have to barricade your dwelling in case zombie attacks get too severe.

If you’ve got a hankering for more Dead Island, be sure to watch out for Riptide on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in 2013.

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