Escape Dead Island solves the mystery of the zombie virus

Deep Silver has announced Escape Dead Island, a new "survival-mystery" game which, as the name suggests, is set in the Dead Island universe.

Escape Dead Island bridges the gap between 2011's Dead Island and next year's Dead Island 2, seeing you explore the quarantined island of Narapela to get to the bottom of the zombie virus plaguing humanity. In the game, you take on the role of Cliff Calo, son of a wealthy media empire mogul "with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove." After hearing about the gruesome events that took place on the island of Banoi (in Dead Island), Calo sets off to uncover the origins of the virus and expose the truth behind the outbreak.

"Players will freely explore this all-new island, sneaking to avoid undead that can hear and smell you. But even this island full of zombies isn’t what it appears to be on the surface," teased Deep Silver's senior narrative producer Alexander Toplansky on the PlayStation Blog.

"Cliff struggles with his own sanity as the world around him begins to become increasingly unpredictable. Time distorts and folds in on itself; strange messages appear and impossible events shatter reality. Oceans turn to blood, containers plummet from the clear sky… If Cliff had any thoughts about this being a routine documentary, he’d be “dead” wrong."

Perhaps more interesting than the plot is the striking comic-vignette art style that Escape Dead Island embraces. The unique art style, helps emphasize "a story driven plot which pits players agianst their own psyche as they try to escap the island and the cryptic, looping horrors that lurk there," said Deep Silver.

Spin-offs of the core first-person Dead Island series are nothing new for the franchise. Last year, Deep Silver announced Dead island: Epidemic, a MOBA spin-off set in the Dead Island universe. In May, it entered the Early Access phase on Steam.

Escape Dead island will be released for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC this fall.