While flying on a plane to a dream vacation, you and your wife experience a horrific crash, ending up on an island. She’s gone missing and it is your job to find her while fighting for your own survival in an ever changing ecosystem that has been plagued by an epidemic. Intrigued yet? How about if I mention fighting brutal zombies that exhibit realistic behavior?

Pawel Kopinski from developer Techland says their non-linear, survival horror Dead Island FPS will let us use anything in the surroundings as a weapon. Guess we’ll just have to see if they make good on that promise when I’ll be able to combine gasoline and coconuts to launch at the undead. Kopinski also said the game possesses a physics simulation system that allows the gamer to pull off brutal and imaginative kills (now I really want my coconut bomb to come to fruition). And instead of the traditional spurts of blood and a fallen enemy, a damage modeler is included that reveals injuries to skin, muscle, and bone for a more realistic encounter.

You will also be making a few friends as you explore the infested island. NPCs you come across will influence your actions and choosing these people as allies, as well as other actions, can have a significant impact on the outcome of the game.

The game is expected to debut some time this year on PC and Xbox 360. And I can’t quite decide which is looking more promising, this, or Left 4 Dead?

[See also: Dead Island gallery]