15 Years Later, The Best Video Game Trailer Of All Time Remains Unbeaten

There are a lot of video game trailers that stand out in my mind when I think of some of the best ones.

The trailer for the original Assassin’s Creed is a big one. A small two-minute showcase which tells you everything you need to know about the game, all while not really misrepresenting what the actual gameplay is like (we’ll just ignore that crossbow).

Another is the original gameplay teaser for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Small clips of the Dragonborn fighting a dragon are spliced with random gameplay snippets showing off Bethesda’s new Creation Engine.

But when the conversation comes up of what the best video game trailer of all time is, it’s got to be Dead Island.

Turning 15 years old earlier this year, the Dead Island reveal teaser is perhaps one of the most memorable trailers you’d have watched in 2011, and I can’t think of many more released since then that come close.

Last around three minutes, the trailer opens with the image of a child’s eye. The camera zooms out to show that this child has died in the middle of a zombie outbreak.

We are eventually clued in that the trailer is being presented in reverse chronological order, swapping between moving backwards and forwards through this girl’s final moments as she attempts to survive this zombie attack with her family.

Take a look at the trailer for yourself, to give you a better idea of what we’re dealing with. Be warned, it’s incredibly violent and quite upsetting to see, even if it is fictional.

The Dead Island Reveal Trailer Is One Of The Most Gut-Wrenching Things You'll Watch

What makes the trailer rather memorable is down to a few factors: the structuring of its reverse slow motion clips, the upsetting subject matter, and the fact that it was kind of unexpected for a game called Dead Island to feature something so melancholic.

Within the first week, the trailer received a million views on YouTube, surpassing Deep Silver’s expectation of 100,000 views. Many journalists called the trailer a “masterpiece”, and was listed at the end of the year in the top spot of the best trailers of the year.

In fact, it was also given a gold award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the first and only video game trailer to do so.

It caused the marketing team to adjust plans for advertising the game, with the positive reception putting the game in a rather uncomfortable position.

Because despite the positive reception this trailer received, it raised unrealistic expectations about what kind of game Dead Island actually was.

I guess the issue with this trailer lies in the fact that Dead Island—the game—simply did not match the same kind of feeling this trailer evoked.

Read More: Dead Island 2 review: gore, what is it good for?

Deep Silver

The emotional crux of the trailer implies that the game would have a more story-heavy focus on protecting people you love, and facing dire consequences if you’re unable to do that. If it was a trailer for a game like The Last of Us or Telltale’s The Walking Dead, it would fit in.

The vibe of the actual Dead Island game plays more like Dead Rising or Left 4 Dead. Humorous, and with a story that isn’t meant to be taken too seriously. The writing in the original Dead Island certainly doesn’t match what was presented in the trailer.

So while the trailer was incredible, especially for its time, it does feel like it oversold the game by promising some interesting narrative elements which never ended up in the final product.

Still, if the intention is to instil a huge emotional reaction in the viewer, I’d say they did a job well done.

There were numerous videos that spread across the internet following the trailer’s publication where numerous viewers, particularly those who were parents, couldn’t even get through the full thing without getting upset.

I’d have liked to see more video game teasers take a more mature, nuanced approach like this, where a small piece of marketing actually ends up becoming a long-lasting part of its legacy.