Tim Turi of Game Informer gave the game a 2/10, criticizing the frustrating mission structure, poor textures, combat system and animations, the lack of variety in terms of enemy type, unlikable characters and low replay value. He stated that "Escape Dead Islands single-player adventure is plagued with enough technical and design horrors that every copy of the game should be sealed shut and stamped with enough biohazard symbols to keep innocent fans of the series away."
