Dead Island 2 was first teased at E3 2014 (you read that right!) and believe it or not, I was in college at the time. When I first saw the trailer of the game, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the game which really looked ahead of its time in terms of graphics. However, as luck would have it, the journey for this game was never going to be easy. While the game was initially scheduled to launch in 2015, its original developer Techland walked away from the project to work on another game – Dying Light. Prior to Sumo Digital taking over in March 2016, publisher Deep Silver continued to insist that the game was still being developed. However, in August 2019, Deep Silver’s parent company, THQ Nordic, announced that Sumo Digital was no longer working on the game. This was when it was announced that an internal team from Deep Silver – Dambuster – was developing Dead Island 2. After years of delays and countless twists, the sequel to the 2011 action role-playing game is finally set to release on Xbox on April 21. Epic Games Store for Series X, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC. I played the game on PlayStation 5 and I will just say that everything that was promised in the initial trailer for this game has finally been successfully delivered by the studio.
Decision
Dead Island 2 is very different from some of the other zombie games released over the years. The game doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not, and the authenticity really shows through here. This game was built from the ground up to be a fun zombie-killing experience and it excels in that department. Whether it’s bombing zombies, chopping them in half with a sword, or killing them with headshots, this game lets you unleash your offensive creativity. The highly detailed environments take full advantage of modern day consoles to deliver an immersive experience. Having said that, the game’s story lacks depth and the game’s characters are far from memorable. If you’re looking for a serious game with an in-depth story, this game probably isn’t for you. On the other hand, if you are looking for a fun experience killing waves of zombies, then this should be the next game you play.
Story
The Dead Island 2 story begins with a failed evacuation mission where the wealthy and influential people of Los Angeles (often referred to in the game as Hell-A) try to leave the city as it is infested with zombies. The entire state of California has been isolated by the US military due to the zombie invasion and areas within the state are also restricted, a narrative that serves well for the fact that this is an open world game. Not there. When you survive a plane crash and encounter the first wave of zombies, you realize you’re immune (like Ellie from The Last of Us) and despite being bitten by a zombie, you turn into a zombie. Do not change You develop a friendship with Emma Jaunt, a popular movie star, another survivor of the plane crash, who offers to let you stay at her place with the other survivors, including her manager and maid. As the story progresses and you attempt to leave town, you are promised on a radio call by a famous doctor (Dr. Reed) that zombies can be cured through your blood. The story of the game revolves around your journey to reach the doctor and the situations you come across later.
While the plot is largely predictable with a few twists and turns, the game clearly doesn’t plan to give you a life-changing story. While some of the dialogue may be borderline out of line, the light-hearted nature of the game is entirely intentional. It’s a fun game focused on killing zombies in as many creative ways as possible. Dead Island 2 is a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and given the genre of the game, this works in its favor rather than against it.
gameplay
You are given a character choice from six options right at the start. These options vary in strengths and weaknesses. Depending on your play style, you can choose a character with different toughness, stamina, peak health, agility, resilience, etc. Keep in mind that once you’ve created a story, you won’t be able to change your character throughout the story campaign. Like. Dead Island 2 gameplay can only be described as – see a zombie, kill a zombie. While the fighting style of the game is primarily focused on melee combat, guns are eventually introduced when you are more than halfway through the story. I thoroughly enjoyed the melee weapons but after a stage, it becomes impossible to deal with the number of zombies coming your way if you don’t use guns and pipe bombs. Although it’s easy to kill zombies early in the game, the level of difficulty increases significantly in the later stages. Especially if you are new to this genre, you will find it difficult to deal with the waves of different zombie types as you progress through the story. While you may die many times, you’ll learn something new each time and eventually figure out how to kill specific types of zombies and the weapons that are most effective against each zombie type.
The game features a card-based skill progression system and is divided into four sections – Abilities, Survivor Skills, Slayer Skills and Numen Skills. As you unlock new cards, you are provided with new ways to deal with the zombies. Some of these moves can be used to stun zombies, while others grant you health benefits when you kill zombies. Depending on your play style and the character you choose at the beginning, you can equip your character with different skills to progress through the story. In-game cash can also be used to buy weapons with merchants, but I found it redundant as you can easily get most of these weapons by killing zombies and even lying around town. Can
Interestingly, there is an ‘autophase’ bar associated with your character and it increases if you use certain skill cards instead of others. With the increased autophage level, your character leans more towards the morally dark side, but while playing through the game, despite initially seeming like a big deal, the ending felt a bit gimmicky.
Weapon upgrades are important and once you find your favorite weapons, you need to make sure you upgrade them regularly otherwise, some of the stronger zombie types become difficult to deal with. As weapon degradation is also an active aspect of the game, you need to repair your weapons from time to time. Keep in mind that even after respawning, your weapon may be in bad shape, so it would be a wise idea to keep your inventory full of backup weapons. Building a medical kit can also come in handy when you have to deal with multiple zombie waves at once.
One surprising aspect for me, when I started playing the game, was that there is no difficulty level, if you are playing the game, you have to play as the developer, which you want to play. After finishing the game, I can say that the game can be difficult at times but if you apply yourself and have some patience, you can get through it. The key here is to learn the patterns in which the zombies attack you and to find the weapons that do the most damage. While exploring the city, you have to repeatedly look for the keys and find circuit breakers and plug them in. At first it didn’t bother me much, after a certain point, it felt like a mundane necessity that didn’t require much. skills and didn’t have fun doing it.
While I personally played only the single-player campaign of the game, there is also a co-op mode available in the game. In this mode, you can join your friends or other online players to explore a fictional version of Los Angeles filled with zombies that you can kill. Once the game is released, you will be able to find a lot of players online to join hands with you. What’s better than killing zombies with friends, right?
graphics and sound
This is one department where Dead Island 2 really shines. Be it the detailed environment or the zombie dares, the game looks incredible at all times. While I had some reservations about the game’s graphics considering how long its development cycle has been, I was able to put all these concerns aside as soon as I started playing. While there are no graphics options inside the game, it ran smoothly for me and I rarely encountered glitches, which will most likely be in line with the promised day 0 patch that the developer will push out. The zombie-infested version of California in this game is a sight to behold and whether you’re lounging in a mansion or on the beach, you’ll find the game to be a visual treat. I personally preferred the day shots over the night shots but even in low-light scenarios, the graphical fidelity never took a hit. The game uses FLESH (Fully Localized Eviction System for Humanoids), which effectively means that if you target a specific part of a zombie via a specific weapon, it will trigger a special animation. So you can choose to slay zombies in whatever style you like, and…at the risk of sounding like a psychopath…all I have to say is that the results look pretty cool.
Since sound plays an important role in this game, it deserves a special mention here. By listening to nearby zombies, you can actually plan your attack moves according to the game. With 3D surround sound on PS5, I enjoyed a great experience while playing this game and in a special battle sequence with a zombie clown, the sound of the game takes the atmosphere to a whole new level that is usually only seen in horror games is reserved for
Editor’s rating: 3.5 / 5
Pros:
- melee combat is fun
- impressive graphical fidelity
- Card-based skill progression provides variety
Shortcoming:
- the plot is basic
- repetitive gameplay elements
- lack of memorable characters
