Dead Island 2 review: Once dead, now very much alive Many didn\u2019t think Dead Island 2 would ever come out after so long in production hell. However, the game is finally here, and you might be wondering \u2013 has Dambuster Studios managed to revive this undead project? The fact that Dead Island 2 is here at all feels like a minor miracle. The game was initially announced back at E3 2014 at the Sony press conference, and between now and then, three different studios in the form of Yager, Sumo Digital, and, finally, Dambuster Studios have worked on it. Supposedly the franchise\u2019s original studio, Techland, who moved on to make the Dying Light series, would have had early ideation for the sequel too. The point is, a lot of developers have touched Dead Island 2. With a production life like that, especially one that lasted this long, there was reason to believe that Dead Island 2 would not only fail to be good but potentially fail to even come out. That\u2019s why, against all odds, it\u2019s a pleasure to say that Dead Island 2 isn\u2019t only here, but it rules. Dambuster Studios have worked some necromancy magic to return this long-thought-dead project back to life, and it packs one hell of a bite. Dead Island 2 key details Developer: Dambuster Studios – Price: \u00a359.99 \/ $69.99 – Release Date: April 21 2023 – Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PC – LA-Axe If you\u2019re worried you need to have played the original all the way back in 2011 to keep up here, don\u2019t be. While those who did, and have exceptional memories, will have a few nods to the previous games to cling to, this is mostly a new venture. Indeed, the \u2018Island\u2019 part of the title has now given way to one of the world\u2019s most recognizable cities in the form of Los Angeles. While it betrays the central conceit of the franchise\u2019s namesake, Dambusters has done an exceptional job of capturing the tone and feel of the city \u2013 only with a minor increase of blood, guts, and the shambling undead. The city makes for a wonderful canvas for you to paint your masterpiece of destruction. The core of Dead Island 2 \u2013 fighting zombies \u2013 is a ton of fun. One of the most impressive features Dambusters has pulled off here is just how destructible the undead are. Each feels like a collection of limbs and innards barely held together by rotting sinew. These are the most zombie-like enemies I\u2019ve ever interacted with in a game \u2013 and I\u2019ve interacted with a lot in my time. While this might sound like a gimmick, it influences every time you interact with what\u2019s in front of you. Their modular destruction is something to behold and you can use it strategically. You can cut off limbs to immobilize and maim as you see fit, or you can merely tear extremity from extremity, covering yourself in all sorts of viscera. It does at points feel like Dambusters has actually done too good a job. More than once I winced at my gruesome handwork, burning off the face of a once-alive human with acid-laced wolverine claws, pulling their jaw half off their skull in the process. It\u2019s impressive tech \u2013 sometimes to stomach-turning degrees. Striking the right tone Perhaps the most surprising thing about my time in \u201cHell-A\u201d was how much I enjoyed the feel of the world. Dead Island 2 so nearly falls into the trap many goofy, fun video games fall into nowadays. In a post-Marvel world, irreverent humor has infested so much popular media and Dead Island 2 flirts with this line often. It wants you to have a good time and the characters are certainly silly, shouting goofy \u2013 and at times cringe-worthy \u2013 one-liners. However, Dead Island 2 makes this work. Rather than underselling the situation of a city of millions ravaged by a deadly virus, the characters feel like they are coping and finding the fun where they can. It never feels like the game is undercutting the legitimacy of its setting, but also doesn\u2019t fall into overly dramatic realities like other well-established franchises in the genre like The Last of Us or The Walking Dead. If you ever stop for too long, the reality and sadness of the situation will begin to seep into the periphery. A great example of this is a streamer house you find early on. There are fun jokes about the frivolity of content creators, complete with insincere apology scripts and advertising of awful energy drinks. They\u2019re funny jokes, but if you stop for a moment, you\u2019ll see a home wrecked by a sweeping disease. Several young people lost their lives. This is a tightrope walk of tone, and despite a few wobbles, Dambusters mostly nails it. There\u2019s a deeper texture here that sells the reality of this world, without becoming overbearing to your fun. The stars of Hollywood Dead Island 2 has an interesting gambit when it comes to the playable characters. Early on you\u2019ll find yourself faced with a choice of six \u2018Slayers\u2019. Each has certain abilities only available to them, but also, is a fleshed-out character with their own attitude. This might make you think that these are incidental characters who keep to themselves. Having now played through the game\u2019s 25-ish hour campaign, it\u2019s quite the contrary. These are vibrant, talkative characters, and it\u2019s impressive that Dambusters committed to having six different protagonists you can choose from be so distinct. Who you chose won\u2019t change the story, but they inject enough character as to make a deep impression on your time in LA \u2013 or at least, who I played as did. I can only attest to one of the Slayers you can play as here. I chose Irish punk Dani, and frankly, she was a delight. She\u2019s silly, but tough, and has some really fun writing supported by an excellent performance by Michelle Fox. I can\u2019t imagine what my playtime would be like with another one of the Slayers. However, it certainly makes me curious to run through portions of the game again to see. If others have even half as much flavor and likability, there are going to be a ton of reasons to replay the campaign. While I\u2019d love to be able to say, no matter who you choose you\u2019ll have a great time, I can\u2019t. But, I can say definitively I wholeheartedly recommend playing as Dani, who is a really likable protagonist. There\u2019s more than one way to skin a zombie I\u2019ve already touched on how fun it is to dismember zombies, but what about those tools of destruction? Dead Island 2 throws weapons at you, and it throws them at you fast. There are tons of different types you\u2019ll get your hands on throughout your journey, and you\u2019ll find some you become quite attached to. From swords to blade claws, bats, clubs, guns, axes, and all sorts of other instruments of pain, there\u2019s going to be something for you to love here. What\u2019s great about this though is that you can also build your weapon out in fascinating ways. As you progress through, you\u2019ll find a menagerie of modifications you can apply to your weapons. That axe you find on the floor may be barren now, but once you\u2019re done with it, it might shoot acid, cause immense critical damage and spread its effects to nearby enemies. You can take what you find and love in the game and continually improve it through your journey. It gives Dead Island 2 this wonderful sense of progression, as you build a relationship with your favorite weapons. I grew very attached to a pair of bladed claws that increased my attack speed on kills and continually weakened enemies the more I hit them, creating a wild, frenzied playstyle. Supporting this is an in-depth card system that allows you to build out your character. You will unlock all sorts of abilities, including some surprising late-game wrinkles to your style, that allow you to get in and create dense builds. It\u2019s a deep system and you can do a lot to make a build that is uniquely your own, without it succumbing to a web of complexities. Los Angel-less Now, it\u2019s not all sunshine on the West Coast. Dead Island 2 has some undeniable issues. This was conceived in 2013 and at times, it feels like it. If you\u2019ve played an open-world (or in this case, a semi-open-world) game before, there isn\u2019t going to be a lot here that surprises you. Most quests boil down to, \u2018go to a place, kill zombies until it says to stop, and then maybe there\u2019s a boss\u2019. The setting and context change, but the experience could have done with more showcase missions that mix up the formula. While I found charm in its distinctly early 2010s construction, it\u2019s hard to say it doesn\u2019t feel a little archaic at points. It\u2019s also susceptible to some pretty harsh difficulty spikes. Sometimes a mission will jump up a couple of levels past what you are prepared for. There were times I was deep into a mission before I had to leave halfway through and go level up some more. This happened more than a handful of times, making the pacing of the journey feel a little strange. This is exacerbated by the pace at which the game rolls out all of its systems. You\u2019ll be a significant portion in before you realize what your \u2018frenzy\u2019 is, what Numen cards do, and learn about the autophage balance system. As these systems keep coming at you towards the end, you can\u2019t help but feel these would have been nice to have earlier on in your journey. This is all put onto shaky ground too by how technically rough the game can feel. There were times when enemies got stuck in scenery or my kill animations forgot to bring a zombie with me, as well as fluctuations in performance in certain scenes on my PC. It isn\u2019t a total mess, but you\u2019re certainly going to feel the rougher edges of its construction. It\u2019s alive! Dead Island 2 has problems. It has some archaic design choices, wild difficulty spikes, a slow first couple of hours, and janky execution. That\u2019s why you\u2019ll see a whole point taken off this review. Some people won\u2019t like this game, and a lot of it might be due to a combination of these reasons. They\u2019re things I see, and considerations I have to point out. I have to note these issues when bowing to a review with a numbered score. I need to let people know what they might not enjoy about it. None of that was my sentiment when the credits rolled, though. Dead Island 2 is a love letter to zombies and horror. It nails the balancing act of being \u2018almost irreverent\u2019 \u2013 fun and lighthearted, but underscored by a sadness that falls into focus the second you slow down. It gives the title a great texture where it\u2019s never too bogged down in the overplayed dramatic tropes of a lot of modern zombie media, while also not succumbing to the trap of irreverence as to disrespect the setting or the player\u2019s emotional investment. It\u2019s also supported by fantastic combat, weapon, and build systems that allow you to form excellent creations of pure undead destruction. The Verdict \u2013 4\/5 Dead Island 2 groans can be loud as its technical and execution faults are hard to ignore, however, it feels crafted with so much love, that if you give yourself over to its shambling grasp, you might be surprised to hear a beating heart inside its exposed ribcage. Reviewed on PC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dead Island 2 review: Once dead, now very much alive Many didn\u2019t think Dead Island 2 would ever come out after so long in production hell. However, the game is finally here, and you might be wondering \u2013 has Dambuster Studios managed to revive this undead project? The fact that Dead Island 2 is here […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79826\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}