I was just as surprised as anyone when I was ushered into a room to discover that I was about to play Dead Island 2. I was a huge fan of the first game, but if I’m being honest, I never expected the sequel to see the light of day, and if it were to ever release, I never expected that it would be as impressed as I was after a very brief 30 minute hands-on demo with the game.
A bit of history is important with this game, as whilst I’m sure many people played the original game, and remember the incredible reveal trailer for the sequel from PlayStation’s 2014 E3 press conference, the game has had quite a development history. After Techland didn’t develop the sequel (they were busy with Dying Light), Yager were appointed development studio (Spec Ops). For unknown reasons, this was then handed onto Sumo Digital (Crackdown 3/Little Big Planet 3) before it was handed over to the current developer, which is Deep Silver’s own Dambuster Studio (Homefront: The Revolution).
In an intro provided by David Stenton (Game Director) & James Worrall (Creative Director) as well as a roundtable that we got to attend with two other Australian outlets, it was very clear that outside of the location that the game is set (which we’ll get to in a second), nothing was brought over from previous iterations of this game. Whilst on paper, one might think that this might be 10 years of ideas slapped together, from what I played, it is a very, very well put together game with a clear vision that cleverly builds on the original game.
I was always hopeful that we’d get a sequel to Dead Island, mainly because whilst other zombie games such as Dying Light are great, they sort’ve moved away from in my opinion what made Dead Island great which was a focus on mostly slow moving zombies (without humans added in), over the top weapons resulting in super fun combat and a horror/gore element. All of these things are evident in Dead Island 2, which makes for a very fun time.
The game takes place in Los Angeles and the demo that I got to play through took place on Santa Monica Beach featuring the iconic Santa Monica Pier. My initial reaction upon being dropped into the level was just how drop gorgeous it looked. The water looked realistic, the lights from the Santa Monica pier reflecting on the water and the location being instantly recognisable by the photorealistic graphics. This was the same for other NPCs and characters in the game that look very realistic and full of personality. Obviously, I was expecting the game to be a good time, but the demo felt incredibly polished, to levels far beyond what I was expecting.
My first instinct was to look at my arsenal of weapons which featured ridiculous weapons such as electric claws, a flaming axe, giant hammers and guns including a machine gun. Before long, zombies started coming toward me on the beach and I was able to take them down with light or heavy attacks being very careful to stay on top of my staminas levels. Just like in the first game, your attacks are demonstrated visually with numbers popping up above the zombie with each attack.
I’d say that combat felt quite similar to that of the first game, but something that was instantly noticeable was the new gore tech system that’s in place. You can physically see every weapon blow land on the zombie, whether it be an axe to the head, or taking a limb off. The game is heavily leaning into gore, which I appreciate given just how brutal some of these weapons are. Elemental damage play a big part in this too, with you able to mix electricity and water as just one examples to pull off chained attacks against hordes of zombies. Fire also plays a big part in the game and you can physically see the Zombie’s flesh melt.
Even just in my short demo, there was a huge variety of infected, with some being an easy take down, whilst other larger infected zombies taking a lot more hits to take down, as well as having their own special abilities. I was also impressed with the variety in appearance, with some taking on the appearance of regular people, others being police offers or ambulance workers.
This particular part of the game was about mid-way through and it was extremely tough, in a good way. The world feels full of threat, whether that be the plethora of zombies coming at you, the traps that are set all around the place, or just figuring out what you’re supposed to be doing. Without the parkour of Dying Light, you’re really forced to fight, without much ability to run. Monitoring your stamina closely is hugely important and also dodging at the right time is the difference between living and dying (and trust me there was a lot of dying).
This particular mission that I was undertaking took place on Santa Monica Pier which has an arcade feel to it, with the iconic Santa Monica Pier ferris wheel leading to a Clown zombie boss, which I couldn’t take down due to just how hard the demo was. This particular level felt quite open, but I was still being pushed in a general direction by the mission at hand.
Whilst I didn’t get a huge amount of time to mess around with it, the game utilises a skill card system, so that you can swap and change a heap of different cards to suit your play style. There’s also six unique characters in the game each with their own unique abilities. The character in the demo that I got to play as is an Asian-American named Amy who has blades for legs, and that pretty much sums out just how over the top this game is. People will be pleased to know that the full game will have 3 player co-op as well, so if you do want to play with friends, that’s going to be a really fun option.
I was always hopeful that we’d see Dead Island 2 pop up again one day, but I was never expecting to come away this excited for the sequel. The combat is a bunch of fun, the gore delivers hugely, and the game is visually stunning, so it’s easily one of my most anticipated games of 2023.
Dead Island 2 launches on February 3rd, 2023 for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC.
