Dead Island 2 | Review

Initial Release Date: April 21, 2023

Developer: Deep Silver Dambuster Studios

Platforms: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S, Microsoft Windows

Engine: Unreal Engine 4

Series: Dead Island

Genres: First-Person Shooter, Adventure, Action Role-Playing, Survival Horror, Fighting

Modes: Multiplayer Coop and Single-player Campaign

SPOILERS WARNING!!!

Introduction

It’s been over ten years since the release of Dead Island. After many delays, development purgatory and being passed around various developers like a hot potato we as gamers can finally rejoice! Dead Island 2 is out to the public. If you want to watch gameplay check out my Dead Island 2 Video Playlist.

Dead Island 2 is a great game and possibly my sleeper hit of the year. I personally did not think the makers of Homefront: The Revolution (Dambuster Studios) could make a great Dead Island zombie inspired game. With that said, I stand corrected.

I’ll go as far to say besides some late game discrepancies in design and difficulty spikes Dambuster Studios nailed Dead Island 2 in the year of 2023. Let’s just say sometimes it’s better NOT to be open-world.

Zombie video games should be fun and not so much openworld etc. Dead Island 2 manages to be very fun and addicting with a great gameplay loop and a fast travel system where you can decide upon quests on your own terms.

For reference, I beat Dead Island back when it originally came out. It was open world which was okay but lacked linearity. Dead Island 2 fixed that. Keep reading why Dead Island 2 up till now could be my sleeper hit of 2023.

Presentation

Dead Island 2’s brilliance is in it’s overall design. It’s not open world and not super linear either. You play on large maps such as Venice Beach and smaller maps such as Bel-Air. It has some Metroidvania DNA in it’s overall design. Los Angeles is a true zombie slaying playground with a vibe and atmosphere to match.

I played Dead Island 2 on my Playstation 5 in performance mode. For the most part the game ran great. I must admit there were occasional pop in of zombies and environmental assists like palm trees etc. I also fell through Beverly Hills’s map when attempting to meet up with Ronnie and Sam B.

The design of Dead Island 2 isn’t open world but does have plenty of content from the lengthily main missions, to side quests, search quests and weapons quests etc. There is a lot of content in Dead Island 2. My only playthrough was with Jacob but I could easily play through again as each hero as I’m sure they are all unique in dialogue and abilities.

I haven’t tried out the 2-3 player coop and honestly don’t feel I need to due to fun-factor being so high playing and completing the main story solo. I was let down after Dying light 2 so I was really wondering how Dead Island 2 was going to turn out. Thank god Dambuster Studios put some who do you voodoo bitch on Dead Island 2.

Overall, Dead Island 2 looks amazing minus it’s non reflections, it’s fun as fuck and designed better than the majority of open world zombie games of late. Missions are varied which require some jerrycan puzzle skills from time to time. There were some glitches and bugs present like I said. I did have to bounce out to the main menu once due to the latter.

Story

Welcome to Los Angeles where the zombie slayers slay! Dead Island 2’s story has a few common zombie tropes sure. Like for instance, the cure to the zombie outbreak is inside the daughter of the man that created it.

Characters are realized with good writing and believable situations. You have Emma Jaunt and Michael Anders who are Hollywood movie royalty yet struggle with themselves during the zombie apocalypse on multiple levels.

Making a return from Dead Island is Sam B, one of the original heroes from the Banoi outbreak. After choosing which hero to play as. In my case it was Jacob. Dead Island 2 starts off on an airplane with all heroes trying to escape LA.

Things go sour quick and you end up stuck in LA trying to escape. Early on, Jacob get’s bitten by a zombie which in turn he discovers he’s immune to the infection. Luck guy! Over the course of the game Jacob meets Dr Reuben Reed who’s the guy responsible for the outbreak in LA.

Dr Reuben Reed’s logic is to kill millions to save billions. Reuben’s daughter, Tisha is the cure. Or has the cure in her blood thanks to good ole dad. You meet a group calling themselves the Numans who are evolved humans and immune to the virus lead by Konstadt, Thurston and Cadanza.

The latter group of Numans will be the focus of any future DLC is my guess as they are the last thing you see in the end game cutscene. In the end, Emma Jaunt, Sam B and Patton escape via helicopter but Jacob stays behind to find Tisha.

Dead Island 2 managed to knew when and not to take itself seriously which takes a certain type of talent for writing, cinematography and gameplay design. I had my moments in the story where I was up and down cheering for characters and villains.

I always feel like the protaginist in these type of zombie games are puppets of sorts led on a wild goose chase usually. The story was better than I hoped here. Characters, NPC writing was good. I loved most of the characters I came into contact with in Dead Island 2. A pleasant surprise to say the least.

Gameplay

Fun, fun and FUN! Dead Island 2 is a action adventure light role playing first person zombie slaying gory video game. I know it’s a lot but the gameplay is simple fun albeit late game difficulty spikes.

Dead Island 2 incorporates a flesh mechanic system. Target limbs, knock flesh off, burn or electrocute flesh off zombies. I never seen a game besides maybe Dead Space Remake and theirs was not on the same level as Dead Island 2’s.

Jerrycans are instrumental in gameplay. They are used for puzzles involving electricity or fire. Jerry cans filled with water, oil (fire and acid. You can pour, throw and use them to explode zombies.

Quests are varied. Some have puzzles, investigating sequences and or finding clues etc. There is variety in quest design. Some quests have you looking at photos and finding locations via the photo.

Weapons are fully upgradable and modible in a plethora of ways including various elements, bleed and leech effects. The feel for most melee weapons and as well guns feel arcady for the most part.

Hero’s have special perk cards and abilities at the start. Throughout the campaign as you level up you get more tarot cards. You can fit each hero to your playstyle by collecting these tarot cards which have abilities tied to them. I had Jacob, jump kicking, battle crying regen, fury mode by the end of my first playthrough.

Flexibility is great when leveling up and creating ability lists for your hero. Each map is filled with Safe Zones. “Blue Crab” for life! Safe Zones are on every map and feature merchants, a workbench for upgrading weapons and NPC’s for extra quests etc.

Each Safe Zone has it’s own unique styles and flavor from the bros at the Blue Crab to the rich folk on Ocean Ave and Bel-Air. Shooting felt okay, nothing special. I expected more since these guys and gals made Homefront: The Revolution.

Speaking of which there is a Homefront easter egg in the arcade at the Santa Monica Pier. Just sayin. Other easter eggs included was for the The Last of Us. There are more I can’t remember at the moment.

Zombies included basics but gradually adds gear and exploding packs later in campaign. Alpha zombies include Crushers who look like roided up gym-bros. Slobbers who are huge pukers and Resident Evil looking Mutators.

Screamers who are usually females and some having voltaic powers. Zombies have various elemental abilities as well. Boss fights included Butcho the Clown who’s a Butcher type zombie.

The final boss fight was with Dr Reuben Reed aka the “Reubenator” a mutator. Side Quests were pretty good, interesting and fun for the most part. I love the various locals and they seemed pretty true to life (I been to LA before). One thing you can bank on in Dead Island 2 is it’s gameplay loops. They are fantastic!

Visuals/Graphics

Deed Island 2 is a surprisingly good-looking video game. Who would have thought ten years of development hell would do wonders visually for a video game. The only complaint I have with Dead Island 2’s graphics are it’s reflections. Too many times My hero walks across a mirror and I see a blob shadow.

Character models, zombie variety, weapons, assets on the other hand all looked amazing. The baked lighting inside buildings looked stunning everywhere in Los Angeles. Walking around Venice Beach whether entering Burger 66 or the surf shop, inside assets of these locations looked amazing on my Playstation 5.

Sound/Music

I really enjoyed the music and character dialogue which has more to do with the script I guess. Music had that solemn zombie Dawn of The Dead vibe while exploring then kicks into high gear guitar strums while slaying zombies. There are a few great license songs in Dead Island 2 at the beginning, the end and during boss fights.

Like I alluded to before I played as Jacob, a loser of sorts. He’s just a guy trying to find his way in the world. Jacob had decent writing and dialogue. Voice acting was good. I’m willing to bet all heroes are probably just as better written and performed than Jacob in Dead Island 2.

Tips & Tricks

Which ever character you choose level up to unlock the Block and or Dodge card and get used to dodging and blocking/countering zombie attacks. When fighting the end game final boss use dodge.

Apply corresponding elementals to weapons to counter elemental zombies. Chem bomb destroys fire and stuns all zombies. Use the kick and drop/jumpkicks to create distance between you and the zombies.

Always use throwable items like grenades and molotov cocktails on groups of zombies. Always purchase fuses from traders to find the best gear at locked locations on the map. Time your blocks to stun and critical damage zombies. Run when you should!

Final Verdict

So what else can I say about Dead Island 2? Sure we waited ten years and to me it was worth it. It’s a great zombie game that choose a smart design choice of being more streamlined in it’s approach instead of the often hyped, bloated open world game design.

It was a bold move by Dambuster Studios which seems to be paying them dividends judging by the game’s first week sales. There are a few bugs and glitches which were annoying and the only real negatives for Dead Island 2 besides it’s reflections.

Otherwise you have a great zombie video game with great characters, a great gameplay loop with rewarding exploration, fun weapons, great zombies, music and online coop. Buy this game – Jason