REVIEW – It seems the zombies have had enough tropical holidays and chosen sunny California as their new destination. In Dead Island 2, you can dive back into the fight against zombies in a highly humorous and entertaining environment. But can the game match the success of big brother Dying Light? Let’s see what this Hollywood adventure has in store for us!

Dead Island 2 is an action-RPG game that is the sequel to the 2011 game Dead Island. The story takes place in Los Angeles, where a zombie virus infects the population. The player controls an infected but resistant character who tries to discover the truth about the outbreak and himself. The creators promise brutal melee combat, colorful-smelling locations, a humorous story and an unforgettable co-operative mode. But will it be enough to compete with the similarly themed Dying Light game series by the first Dead Island developer? Or just another zombie disappointment?

HELL-A good graphics

Dead Island 2’s graphics and environmental design are simply stunning. Especially in the first part of the game, the visuals are stunning, and the design does not spoil the zombies. The sun-drenched California and decaying Hollywood all contribute to the feeling of being in the middle of a real zombie movie.

You can visit some of the most iconic locations in Los Angeles, such as Beverly Hills, Venice Beach and Hollywood. The environments are detailed and lifelike, and the lights and shadows are beautifully rendered. The zombies look great too, with a wide variety of undead types and looks. The contrast between the sunny, cheerful LA and the bloody, rotting zombies is particularly striking in the game’s first stages. The graphics are one of Dead Island 2’s greatest strengths.

The game also takes you to famous Los Angeles landmarks such as the Griffith Observatory, Universal Studios Hollywood, Walt Disney Concert Hall and Santa Monica Pier. These locations not only serve as backdrops, but also play an important role in the gameplay. For example, in the Observatory you can use astronomical equipment to fight zombies, and in Universal Studios you can fight in movie studios. The graphics are not only beautiful, but also varied, with each location representing a different atmosphere and style. So it’s not just the typical zombie environment, but also a vibrant and colourful city.

Realism has also become a bit undead in the melee

Besides graphics, another important factor in a zombie game is the combat system. Dead Island 2 is primarily based on hand-to-hand combat, with a wide variety of weapons to use against the undead. Unfortunately, this aspect is not as well done as the graphics. The animation of the melee combat is a bit “floaty” – it’s as if there’s no weight to the various heavier weapons, such as an elongated iron pipe or any heavy object. Also, the blows to the zombies are not realistic enough, you don’t feel the punch and brutality you would expect from a game like this. In this element, it falls far short of Dying Light, which did a much better job of first-person melee combat.

On a positive note, the combat system in Dead Island 2 is sufficiently varied. There are a lot of weapons in the game that you can find or make yourself, which you can use to kill zombies in various ways. There are katanas, machetes, hammers, pistols and many more. Weapons can also be modified, for example by adding spikes or flamethrowers. There’s a F.L.E.S.H system (Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids) that allows you to dismember zombies in a myriad of horrific ways. You can also take advantage of being infected and activate Fury mode, which allows you to punch or tear zombies to pieces more forcefully. These features enhance the enjoyment and creativity of combat.

But Dead Island 2’s combat system is not only varied, it’s also challenging. Not just simple zombies, but special types such as the Apex Screamer, who attacks with his voice and attracts other zombies; the Inferno Crusher, who is fireproof and shoots flames; or the Beast, who is big and strong. These zombies require different strategies, and it’s not enough to just pounce on them. The game also has an Alexa integration, which lets you give voice commands to the game, such as changing weapons or luring zombies to you. This is an interesting new feature, but it doesn’t always work perfectly.

A funny story at first, later it gets stale

The story of Dead Island 2 is funny and entertaining at first, and the characters are amusing. The game doesn’t take itself too seriously, adding plenty of humour and irony to the zombie apocalypse. However, it does settle down a bit later and nothing of substance happens for a long time. The story of Dead Island 2 is better than the first Dying Light, but weaker than Dying Light 2. My biggest problem is that although it starts off really dramatic and funny at the same time, later on the plot settles down and doesn’t give the player enough motivation to explore the world and complete the missions. The characters also quickly lose their charm and only the usual clichés remain.

The plot revolves around an infected but resilient character trying to discover the truth about the epidemic and himself. There are six such characters to choose from, each with a different background and personality. They include a former firefighter, a motorcycle racer, a stuntman and others. The characters have their own dialogues and abilities that influence the gameplay. You can also meet other survivors to talk to or help.

However, the story of Dead Island 2, while funny at first, later gets stale. There are few twists or surprises, just a linear and clichéd story. Also, there aren’t many choices or consequences, just a predetermined path to follow and an excuse to kill zombies. There is also a lack of real emotion or drama, we feel nothing for the various characters (including our own hero).

This “California dream” is a bit flat and linear

Dead Island 2’s locations are very well-developed in terms of graphics, but unfortunately we didn’t get a kick out of it in terms of level design. The gameplay is very linear and limited, not giving enough freedom to the player. The locations are often quite flat and boring, with not much interesting to explore or interact with. Dead Island 2 does not take advantage of the zombie theme, such as parkour, vertical movement, or manipulation of the undead. In this, it also falls far short of Dying Light, which offered more varied and exciting locations and where parkour really spiced up the whole gameplay.

The biggest problem is that there is little opportunity to deviate from the predefined path or explore the environment. Although seemingly an open world, the locations are largely made up of straight paths and enclosed buildings without many interactive elements or hidden secrets. We also didn’t see much use in climbing up high or jumping off of something, as there aren’t many places you can get to that way. There’s also not much point in manipulating zombies or setting traps for them, because although we have tools and various environmental elements we can use to do this, it’s pointless to mess around with them because the locations are so linear.

On the positive side, Dead Island 2’s locations include the aforementioned Los Angeles landmarks, such as the mansions of Beverly Hills, the Venice Beach waterfront, the Hollywood sign, and the Santa Monica Pier. So the locations are stylish and atmospheric, but unfortunately, often not diverse enough.

A “Dead Island” game not set on an island…

All in all, Dead Island 2 is a pretty enjoyable game, but it doesn’t reach the level you’d expect from such a long-awaited sequel. Its strengths are graphics, humor and a cooperative mode (which we hadn’t had a chance to try at the time of writing this article), but these won’t fully satisfy fans of zombie games. The weaknesses are the melee combat, the story and the locations, which lack depth and challenge. While Dead Island 2 is a good zombie adventure, the Dying Light series welded by the original developers of the Dead Island franchise is still considered the benchmark of the genre and they are a cut above Dead Island 2.

So Dead Island 2 promised a lot, but only partially delivered. The game’s development took more than ten years, with several studios taking turns on the project, many reboots and many changes. Perhaps this is the reason why Dead failed to achieve the quality and freshness that fans expected of it, failing to truly renew or surpass the first part, which was a groundbreaking and innovative zombie game in its time. Dead Island 2 also failed to either follow or surpass the two Dying Light games, the work of the original developers of the Dead Island franchise, which fleshed out the first-person zombie action-RPG genre much more fully.

I’d like to quickly mention that although we didn’t get to try out the cooperative mode ourselves, it’s probably one of the game’s main attractions. Three players can play together online and choose from six different characters, each with their own skills and personality. In cooperative mode, they can fight zombies together, complete missions, and enjoy the humorous atmosphere of Dead Island 2.

So, overall, Dead Island 2 is not a bad game, but it’s not outstanding either, it has its good and bad points. It’s fun and humorous in many ways, it has spectacular and varied weapons and creepy and creepily funny zombies. On the positive side, I didn’t encounter any bugs, but the somewhat “floaty” combat animation, the combat system that gets boring in the long run and the linear locations are not its strong points. If you like zombies and cooperative mode and loved the previous Dead Islands, give it a chance, but don’t expect too much from it.

-BadSector-

Publisher: Deep Silver

Developer: Dambuster Studios

Style: Action RPG

Release: April 21, 2023.