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The original Dead Island always felt like a bit of an undead fever dreams to me. It made a big splash on the gaming scene with a shock-inducing trailer of a little girl getting munched on, then it came out, got average reviews, and kind of just fell into obscurity. It had one sequel, Dead Island Riptide but for the most part, no one really talked about the series. Yet, like the monster from a horror movie, it’s raised from the dead once again with a sequel over ten years after the last one: Dead Island 2 (which is technically the third game).
So how does Dead Island fair a second time around, well: it’s a load of fun. The game safely sits alongside Dead Rising and Left 4 Dead in the fun zombie game genre, a unique melee-oriented first-person adventure that sees you become the biggest butcher in Hollywood. It has a couple of minor technical issues but if you’re looking to relieve some stress on a hoard of hungry zombies, Dead Island will give you your fill.
Zombies on Vacation
It’s been a good few years since the events of the first Dead Island and the US government is trying to put the state of California under quarantine due to the zombie outbreak.
You play as one of six playable characters who are known as “Slayers”: Jacob, Amy, Dani, Ryan, Carla, or Bruno. While each has different personalities and backstories, they all have the same task of finding the last few survivors and getting them out of LA before the full lockdown. Sadly, while they’re working the job, they end up bitten and turn into a zombie. The next day, however, they’re completely fine.
Learning that they’re one of the few people immune to the zombie virus, the main character decides the best thing to do is get out of LA. It’s not the most in-depth of plots but it serves the game well enough, getting you from place to place. I can’t say I found any of the characters super interesting though. Some of them have cool premises like Amy being a handy-capped adrenaline junky or Ryan being a male stripper looking for his brother but they never gripped me which is a shame since the game seems to want you to care for these guys.
That being said they add different attributes, one is fast and strong while another is the tank. This makes the game more replayable, giving you different ways to take on the hoard.
Exploring California
The main quest of the game consists of 24 missions that take you through zombie-infested LA, split into six open zone levels. Here the ravaged metropolis is truly one of the highlights of the game. The city is sort of bright and colorful which makes it all the more fun when you cover it in buckets of blood. The game is gruesome when it comes to the red stuff and leaving each fight covered in gore and guts really gets the adrenaline pumping.
In terms of performance, it’s mostly smooth but I did notice the game would occasionally stutter when there were loads of zombies on screen. It also fell into the trap of a lot of more melee-based FPS games giving me a little motion sickness. This, of course, will differ from person to person but after dodging and weaving through hordes of zombies for an intense couple of hours, I did find myself in a need of a serious break to nurse a headache.
In addition to the main missions, there all also several sidequests and challenges throughout the game. These can range from rescuing civilians to seeing how many zombies you can kill with a certain weapon. I found these to be neat distractions although I tended to prefer sticking to the main game.
Fighting Through The Dead
Dead Island 2 differs from many other zombie games and first-person games but primarily focuses on melee-based combat. There are guns in the game (although several of the, can only be obtained through sidequests) but for the most part, the game really wants you to get up close and personal with your undead brethren.
And the game gives you a lot of ways to do so. You, of course, get the classic baseball bats to bash their heads in but you’re also offered an assortment of axes, hammers, and even a katana if you’re interested in performing some late-stage seppuku. My favorite however had to be the brass knuckles. The game actually lets you grab the ghouls by the neck and deliver a true beatdown.
You also have access to a super form called Fury Mode. This briefly turns you into a zombie and makes you far more powerful. Before entering Fury Mode, you will see a circular bar on the top left of the screen where there is a picture of a skull. To fill the bar you can quickly down energy drinks for that literally monster energy or Block and Counter-attack the zombies. You truly feel like a rampaging monster on a sugar rush and it adds to that feeling of empowering carnage.
The Perfect Tools To Rip and Tear
Speaking of weapons, you can also upgrade and level them up which makes up a large chunk of the game. You can add mods and perks to give different effects to each weapon. The weapons you find also have several tiers, consisting of common (grey), uncommon (green), and also rare (blue).
As a Slayer, you can also level up and unlock various skill cards that can be used along your journey against zombies. These skills are categorized into types called Ability, Survivor, Slayer, and Numen. Each of your characters gives your character a unique movement or effect. These further help shape your character to fit your playstyle. This all comes together to create a good variety of weapons and customization to experiment and have fun with, fitting the over-the-top nature of the game.
Who’s That Zombie?
Along the way, you’ll also encounter various types of zombies. These range from your basic Shamblers to your faster runners, all dressed in the traditional surfer, and mallrat garbs of Beverly Hills. As the game progresses however you’ll see numerous kinds of zombies and variations of them, some Burning, Shocking, Spiky, and many more. No to mention truly dangerous ones like the Burtsters that throw toxic projectiles at you. There’s a good amount of enemies to keep you occupied.
This makes it all the more fun to send them back to the grave. The high amount of gore is well-detailed and fits the more zany nature of the game. I think the best animation is to smash their heads in with your feet. The entire game goes into slow motion to really sell you on the crunch of the head, it’s very satisfying, although it does get a little repetitive after a while since it’s so easy to pull off.
One thing I found cool is that the game gives you a little Zompedia. It’s kind of like a Pokedex, giving you more info on each type. It’s not a lot, but it’s a cute little collectible that rewards you for fighting different kinds of zombies.
Dead Island 2
Overall Dead Island 2, is a bloody good time. It’s a game that knows what it wants to be, a zany zombie-killing bloodbath with cool weapons to bring up more of the red stuff. It suffers a bit from the occasional stuttering and the plot and characters aren’t the most interesting but for the most part, it’s a good time.
If you enjoy games like Dead Rising as well as movies like Zombieland, you will be right at home with Dead Island 2. Just go on in, smash some zombies, rescue some people, and get out. It’s simple but it’s the best kind of simple: hitting undead yuppies in the face and blowing them up.
Dead Island 2 will launch on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on the 21st of April 2023.
A review code was provided by the publisher. The game was reviewed on PC.
The Review
PROS
- Graphics are well detailed
- Combat is simple but satisfying
- Skills cards bring a lot of variety to combat
CONS
- Characters aren't that interesting
- Could give you motion sickness if you play for too long.
