Below is a fair review of the game, after playing it since launch day, completing the main story as well as the vast majority of the optional side missions and managing to get highest level in the game.
About Dead Island 2
The game is an action zombie style game with a hint of survivalism. This game can be played in single player or co-op just like its predecessor. The game lets you choose and take control of one of an eclectic group of characters (more info below) as your evac bird crashes and you are sent back into Hell-A to find another way out. Dead Island 2 was published by Deep Silver and the game itself has been in development for years since 2014 and has gone through multiple developers before Homefront Dambuster Studios hit the nailed baseball bat on the head and got it done, in Unreal Engine 4. After releasing on the 21st of April 2023, within the first three days it had sold one million copies worldwide.
Dead Island 2 Story (Minor Spoilers Ahead)
Like I said before you take on the role of one of a group of characters with unique backstories as their evac bird crashes. Don’t think this Is much of a spoiler as it is the same with most zombie media in that like the characters from the original game you are immune to zombie bites…and actually begin to benefit from it. You meet a whole host of weird, wonderful and in some cases sad characters as you try to find a way out of Hell-A. There are twists and turns throughout, and Dead Island 2 has actually managed to make a truly compelling zombie storyline and has beautifully set up the story for a future game. Which I hope gets made and a damn sight quicker than this one was made. All of this Is made even more fun with the return of the fan favourite character from the original game. So ask yourself who do you voodoo b**** and get ready to hear the deep tones of Sam B once again.
Dead Island 2 Characters
There are six playable characters in this game. Backstories for each below along with some details about their stats and innate skills they start with.
Amy-an athlete with a very cool blade for running who grew up in LA. A natural competitive leader. She gets a boost to agility and critical damage whilst having low toughness levels. The innate skills are Relief Pitcher where Amy regains stamina when hitting a zombie with a weapon throw and
Divide and Conquer where Amy gets a minor damage boost when she attacks isolated zombie.
Jacob-The London born stuntman who runs around Hell-A quoting Shakespeare. Has high health, stamina and critical hit skills at detriment to his agility and toughness. Innate skills are Frenzy which lets Jacob gets a stackable minor damage boost when attacking in quick succession and Critical Gains which makes Jacob’s critical hits when stamina is low get a moderate critical damage boost and regain stamina
Ryan-An exotic dancer who’s main gimmick was ‘fireman’, his goal is to make sure his little brother gets to safety through the blood and guts filled streets. The least agile of the characters but makes up for it with stamina and toughness. His innate skills are Retaliation where Ryan gets a moderate force boost when using block or dodge to avoid an attack and Seesaw where Ryan regains health each time he knocks down a zombie
Carla-The motorcycle racer with a degree from the school of hard knocks in street smarts, she lives off adrenaline and acts as a tank character. High bonuses to resilience and toughness, she actually by far the best stats of any character. Her innate skills are Mosh Pit where Carla gets a minor damage boost when close to multiple zombies and Dig Deep where Carla gets a moderate toughness boost while her health is critical
Bruno-A smooth talking thief and conman, actually gets onto the evac plane with a swindle. Looking like a Soundcloud rapper but wanting to be free and fight against corruption. His stats lean towards overall damage with a high critical damage and agility stat. A real good all rounder character, his innate skills are Backstab where Bruno gets a moderate damage boost when attacking zombies from behind and Rapid Reprisal which boosts Bruno’s agility and heavy attack charges when he avoids attacks with a block or dodge
Dani (The best character-in my opinion)- a quick thinking punk/alt Irish lass. A quick firing machine, able to stay on the move and keep getting up from being hit, as she says herself “all that time in mosh pits has paid off”. The highest stamina levels mixed high health makes her a great choice. Her health recovery is at the lowest of the characters but after playing through can say that’s not a problem, even taking risks and blowing yourself up there are enough healing items around to get you through. Her innate skills are Thunderous where Dani’s heavy attacks trigger a forceful explosion on impact and Bloodlust where Dani regains health when slaying multiple zombies in quick succession.
Dead Island 2 Combat
The selling point of this game is the combat, and the new F.L.E.S.H program they created to show all the blood and guts that gore fans need. You can actually see the blood bubble and run down surfaces. Each strike of any weapon whether bladed or blunt or light or heavy is impactful and satisfying, and adding mods to your weapons like electric or acid strikes make it even that bit more better. Guns. Guns actually work in this game. Dead Island 1 the guns were barely good for human enemies…that’s it. With the absence of human enemies the ranged weapons are now so good against the undead. Again with great mods to be added and satisfying action. This whole game has been a huge step up for the series. One of the only bad points I can think of for this game however is the lack of usable vehicles in the game. And by lack I mean complete absence, I get why as the map areas are a bit more compact and detailed however driving up and down the beach with friends mowing down the horde…does sound fun.
Dead Island 2 Quests
Quest time. The main quests and side quests involve going to an area, fighting some zombies or going to an area, fighting some zombies and collecting an item. A lot of games get flack for repetitive gameplay, such as Ghost Recon Breakpoint however, for a hack and slash zombie game that’s exactly what you want. Arguably the most popular zombie games are the Deadrising series and Left 4 Dead, which are so so repetitive but for this style just doesn’t matter. The characters are really well written, the developers have done such a great job with balancing seriousness with the slightly caricatured vision of modern life in LA, with celebs and influencers.
Dead Island 2 Graphics
A great word to describe the graphics as is ‘bright’. Although looking through rose tinted glasses at Dead Island 1 and Dead Island Riptide, if you go back and play those games now, they are a lot duller than you remember…trust me. However, this new game is bright and colourful, really showing off that bright sunny atmosphere of LA. There have been reports of a few little bugs, none were encountered during my time playing, and the game is truly breathtaking at times.
Dead Island 2 Price
Dead Island 2 is now out on Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Playstation 4 and 5 and Windows. There are multiple versions of the game, the standard game costs around £54.99, with other special editions giving you cosmetic items at either £64.99 or £79.99, with no sign of any kind of micro-transactions.
Final Verdict= 9.6/10
Pros
- Great graphics
- Great characters
- Fun satisfying weapons
- Intriguing story
- Simple to grasp and fun to play
Cons
- No cars
- Short story (Only a con because it was so good and I wanted to play more)
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