I feel like this game deserves a good review more than anything, so yeah, you are in for a ride, because I'm going to defend Dead Island 2 with all I have. I played the PS5 version of the game.
Dead Island 2 is a... Meme. This game was delayed for almost a decade, it was going through the biggest development hell that ever existed, and its development started over like 3 or 4 times. The game was a running joke for years, but these mad lads actually decided to release it, so yeah, how it went? Unexpectedly good, and by that, I actually mean, that Dead Island 2 is a f***ing king of just good games and here's why.
Let's start with describing the gameplay, because that's the reason why you're buying Dead Island 2. The combat in this game is honestly amazing. DI2 follows its roots and the gameplay is arcade'y. There are health bars, numbers popping on the screen, overpowered crazy sharp weapons and unrealistic, but fun skills. The game is incredibly self-aware, and I'm thankful for that. The devs want you to kick some rotten zombie asses, they don't want to overwhelm you with atmosphere, tough situations, realistic scenarios, and crazy strong enemies, so you feel powerless. They want you to become a damn death dealer, disintegrating enemies left and right, doing it with style, on your way through breathtaking locations. There isn't any "humans are worse than zombies" drama, the game is about zombies, and just zombies.
They really nailed the spirit of the original game, and improved it in every single aspect, so if you liked the original Dead Island, you are going to love it here, in Hell-A.
So yeah, as I just said, the game is about slaying zombies and pretty much nothing else, how is that exciting? Oh boy, let me tell you about the tools they give you. The single best thing about this game is the gore system in it. It's something you have never seen before. It literally cannot be described, just google it and watch it on YouTube. You can break every single bone in your enemy's body, tear him apart, burn him, dissolve his skin with acid, cut every muscle and see all the insides. It really is that good, for the first time in DECADES I've been catching myself on hitting dead enemies on the ground with different stuff, just to see this beautiful gore system.
There are tons of environmental interactions, that are incredibly fun to use. The game is filled with water buckets, wires, gas tanks, accumulators, acid puddles and more, much more stuff. Kicking zombies into pools, just to throw an accumulator there, so you can see how their skins fry, is incredibly satisfying, and you can make an interaction like that every two minutes, if you feel like it.
The game offers you plenty of choice when it comes to weapons. I wish it was the variety of Dead Rising, but it's just enough to not get bored. Hammers, baseball bats, throwing knives, katanas, spears, they are all unique, and I had great enjoyment from switching them every now and then. They all had their own uses, their own animations, and they felt different. I wish there were more normal things turned into weapons (like a deadly paddle or frying pan), but they focused on actual weapons, and I can't blame them. The customization of said weapons is lovely. You could mod every weapon to suit your liking, weapon mods changes the looks with some neat designs and later in the game there are some crazily fun blueprints to find and use.
I kept changing weapons often, just to see different interactions on different limbs, with different weapon types, with different mods.
There are guns in Dead Island 2 and they are just okay. Some are underwhelming, some are overpowered, but they are all pretty fun. With correct mods they can provide a ton of joy. I will never forget my electric Uzi, it was a work of art. Aiming could use some improvements, tho. I'm pretty skilled in FPS games with a controller and in DI2 it was a struggle. That said, as much as I liked using guns from time to time, melee weapons are much juicier.
It's worth to mention, that there are legendary weapons in the game, and they for sure are f***ing legendary. There are not many of them, they are hard to get, and most of these are available after you completed the game, but they went all out to design them. They are different from the normal weapons, they are badass and they are simply awesome. I love how every single legendary weapon is special, not just orange text and busted stats.
There are different types of enemies in the game, and you have to tinker your kit to challenge them. Some weapons simply won't work on some enemies, and that's nice, because they actually give you a reason to have some fun with your stuff, instead of playing with the single weapon for the entirety of the game's length.
The last thing I want to describe about the gameplay is the character development system, that I... didn't really like. The game offers you freedom, so you can use pretty much any skill on any character, and I honestly think it's a flaw. Therefore, characters don't really have identity and while playing online, I've seen a lot of people running the exact same build, because... It was the best. The game overwhelmed you with new choices, but most of them weren't interesting at all, for the entirety of the game I had like two moments when I was unsure which skill to equip. I prefer when every character has its own skill set, it makes them unique and adds a lot to replayability. I think Dead Island 2 is worthy of replaying it, but why bother if everything about the gameplay will be the same? To be honest, the skills don't really change that much.
If you are a fan of some jolly-cooperation, Dead Island 2 offers it, and it's as good as it gets. I played the entire original game with my friend, and it was awesome, I imagine Dead Island 2 isn't any worse in that department.
So yeah, to summarize this long ass paragraph, Dead Island 2 gameplay is the definition of fun, and you should totally check it out, decapitate some heads and cut off limbs with throwing knives. Yes, it has flaws, but everything does.
Let's talk about the graphics and level design. This game looks spectacular. It's as stylish as it can get, and has its amazing identity with awesome vibrant colors. The game really feels alive and breathing, which is kinda ironic, because it's about the undead, heh.
The interior design in Dead Island 2 is, without a contest, THE BEST I'VE EVER SEEN. I'm not joking, it's actually insane how well-designed are interiors in this game, every building left me simply amazed.
Even though interiors had to get that special spotlight, the overall locations are just as good. Thanks God, they didn't go open world route, because it wouldn't be possible. The game is filled with hubs and I haven't seen so good, well adapted, fun to explore, beautiful, open, yet interesting locations for a looooooong time. Hell-A looks breathtaking, it looks stylish, it looks iconic, and I couldn't possibly imagine it looking better. I haven't been to LA myself, but from what I've seen, they made a stupendous job with capturing it and the atmosphere they created is incredible. The hubs are filled with interesting areas, that you immediately want to visit. Every hub is unique and interesting, I mean, Hollywood Boulevard, Bel-Air, Beverly Heels, Venice Beach, a f***ing movie plan, who doesn't want to explore these?
Attention to detail is on another level, too. Every single sheet of paper, poster, or sticker on the wall has text, that you can actually read, it actually suits the location, and it provides cool information that adds to the authenticity. There are even full stories written on the walls. After I realized how detailed are these simple posters, that are added just so the walls aren't empty, I've been reading all of them, and they hardly ever repeated. The last time I've seen such dedication to random stuff, it was in a Rockstar game. Hats off.
The game features a day'n'night cycle, which is nice, because you aren't getting bored with the locations too fast, and they simply look amazing in both versions.
I described the gore system before, but it kinda suits the graphics section, too. This is a pinnacle milestone in this department, and should be mimicked in other games.
I'm also wholeheartedly amazed by their zombie designs. So many amazing models, and most importantly, there are tons of them. Like, of course they repeat, but it takes some time to meet a zombie you've seen a while before. A lot of zombie games reuse models as much as they can, so another big win for Dead Island 2 in that department. There are also specific models for specific locations, like bikini zombies on the Beach and rich looking guys in Beverly Hills, the devs for sure weren't lazy with these.
It's worth to mention, that side characters also have memorable designs, at least most of them do.
The music they chose for the game is fire, there are some good songs that match the mood, and a lot of nice OST with homages to the original game.
To kill the mood a little, the one and only con in the graphics department is the fact, that the game lacks ANY reflections. Like, wtf? Seeing nothing in the mirror (and believe me, there are a lot of them) drastically kills the immersion.
To sum things up, this game looks spectacular, locations are ouf of this world, interior design is uncontested, the game is detailed to the bone and is truly an example to follow, but I wish I could see my tired face in the mirror.
Time for some chit-chat about the story, quests and the characters. Well, when it comes to the story in Dead Island 2... Well, it's there. The plot was never the strongest part of these games, but it isn't awful. I actually like how it's a really good mix of taking things seriously, with some admirable satire.
The main scenario is serious, but the game often includes some hilarious interactions. There are funny jokes, comical dialogues, exaggerated characters and some golden actions. I really admire how it fits with the generally serious tone.
There are some nice references to the previous game, which in my opinion are always welcome. Bringing Sam B back was a great choice, he's fun while on screen, and they didn't overuse him.
The game has a very cinematic feeling in my opinion, first person cutscenes work wonders, and actually feel like following a movie plot. Third person cutscenes on the other hand were simply awful, thankfully there aren't many of them.
The game offered some really cool side quests with nice action and characters you can get attached to, but at the same time, just as many side quests are boring and without much of a purpose.
When you visit safe areas, there are NPCs that you've met before, and you can listen to their dialogues. They are all really fun, and they often add much, to already well-written characters. Safe areas also feel pretty alive and authentic thanks to that. Once again, these dialogues hardly ever repeat.
As I just said, side characters are incredibly well-written in this game. Emma, Sam, Amanda, Patton and a lot more, I remember all of them, they all had unique, flexed out personalities and some really good acting. I cared about them, I wanted to keep playing to see what's next for them, and I stayed afk in hubs to hear their monologues or chats with the others. Of course there were more important characters and less important characters, but I was interested in pretty much all of them, I mean, how often do you afk in front of your average weapons vendor to check what's on his mind?
When it comes to the main characters, I played as Jacob, and he felt pretty boring at first, but after a while, when I got to know him a little more, he had a really cool personality and I started to like him, a lot. His personality is pretty unique, too. I mean, he connects with the others on a personal level, he mentions his mom, he quotes Shakespeare ,I mean, it's pretty wild. I wonder how different are the other characters, it seems like they are all really unique and a lot of work went into this. Too bad, I don't feel like replaying the game, only because of the character progression choice.
When it comes to the main plot, it was ok, and just ok. I was pretty invested to see what's next, but mostly, because of awesome characters. Later in the game there are pretty wacky choices and the ending is just horrible, but I got used to it, when it comes to the zombie themed games. It isn't even close to how bad the ending of Dying Light was, tho, so no worries. The story will continue in the DLCs, that I plan to check out, but I don't really like that idea.
After you finish the game, you can go back to previous locations, and NPCs react to the fact, that you completed the story, pretty neat.
In conclusion, half of the content is engaging, half of the content is here, so you can slay more zombies. There are nice, well-written characters, tho. The game missed on a huge opportunity to play the legendary "Who Do You Voodoo?" during credits, I mean, What the F***?
In an era of overpromised games, development hells, delays, 100gb day 1 patches, 70€ early access games, it's time to talk about the performance! I played on my PS5, on the release day, and the game worked wonderfully. I encountered 0 glitches, I haven't seen any FPS drops, the loading times weren't too long, no washed textures or pixelated backgrounds, just a solid launch. The only flaw I can think of, is the fact, that sometimes you could see enemies literally spawning before your eyes, but it wasn't too often, and it was much later in the game, when I was sort-of speedrunning through locations. Yes, it's real, the game was solid at launch. I mean, a good launch in 2023? Pretty wild, isn't it? It's hilarious that Dead Island 2, the game that was gone for almost a decade, the legendary meme of development hells, has much better launch than AAA titles from trusted studios. It has much more attention to detail than any AAA titles I could think of, besides Rockstar games. Funny times.
What a long read, let's get to the conclusion (it's going to be long, too). The best thing about Dead Island 2 is how self-aware is this game. The devs knew this isn't your AAA title, you've been waiting for half of your life, they know it's your game to play in between more exciting games. That's why the went all out to make the best 7/10 game to ever exist. Yeah, Dead Island 2 is a 7/10 game, but it's a God among just good games. It's fun as hell, it's easy to pick up and do whatever in this game, it isn't too ambitious, it's a game you play after work to swing a machete, but it's a brilliant game. It's polished to the tip, it looks amazing, it's packed with content, it's insanely fun, it's stylish, it has the best gore system up to date, it has breathtaking locations and designs... And most importantly, it's correctly priced. They knew this isn't a AAA blockbuster game, so it's a little cheaper, and at that price, it's hands down worth it. At a discount, this game is a steal. I salute you Dambuster Studios, you released a Goddamn Dead Island 2, and it's a massive success in my eyes. As I just said, the game is just good, but at the same time, it's covered in platinum. The gore, the locations, the characters, the combat, that f***ing attention to detail and variety of enemies, just incredible. Go give Dead Island 2 a try, because YOU ARE IN FOR A RIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7/10, but a F***ing 5 star one.
"Sam B got the thing, that go bump in the night... WHO DO YOU VOODOO, B****?"
~Wo
