Dead Island 2

Video games that are stuck in development hell for years usually end one of two ways - we either never actually see the game ever be released, or it's finally released to a cacophony of poor reviews. Thankfully, Dead Island 2 has managed to avoid these pitfalls. A mere 9 years after being announced, it's finally arrived. And it's an absolute blast.

Austrian developers Deep Silver have a mixed bag when it comes to the quality of their titles. They have given us excellent games like the Metro and Saints Row series, however they've also given us the appalling shambles that is Ride To Hell - Retribution. And, of course, there is their most controversial series - Dead Island.

The original Dead Island is perhaps best known for its genius marketing campaign, and although the game just wasn't able to live up to the hype, it was nevertheless a fun, gore filled, zombie slaying romp. A follow up, Dead Island Riptide, arrived a couple of years later, although it was hard to differentiate between the two games, such was their similarities.

And now, finally, Dead Island 2 has arrived. Developed by Deep Silver's own team at Dambuster Studios (the first two titles were developed by Techland), Dead Island 2 encompasses everything that was good about the first two games, and makes it all a whole lot better. Switching the action from Banoi to Los Angeles, Dead Island 2 allows you to plough through various areas of the city of angels, committing your own brand of zombie butchering mayhem. Dead Island 2 is beautiful to look at, taking in the scenery of areas like Bel Air & Beverly Hills as you stain the streets red with zombie claret. Just like in the previous games, you can choose from an array of characters, then get down to the serious business of crafting a wide array of melee weapons and firearms to take down the undead horde. A wide array of different zombie types keeps things interesting as you utilise different ways to take them down, whether it be an electrocuted sword, acid soaked crowbar, or a rifle that fires incendiary rounds. There's also tons of environmental hazards you can utilise to turn the tide in your favour, whilst the choice to either play alone or online with other players remains a choice, just as it was in the previous games. Finally, a mixture of main missions, side missions, and the newly introduced lost & found quests (where you track down either missing people or missing weapons), keeps you busy while you maurade around the ten different areas of LA.

Without going into too much detail and running the risk of spoilers, I'll finish with this - Dead Island 2 will likely be 2023's most pleasant surprise. A game we feared may never arrive has arrived. And it's a ton of fun, a gorgeous looking game packed with things to do. If you liked the first two Dead Island games then you'll love this. Mindless, zombie slaughtering mayhem has never been so enjoyable. Bravo Deep Silver & Dambuster Studios - bravo!

9/10.

I love single player story games, but the issue usually is that they just dont have the best gameplay... BUT THIS GAME HAS THE BEST MELEE COMBAT AND PHYSICS EVER! I know i might sound like im insane but the gore in this game is second to none, all weapons feel satisfying and the characters are really fun. My favorite character is jacob, hes so witty and seems so unbothered by whats around him. I also love SAM B, hes just a purebred badass. And the open world! Omg i love how much it feels like im in L. A and the different small worlds feel unique enough to be their own place

I would have given the game a 10 but the only reason im not is that you cant skip cutscenes because so much stuff happens in them.

I had a good time with this game. It delivers the goods in zombie carnage. They did a nice job with the graphics. The world of the game was interesting to explore. The game has some faults, but there is plenty of fun to have in Dead Island 2. Lots of blood and gore and the weapons are pretty cool. The upgrades to the weapons are good. It is worth checking out for zombie game fans. I like how the game throws you right into the situation from the opening shot. I like the atmosphere of the game. The California setting is good for a zombie game. Finding locations like The Santa Monica Pier was nice.

I just miss the days when you chose your male or female character the npc's would refer to you as he or she, the they them thing is annoying and feels rude to me but apart from that it's a good game so far.

The scenery is gorgeous and looks deliberate, like not photorealistic, the combat relies on your characters stats and your timing more then fancy moves say like God Of War.

Health is abundant so there's no excuse for running out and my fave character so far is Dani, she's funny and says similar things as I'd say in the same situation haha.

Story is straightforward, survive! Simple.

Music, hmm atmospheric and poppin' so far. No complaints.

One aspect I like best is that it's not open world, their choice to stay liner is very welcome in this current environment of wayyyy too big worlds that in the real world no one has that much time to explore. For me personally worlds getting bigger puts me off games, too much to do and long quests means I don't have the time to do even one quest, then I lose interest because it goes on for soooooo long.

My thanks to Deep Silver.

Pushing things too hard can prevent us from achieving good results. Dead Island 2 is a good example. It spent nearly 10 years in very troubled development and when it came out we were left with a boring game that was way behind its time and offered nothing new or special. The Dead Island series was already buried after Dying Light because it couldn't release new games. When they tried to dig it up and revive it after so many years, the name meant nothing to anyone. A lot of zombie related content has been produced in these 10 years and it's not as popular as it used to be. In short, maybe Dead Island 2 is an average game that you can play in your spare time, but never more. I hope they don't plan to make a third game. Just like its name, it would be better for everyone if this series really is "dead".