Gameplay review: On April 21, Dead Island 2 will invite you to a shockingly brutal, but also hilarious zombie battle. We were able to "axe" our way through summery L.A. in advance, and now we have to get rid of what we experienced during the first 60 minutes.
That's what it's all about: It's been nine years since a zombie epidemic raged on Dead Island: Riptide's fantasy vacation island. Since then, several developers had tried their hand at a worthy sequel, but finally Dead Island 2 was only launched by Dambuster Studios in 2019. Now the Brits have completed their eerily sunny work and have done a damn good job with it. Which would be where passionate zombie hunters can breathe a loud sigh of relief. Phew!
Yes, Dead Island 2 absolutely lives up to Techland's legacy, as it already runs nose-to-nose with Dying Light in technical terms. And in terms of content? The late shooter sequel delivers nothing more and nothing less than what Dead Island "has" to deliver. There are, of course, incredibly juicy zombie fights, freely combinable hero and weapon perks, cool hero spells (even if we've heard some of them before) and, most importantly, inflatable rubber flamingos in sinfully expensive luxury pools.
But what exactly happens in Dead Island 2 when you click the palm tree-lined start button? That's exactly what this article is about, referring to the first 60 minutes of the game. Those not only prepare you for your blood-soaked zombie vacation in "Hell-A", but also make you really want to play.
Coming in hot with your morning coffee: The most important gaming news of the last 24 hours. Every morning at 09:00 a.m. CET. Don't miss any news by following us on social media! (Time frame is subject to change) |
As an action role-playing game close to the survival genre, Dead Island 2 naturally starts "catastrophically", namely with the emergency evacuation of a zombie-infested urban area by plane. It goes without saying that the plane crashes shortly after, given the setting, but before that you have to decide which of the six playable characters you want to kiss the ground with.
These are:
If you want to know exactly how the different strengths affect you and which character guarantees an optimal start, read our character guide. |
As soon as you jump out of the wrecked plane, it becomes clear how much work Dambuster Studios has put into the visual presentation of Dead Island 2. Thanks to an enormously high particle density and crisp textures, the crash site resembles a single inferno. Admittedly, this fire hell (as well as the rest of the high-end visuals in Dead Island 2) has its hardware price. However, those who do not have a Pentium II installed next to their Geforce RTX 3060 or AMD 6600 XT should be able to enjoy the full HD graphics smoothly.
After jogging and crawling a bit through the destroyed terrain, we meet the survivors Michael, Jacob and Emma. The latter is introduced to us as a true celebrity whose biggest concern right now is finding her pair of high heels. The brunette with chin-length hair, just like her personal luxury temple in Bel-Air, will still play a bigger role during our zombie vacation.
But as it is after plane crashes in Dead Island, it is time for a beating now; against zombies of course. Some of the stranded people have been infected with the zombie virus, including ourselves, which is why we occasionally falter outside of the fighting. Nevertheless, the disturbed bloody fights work excellently, not least because of the rich selection of upgradeable weapons and the cracking hit feedback.
A good part of the close combat mechanics can be used right at the crash site, while more powerful techniques become available in the course of the story. During the first hour of gameplay, we mainly lash out with fists, boards, iron pipes and axes, or throw objects like heavy batteries into the rotten faces of zombies (yes, there is a target mode with zoom view for that). And this turns out to be pretty darn visually stunning. Do you want to see some mutilation samples?
However, you don't need charged hits or sharp bladed weapons for a rich bloodbath in Dead Island 2. Even quite regular blows, even with bare fists, regularly fill large areas of the screen with red life juice.
Anyway, we became really fond of a rather bloodless attack technique in the course of the first 60 minutes of gameplay, the drop kick, which is available for all characters. Why? Because this highly executed jump kick not only looks funny, but also immediately sends zombies into a horizontal position for good. That's right; the bastards usually don't get up again afterwards.
All in all, the sometimes stomach-churning skirmishes (even in the USK-18 version we played) worked extremely well. The aforementioned hefty hit feedback played a part in this, but the good movement abilities of our alter egos also allowed us to enjoy the slaughter quite carefree. Both of the characters we controlled, Jacob and Amy, had a very useful punishment dash in their luggage and were able to trick the zombies using stinky meat bait, for example.
In addition, we were able to bring electricity, traditional in Dead Island, into play early on. A swimming pool populated by zombies with a sizzling electric cable next to it still results in a summer barbecue par excellence. Very nice, because interludes like this add variety and fun to the Hell-As cleanup.
The first hour of Dead Island 2, which we highlight here, doesn't take us into the large, open game world yet, because the prelude is supposed to prepare us comprehensively for it. But: We complete the first story missions, in which fuse boxes have to be equipped or access codes found, in the ambience of surprisingly intact luxury villas. Vacation atmosphere? Definitely. In times of zombie apocalypse, why not enjoy yourself as much as possible.
The last task before we are released into the open world is to defend Emma's top-modern summer mansion. Of course, again with iron bar, axe and meat bait, but shortly after that the punishment possibilities for zombies expand. Because posh cottages like Emma's sometimes house workbenches for upgrading weapons, at this point with, how could it be otherwise, electrifying effect.
To be more precise, with the help of some resources we have transformed a machete into a kind of "electric machete", which we were able to try out shortly after at the gates of our safe space. You can see the result in the screenshot below.
Weapon improvements are possible at workbenches in the three categories "Mods", "Advantages" as well as "Firm Advantages". In the case of the machete, a stun gun mod provides the right tension. Mods also cause status effects in some cases. "Advantages" improve the status values of weapons, for example by reducing wear and tear or increasing the speed of impact. We were not able to test "Firm Advantages" like "high effectiveness" during our session.
In summary, we can say about the first 60 minutes in Hell-A that (despite the not too easy difficulty level) they stir up a lot of joy in zombie mass destruction. An important part of the concept is undoubtedly the uncompromising splatter depictions, because minced meat is after all the zombie slaughterer's highest reward.
But Dead Island's well-known "summer, sun, zombies" premise also works as well as ever, showing that the zombie theme doesn't always have to be the usual gray-black end-time setting. And because Dead Island 2 is also technically sunny, there's nothing standing in the way of an extended battle vacation in alternative L.A..
Unless, of course, you expect a deep story and groundbreaking innovations from the successful late work. But who ultimately values groundbreaking innovations when he or she simply wants to enjoy the indulgence of withering zombie bodies.
Want to join our community and discuss about Dead Island 2? Then feel free to join our Discord server or visit us on Facebook. We look forward to seeing you there!