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Dead Island 2 Gameplay: The Incredible Gory First Hour (Including Video)

Published: Apr. 21, 2023
Updated: Nov. 08, 2023

German English

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.

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The Beginning of Dead Island 2: Down, Please!

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.

Dead Island 2 Dani

Cheers. Dani is one of the six wacky playable characters in Dead Island 2.

These are:

  • Jacob, camouflage jacket lover and face of Dead Island 2. Strengths: Stamina and health.
  • Bruno looks like Jacob, but more colorful, hairy and fair-skinned. Strengths: critical damage, agility.
  • Carla could outwardly replace Marusha at the DJ booth. Strengths: Resistance and toughness.
  • Dani, as seen above, likes vintage and energy drinks. Strengths: Endurance, health.
  • Ryan looks like an everyman, but has high resistance and toughness for a rabbit's foot.
  • Amy combines otaku with gothic culture in terms of outfit. Strengths: Agility, critical damage.

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.

Dead Island 2 Plane Crash

The crash site is a visually stunning inferno.

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.

Dead Island 2 Überlebende

Survivors of the crash (from left to right): Jacob, the famous Emma Jaunt and Michael.

The Thrashing Prince of Bel-Air

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?

  • Once a zombie is lying stunned on the ground, which can easily be done with heavy pipe or axe attacks, he or she can have his or her ugly head crushed. Accompanying screen-filling blood effects? Check.
  • If you have an axe handy or in your inventory (weapons are changed via mouse wheel or inventory function), limbs can be amputated with it. For example, a nice back kick to the arm will turn any undead into a "one-armed bandit".
  • Apart from putting pointed shoe heels on zombies' eyes during in-engine movie sequences, QTEs can also be used for grip attacks. After a firm stranglehold, for example, we'll stage a veritable massacre of decomposed facial flesh.
Dead Island 2 Zombies

The first beating for zombies is not long in coming.

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.

Dead Island 2 Dropkick

Dropkicks are deadly and not very popular with zombies.

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.

Dead Island 2 Urlaub

The vacation feeling also sets in quickly.

Punish Zombies More Nicely Thanks to Workbenches

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.

Dead Island 2 Machete

This machete contains not only electricity, but also a fervent fury of dismemberment.

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.

Dead Island 2 Werkbank

The workbench allows you to improve weapons in three categories.

It Doesn't Always Need a Doomsday Scenario

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.

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After graduating from high school, I initially wanted to study instrumental music. However, eventually I pursued a career as a video game journalist, which I started at the prestigious Ehapa-Verlag publisher, among others. Today, I share my extensive video game expertise with Guided. I benefit from over 40 years of experience with PC and console games, as well as my work in game development for the indie studio Knights of Bytes. I understand how video games work, and I also know how to convey my knowledge in an understandable manner.
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