14 DAY TRIAL // Our Incoming 2015 series focuses on the most important game launches of the next 12 months, and next up we talk about Dead Island 2, one of the most exciting upcoming action survival games.
What we know
The game is a sequel to the 2011 hit first-person action role-playing game Dead Island, following a group of survivors as they make their way through the zombie apocalypse on a tropical island.
Dead Island 2 is now being developed by Yager Development, the makers of the highly acclaimed Spec Ops: The Line. They tout the upcoming game as being the world’s smallest MMO, effectively enabling a team of up to eight players to roam the Californian coast and have their way with the zombies.
As the announcement trailer clearly shows, Dead Island 2 isn’t about survival anymore but instead follows the lives of individuals who found a new calling. They’re good at killing zombies and they like it, and instead of running for their lives, they’re having a blast.
The game will pack a healthy dose of humor as well as over-the-top action, and the combat system has been refined, being a lot more brutal.
The undead enemies you’ll come across will be more deadly than in the first game, but they’ll also be more fragile, so the system favors skillful players.
In addition to this, the weapon crafting system has also been kept and improved upon, allowing gamers to create their own makeshift implements of destruction.
Why it matters
The open-world action of the original, together with the superb first-person melee combat system, made it an instant hit with the masses. Granted, the game was also riding on the popularity of the zombie genre at the time.
Now that we managed to elude the Mayan apocalypse, zombie titles are few and far between, so a return to the genre is in order. Moreover, it’s also one of the last opportunities to shout “first one to mumble ‘brains’ gets a wrench to the head.”
Polish developer Techland did a pretty good job with the first game, but it was plagued by a series of technical issues. Hopefully, under the mantle of Yager, we’ll have a smoother ride.
It’s also going to be interesting to see the differences between the two entries in the series, especially the wealth of multiplayer interactions that the more social-focused sequel will bring about.
In any case, cruising through San Francisco and Los Angeles looking for trouble should be more fun than ever.
Its persistent world and refined combat system, along with the casual and fun vibe the game has, make Dead Island 2 one of the biggest games on our radar this year.
Dead Island 2 is scheduled to come to the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 systems, sometime during Q2 2015.
