14 DAY TRIAL // One of the most iconic zombie-killing themed games, Dead Island, is set to return next month. The promise of a bigger and better game is what kept fans of the series loyal for almost a decade, even though similar titles like Dying Light have tried to piggyback on the success of Dead Island while adding their own twist to the formula.
However, unlike Dying Light, Dead Island doesn’t take itself too serious story-wise. The sequel is no exception, so if you’re a fan of the original, after playing the first five hours of Dead Island 2, I’m happy to confirm that the same dark humor is present in the upcoming game.
In Dead Island 2, you play as one of the six “slayers,” each with their unique strengths and weaknesses. Think of these as classes that fit a particular playstyles, so if you like a more hands-on approach, you have a few choices at your disposal such as Dani and Carla, while those who love shooting their way out from any situation may want to check out Bruno.
Each of these six slayers have so-called Innate Skills that make them stand out. These skills, along with the ability cards that you unlock throughout the game, can be mixed and matched to tailor certain playstyles. Granted, some of the more powerful abilities can’t be used together (you must choose between them), most of them have a huge impact on gameplay.
Speaking of which, Dead Island 2 is a linear experience with a generic story. All the main missions I played required me to go through a corridor of areas with little to no exploration incentives. Occasional side-quests typically involve rescuing someone by killing hordes of zombies with few exceptions. This does not change the overall gameplay loop though.
But while the story isn’t something to talk about, combat is definitely the star of the show. The tutorial does a good job of teaching players what’s the best way to dispatch a single zombie or a mob. However, applying that in-game isn’t that easy, especially since combat is much faster than the tutorial lets you believe.
Instead of a methodical limb dismembered strategy that the game wants you to adopt, you’ll be chaotically hack and slash your way to your objective the first few hours until you find better weapons and manage to upgrade them.
With the right gear, Dead Island 2 becomes a festival of gore with limbs flying and brains sprawled all over the place. Most weapons in the game can be customized to inflict different types of damage (fire, electric, etc.), but the best thing about these is that they can be upgraded to your level.
Dispatching hordes of zombies is a much more complex job if you don’t want your melee weapons to break, which happens quite often in Dead Island 2. Using Jerry cans that are casually lying just about everywhere you’re expected to encounter more than a few zombies as explosives is one way to make your fights easier. You also have the option to set up a barrage of electrified pools and lure zombies into it by using bait.
Of course, you can simply outrun every zombie you encounter until you reach the objective area, but that would mean missing all the fun. When you get it right, Dead Island 2’s combat is pure fun, but there are many variables that must be taken into consideration for all the ingredients to provide the correct flavor.
Conclusion
Dambuster Studios’ upcoming Dead Island 2 shapes up to be a pretty controversial sequel to one of the most popular action survival horror games of all time. It’s certainly not perfect, but it’s got all the ingredients of a compelling sequel.
Preview key was provided by the publisher.
