Dead Island 2 review: an RPG as mindless as its zombies

dead island 2 It’s a game against time. Over the course of a decade, its development he entrusted to three different studios, each attempting to make a sequel to his 2011’s more co-operative Zombie His Brawler. dead islandTechland, the original developer of Dying Light, has moved on to something bigger and better with the Dying Light series. Delivered by his Dambuster Studios in Nottingham, the end result of this painstaking process can feel like an old friend.

dead island 2‘s acerbic tone and outdated systems evokes a strange nostalgia for the silly, straight-forward but more serious first-person action games that dominated the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 era. It’s a crude relic, but its linearity feels fresh, and its gusseted combat provides a constant, visceral spectacle. Most importantly, this is not another checklist death march. If, like me, you’ve developed a taste for simplicity over the last few years, you’ll be happy to hear that you can beat this game in a reasonable amount of time.

You play as one of six “slayers” who conveniently meet on the last flight out of quarantined Hell-A. Alas, an infection spreads on board, the plane crashes, and in the ensuing chaos, you find yourself immune. An insufferable movie star invites you to reunite at McMansions in Beverly Hills, and you plan your way through the City of Angels to (hopefully) be part of the cure.

I chose Dani, a rockabilly moshher from Cork, Ireland. Each Slayer has innate abilities and statistical differences, but they all follow the same story beat no matter who you choose. dead island 2‘s most notable features: A maddeningly complex procedural gore system.

Repeated attacks pierce through skin, muscle, fat, and bone, leaving the zombie’s body feeling like a meat piñata, with many accidental mutilations. while coming towards you.pure anatomical celebration dead island 2 A compelling reason to play and its most advanced features. I wish there were better games.

The old-school approach to first-person melee combat feels both lethargic and frustrating here. A stiff right-stick camera quickly became the bane of my existence. This hurts. The slapstick chaos of control dead island‘s agile and well-defined attack system allows you to get into the murderous stream and defend well.

Image: Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver

Part of the problem is the new skill card system. dead islandskill tree. The top row of slots lets you choose between abilities like dodge and block (which seems silly for such basic mechanics), and the rest offer insignificant stat buffs that you can’t really see in combat As a result, it is difficult to specialize in any meaningful way. As far as co-op is concerned, this is his equivalent of a pair of concrete boots.

one of my favorite things dead island It was the ability to have expertise in a particular area, such as firearms or sharp weapons. This created a memorable moment where I was able to leverage the skills I developed to fill the gaps in each of my teammates’ skill sets. dead island 2The lackluster skill system removes the character-building charm that was so skillfully established in the first game. When the credits rolled, I was aimless and had no idea how to improve my character other than playing “zombie slots” with a randomized loot system.

Luckily, this digitized district of Los Angeles has some fun side quests that rival the more formulaic main missions that race between cutscenes. You’ve beaten the world’s strongest man competitor. Unfortunately, many side his quests end with his NPC in focus uncomfortably turning into a zombie, as there aren’t many verbs other than “kill” here.

But if you can avoid the regular interruptions from that giant, brain-dead beast, you’ll find it dead island 2 It does a lot in a small linear space. I was often amazed by the environmental storytelling throughout. TV stations have a “Breaking News” ticker that acts as an SOS, while movie studios battle themed lots featuring costumed zombies and interactive traps. Hell-A’s playful paraphernalia enhances this strong sense of place. An abandoned garage in Beverly Hills is littered with Protein-his bars, Wright-his bottles of beer, and framed slogans alluding to American exceptionalism. The aging hype house has a neon streaming setup and an apology script called “CRY HERE FOR SYMPATHY.”

Image: Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver

The game’s script is full of cynical jabs against this interesting future of mankind, but it’s hard to call it a good satire because it doesn’t envision anything else. , due to muted facial animations, dead island 2The worst lines of the stick out, leading to wooden readings and back-and-forth dialogue that often feels as if it straddles itself. It features a jarring denial of the quickly outdated apocalypse, as well as elaborate Internet culture references that reach the. “Slam that like button like a fly when your parents aren’t home,” says one quest giver when killing zombies in a gratuitous way to create a viral video.

overwhelming deceit and cynicism dead island 2 Without hope or sincerity to the contrary, it can ultimately make the experience of playing it feel like a kind of downer, much like it feels after eating a lot of junk food.My partner turned to me during a late-game session and said that I appeared to be on autopilot. I was looking for something to do and a satisfying narrative crescendo. dead island 2The nostalgic charm of will take you back to a simpler time.

dead island 2 will release on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on April 21st. This game was reviewed on PS5 using a pre-release download code provided by Deep Silver. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.