To say that Dead Island 2 is the very definition of development hell is almost an understatement. It moved between different developers like some sort of unwanted trophy, Techland (which made the original in 2011) wasn’t trusted to make a sequel, because Yager Development got a chance.
However, development apparently didn’t go well and Sumo Digital had to take over. That didn’t go well either, so development moved to Dambuster in 2019. During this time, the project has been pretty much silent, and the only thing we have to go on with is the adorable trailer released in 2014, which shows the zombie adventure in sunny Los Angeles. So, how many of them actually survived to the end game?
There are actually many answers, and that becomes clear early on in the adventure. The California zombie apocalypse unfolds quickly in the demo video, which illustrates that seriousness is not their goal. After a brief introduction, I was given the opportunity to escape the apparently doomed city of Los Angeles (Hell-A for short) on a plane as one of six playable characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. These include Paralympian Amy, a very fast Asian lady, street-smart Bruno who looks as offbeat as possible, and Kara, a stunt driver who acts as a typical tank. I decided to play Ryan, dressed as a firefighter and seemed ready for anything. However, he’s a male stripper, not someone professionally disaster trained, but still acts as a tank.
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But if I do escape the disaster and live somewhere safe while I wait for the world to return to normal, it won’t be a big deal. So the plane doesn’t go very far, and the adventure can begin. My first mission was to find a famous person in Bel-Air that I met on the plane. The only problem is that I was bitten and about to turn into a zombie, it just doesn’t seem to be happening. As it turned out, Ryan was immune.
Early in the game, I feel like I have a complete picture of what’s going on because the controls are set up exactly according to the standard template. I can jump, dodge, hit things, throw things, and turn on the flashlight, all intuitively on the buttons I expect. One could of course argue that something that isn’t broken shouldn’t be fixed, and that changing just for its sake is usually unnecessary.
But unfortunately, that’s not the only area where I feel like Dambuster isn’t capable of doing enough new stuff, instead falling into old habits. It’s been a long time since I’ve played the original Dead Island, but it’s easy to feel like this is a bit too much of a direct and beautiful (because it’s a good-looking game, don’t think so) successor to the 2011 game.Now of course itISis a sequel to a game from twelve years ago, but it’s 2023 and more should happen in terms of gameplay.
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I mean, you’re often tasked with just clearing out an area of advancing zombies before any new events are triggered. In the preview version I played, I had so many doors missing batteries (who ran around during the apocalypse and ripped all the batteries out?), I had to find those doors to advance. The setting feels a little too dated, and the events in the story need to provide a more dynamic and surprising setting than just basically the exact same model as the first Resident Evil established in the 90s.
Also, after I hit two sponge zombies in the head, it felt kind of silly to run around a workbench with a giant crowbar in need of repair. I also don’t want to collect tons of raw materials to fix the pool cue I use to kill enemies. It slowed down the pace, which was magnified when I couldn’t pick up the piece of cloth in front of me because I wasn’t standing in the right position.
Fortunately, Dead Island 2 has other things going on. First, we have the repair system, which also includes improvements. As long as you have enough raw materials, you can repair your tools so that your heavy iron pipe is enough to kill another handful of zombies before it breaks again – and upgrade them. The latter can provide things like more damage or electrocution victims, among other advantages. I look forward to exploring more in the finished adventure.
There’s also a card system that the developers are really proud of. Basically, it’s like a level tree where you keep changing cards so you always have the perks you want. Even though this preview (a few hours long) didn’t give me a lot to try, I was able to equip myself with cards that would make enemies take damage when I used the health pack, and another card that would Leading to successful combos makes me more durable. It’s a potentially very interesting system, and I have high hopes for it.
Also often talked about is the fact that in Dead Island 2 you can literally smash your opponents to pieces. A well-aimed hit to the zombie’s jaw will make it dangle awkwardly from its face, while a well-aimed stab to the torso will expose the gut, and so on. Personally, I’ve found exercising the legs of my enemies to be very effective. Rub them, it’s much more convenient to deal with undead bastards. While the clearly visible wound system where I deal damage is purely graphical, I really like being able to get instant visual feedback on my weapons and the results of my attacks. There’s also a stamina meter to consider, which determines which attacks are most viable at the moment, and a parry system that not only saves lives, but also tells you to execute Mortal Kombat-inspired counterattacks.
The combat weight isn’t quite perfect, though. If I were to drive a golf club into someone’s skull with all of Ryan’s power, I’d expect it to be much more destructive than here, which would be more like hitting something with a Styrofoam bat. That said, the game controls are still good, and it’s fun to try out different weapon strengths in combat. Also, the environment can sometimes be used to my advantage in different ways, even if those ways were predictable in the demo, such as electrifying wet zombies, pushing them off an edge, or igniting them while they’re standing in oil.
I had hoped for more modern gameplay from Dead Island 2. Much of it feels a little too familiar, and at times uncharacteristically old. At the same time, there’s a lot of promising stuff, too, and with things like Adventures in the Sun, it seems like heaven. The fights might lack some punch, but they’re still hectic and fun, and it’s certainly possible to customize your fighters to your liking. Plus, Hell-A feels like a fun and incredibly beautiful place to explore, and you can often get a feel for what’s going on in the abandoned house when the disaster strikes, serving as an interesting detail to set the theme. In short, I’m looking forward to the finished game, because with a little more creativity and surprise, it’s possible to create something really good.
