After years of development in limbo, Dead Island is due out next month and it’s looking good. I was able to play it for a few hours and I can’t wait to see more.
Dead Island 2 has been a long time coming, but the zombie shooter finally sees the sun, and not just any sun, but the warm rays of the LA sun. Sure, it might not be Los Angeles you want to visit, but we can take in some landmarks while we’re there, even if those scenic vistas are on fire from, you know, an apocalypse zombie.
With all that in mind, I got my hands on a pre-release version of the game and played for a few hours through a handful of missions that really got me used to this west coast lifestyle with celebrities, movie studios and a whole lot… gore. It’s what Dead Island 2 fans have been waiting for, and it’s certainly shaping up to be another good time to smash the zombies.
welcome to hell one
source: Dead Island 2, Deep Silver/Plaion Editorial
One of the most obvious differences in Dead Island is that you’re not on an island, but you can explore what happened to Los Angeles after the zombies appeared. Affectionately known as Hell-A to some locals, the town was evacuated by the government, but some unlucky guys, like your character, weren’t so lucky to get out.
The game begins with the protagonist surviving a plane crash and discovering that others also made it out alive. These include the famous actress Emma Jaunt, who later offered him refuge in his huge house in Bel-Air. There he discovers other survivors and learns that the army may have a base of operations at a nearby hotel, where he volunteers to go get help. Not only that, but you also realize that you are immune to becoming a zombie and therefore hold the key to finding the cure. Reaching this hotel is one of the first main missions in the game, and with it comes the opportunity to explore the broken neighborhoods of Los Angeles.
Unsurprisingly, Dead Island 2’s setting is what gives the game its flair. From Bel-Air to Beverly Hills, the streets you travel feature lots of devastation, abandoned homes, and show signs of people trying to get out. Moving from one neighborhood to another often means going through abandoned military checkpoints. This not only gives the game time to load each new location, but also gives you an idea of how quickly things are hitting the fan.
The houses you visit also contain cheeky references to the kind of people you’d expect in LA, like content creators and celebrities: expect zombies in yoga pants and overcrowding around swimming pools, for example. Exploring also lets you find side quests that give you extra experience points and useful weapons that you get as rewards.
One of those missions was to protect an elderly celebrity as she came down her stairlift and the other had me kill zombies while an influencer recorded everything on her phone to post later once the internet would come back. I’m excited to see what other side missions the game has in store that will not only bring out the colorful Los Angeles setting, but also continue to give the series its unique, twisted brand of humor.
hit and run
Just like in the original Dead Island, using the resources you find in your environment is crucial to your survival. You’ll often find miscellaneous weapons like pieces of wood, pool cues, and keys as you explore, and having plenty of weapons will keep you alive as they wear out over time.. To increase their durability and resistance, you can also find blueprints that will allow you to upgrade weapons by giving them mods that change their effects.
source: Dead Island 2, Deep Silver/Plaion Editorial
Some of these mods come at a cost and can make your weapon less durable, but stronger. Others are more beneficial and can provide additional effects, such as elemental damage which you can take advantage of by having zombies walk over puddles or douse them in gasoline to shock or burn them. Your environment is constantly changing depending on where you go, so having a good mix of weapons to use at different times is key to staying alive.
During my preview, I didn’t touch on the part where you could equip pistols or other ranged weapons, so I could only use melee weapons to defend myself. Still, there are definitely plenty of tools to choose from, and some more powerful weapons can also incapacitate enemies, knocking them to the ground. This gives you a chance to unleash a fatality on them by smashing them on the head and knocking them out of your distance so you can focus on the other zombies attacking you. Combat can be a bit tricky at times, so knowing your character’s strengths and weaknesses is crucial to defending yourself.
Survival techniques
source: Dead Island 2, Deep Silver/Plaion Editorial
When you first start your game, you have the option to choose the type of character you want to play as from a list of six potential survivors with different attributes. These include Tenacity, Stamina, Health Recovery, Critical Damage, Agility, Max Health, and Stamina. Each Survivor has an attribute they excel at and another that is their weakness, so knowing this information early can shape how you play.
Characters also come with innate abilities that grant them a buff based on their actions. The most agile survivor in the game, Amy recovers energy after hitting a zombie with a missile weapon and gains bonus damage when fending off lone zombies. These abilities are very useful considering he has the lowest stamina, which means he is very sensitive to damage. It makes sense that someone like her can dodge attacks early on, while tanker Ryan can block attacks and recover health when hitting zombies.
The character I chose to play the longest was Bruno, a Los Angelino who has the highest crit damage in the game (but the lowest health) and gets a boost every time he attacks from behind. Add to that an innate ability that allows you to increase your agility by perfectly dodging attacks, and I ended up with a character that offered the kind of playstyle I was looking for. the beauty of dead island 2 is that these survivors can give you a different combat experience through their attributes and skills, while bringing their own personality to every time they speak their lines.
As you play and gain experience points by defeating zombies, your character levels up and unlocks various ability cards that you can equip to further develop your build. Each character has unique ability cards they can only learn, but there are other universal abilities you’ll find in any game, such as cards that allow you to recover health when you block successfully, or abilities that stun zombies depending on the situation. Some of them are obtained by simply leveling up naturally, but others are also obtained by exploring and completing side quests.
Your skills and character may mean that you sometimes avoid zombies, lure them into dangerous environments, or focus on sneaking up and taking them out one by one. In addition to your weapons, you can also deploy items such as dynamite, a flask of liquid that extinguishes fire and moistens zombies, and even a jar of meat that explodes and lures zombies in, providing them with a distraction and a way to lure them into the streets, traps. . These tools recharge over time and can really come to the rescue and get you out of sticky situations.
There is a lot to look forward to!
source: Dead Island 2, Deep Silver/Plaion Editorial
If my experience with the game is good, dead island 2 it will also have many fun bosses. One of the first bosses I had to defeat was a zombie bride who kept walking towards me in what should have been her ballroom, while members of her wedding party joined her in stalking me. I had to trick her into electrocuting and then blowing herself up, so I could punch her while dodging her earthquake attacks, while listening to beautiful wedding music in the background. The other boss fight took place on a movie set and featured a giant robotic spider and lots of special effects. I won’t spoil the details, but it was definitely a very Hollywood sequence.
Dead Island 2 is out next month and I can’t wait to play it more. The game already looks different from the original, but in a good different way. Your screenplay will certainly feature more ironic humor than the original, and the characters i’ve met so far seem layered and have their own story to tell. Allowing you to equip your character with all the abilities and weapons you want allows you to play the game the way you want without making it too difficult for every build. So far, it seems the ultimate test of your long-term skills will be your ability to use the tools provided to you.
We’ll definitely be looking for Dead Island 2 when it releases on April 21.