It's been almost a decade since Dead Island 2 was announced by Deep Silver. The sequel was originally going to be developed by Techland, but after the studio decided to focus its efforts on Dying Light instead, Dead Island 2 was passed from pillar to post before settling with Dambuster Studios. I got the opportunity to spend five hours with it, which it turns out is plenty of time to get a feel for its vision of zombie-infested LA.
Aside from the limited number of quests available to me, nothing was out of bounds for this preview. Every character, weapon, skill card, zombie type, and more was available as they would be in the full release. Of course, only experiencing the first 5-6 hours of the game, I'm sure there are plenty of crazy weapon mods and zombie types that I'm yet to run into.
Set in the newly post-apocalyptic city of Los Angeles, or as the developers have dubbed it, HELL-A, Dead Island 2 immediately strikes you with its gorgeous visuals and vibrant color palette. Even in a world filled with the undead, the streets and mansions of L.A really make for a fun setting. I'm glad that despite going through numerous developers, L.A was the setting that stuck throughout Dead Island 2's gruesome development journey.
With six main characters to choose from, I found myself stuck for choice, especially considering there was no turning back once selected. Not only did I need to take each character's attributes into consideration, but I also had to decide how I wanted to play Dead Island 2. Was I going to go the brute force path and pick Ryan? Or the fast-paced and agile approach of Amy?
Ultimately, I settled with Jacob, mainly because his stats seemed to be pretty well-rounded, so I felt like I could be equipped for any sort of situation I got myself into. I did enjoy knowing there was a replayability factor to Dead Island 2 though, as the characters seemed varied enough to warrant actually returning for a second playthrough with a different approach.
There was also the matter of each player's starting skill cards. Even though the two starting cards assigned to each character couldn't be changed, I did have the opportunity to build out my deck and alter it throughout the course of my playthrough. Dambuster Studios said they want players to "play Dead Island 2 in [their] own way," which was clearly the core inspiration for the newly introduced skill cards.
As well as the replayability factor the cards brought with them, they're all about complementing the way you as an individual decide to play. Want to bombard your way through a bunch of zombies? You'll want the ground-and-pound card. Or are you looking to be quick and nimble in your onslaught? Then you'll want the 'group therapy' card, which allows you to regain stamina when slaying zombies in quick succession.
Although the skill cards seemed like a simple rehash of the RPG genre's usual skill tree, it was nice to be given the option to build my deck however I wanted it. It was clear that the devs had gone all in with the replayability factor, not just through the various different deck builds you could have, but with the vastly different character attributes too.
One thing that's going to immediately stand out to anyone picking up Dead Island 2, aside from the bright streets of L.A, is the procedural F.L.E.S.H system, which stands for "Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids." I'd heard plenty about it beforehand, but no news articles or explanations do it as much justice as simply playing.
Once I'd been let loose and left to my own devices, I'd been tasked with traveling through some classic, over-the-top L.A mansions, where I encountered my first batch of roaming zombies. A slow, stumbling walker makes its way towards me. I pull out a lead pipe, time my swing, and smack that sunnuva bitch right across the face.
Like something straight out of a George Romero movie, the zombie turned back towards me, flesh peeled back and jaw dangling horribly from its face. I was absolutely blown away at how gory the details were. Dambuster Studios has not come to play when it came to Dead Island 2's F.L.E.S.H system, they're all-in, and boy is it crazy satisfying.
The F.L.E.S.H system isn't just visually pleasing though, it also has an effect on gameplay. With so many different types of zombies roaming the streets, how you choose to attack them plays an important role. Dead Island 2's F.L.E.S.H system means you can maim a runner zombie with a timely swing to its kneecaps, dismembering it and preventing it from its main purpose...running.
And yet, even though Dead Island 2 quite literally lets you watch a zombie's flesh melt from its bones after being set on fire, it didn't leave me wanting more. Even in just 5-6 hours of playtime, the fun began to wear off once I realised this was, ultimately, just another zombie game with some added gore.
The story, which revolves around your character being bitten and finding out they're immune, is overdone and cliched. The writing is cheesy and, quite frankly, I just felt like I was playing Dying Light without the parkour. Of course, it's just a preview and we can't judge the full product yet, but based on the five hours of writing so far it's hard to see the story taking a drastic turn and becoming anything special.
A poorly written story can usually be overlooked if there's some epic combat to make up for it. Unfortunately, during my time with Dead Island 2, there wasn't anything beaming with innovation. It's certainly an improvement from its predecessor, but that game's, what, 13 years old now? Jump, dodge, kick, drop kick, swing, y'know...everything you could do in 2015's Dying Light minus the parkour. After a few hours, it all starts to get quite repetitive.
With that being said, I did find that there were some Hitman-esque environmental elements to play around with, which broke up the monotony of swinging at zombies. The final boss battle of my preview took place in a Hollywood studio lot, where I was able to employ the help of a van rigged with explosives, fire-blazing gas pumps, and a giant prop spider that shot water.
I wish I didn't spend the majority of my time with Dead Island 2 comparing it to the Dying Light series, but it's hard not to. The skill cards are a nice touch, and the F.L.E.S.H system appeals to the sadistic 13-year-old boy inside of me, but Dead Island 2 feels like it's just going to be another bog-standard zombie game to throw on the pile.
There's dumb fun to be had with Dead Island 2, but my initial impressions lead me to believe that this would have benefited from coming out when it was supposed to...about eight years ago.