On April 21st, 2023, the newest edition to the ‘Dead Island’ franchise officially hit the stores for everyone to purchase, and enjoy.
The carnage that ensues within the first few minutes of gameplay hooks audiences immediately, leaving a dark impression on new players. Not only did it create a sense of dread, but it also created an atmosphere for exploration, almost as if you were Columbus or Cortés in the flesh, navigating through hordes of the undead like the rocky waters of the sea.
The complex layers, and design of LA, dubbed as ‘HELL-A’, were filled to the bone with many references to American culture, and pop culture alike. Such as the beauty of Hollywood and its many film sets, numerous stunning beaches, and unreasonably expensive weddings. All the essentials that make America a great place to live in.
Less than a month after its debut, Dead Island 2 had already sold over a million copies.
The demand for another zombie slasher from the prominent franchise had been a topic of discussion for many long, agonizing years. The ten-plus years of development hell, which basically means a game that is put on the back burner indefinitely, was well worth it.
Unlike the previous games, this game follows the outbreak as it hits the world stage, as opposed to random islands that mimic the Bahamas.
The original game(s) follows, Sam B, a musician, and blunt weapons specialist, Xian Mei, a sharp weapons user, Logan Carter, a professional knife thrower, and Purna Jackson, a gun zealot. These four were blessed with immunity to the infection.
Although it was a blessing to not turn into a ravaging beast, it led to the posse being forced on life-threatening expeditions throughout the island. Immunity means nothing when a zombie charges at you head-first, with the intent to rip out your insides.
Whether it be retrieving gas cans to incinerate rotting corpses, or finding canned foods and juice boxes for the other survivors, the game had many different ways of testing your problem-solving skills.
My personal favorite missions were navigating through the grotesque sewer system, only to find acid-spitting zombies at every turn. It may have killed my appetite for food, but it quenched my appetite for bloodshed.
After the initial events of the original series, not much is known about the survivors after leaving the island. All we do know is they never stopped looking over their shoulders, to the bitter end.
In the new game, Sam B makes a special appearance as one of the few non-infected people in ‘HELL-A’. Not only does he bless us with his presence, but he also helps drive the story forward with his various ideas, and combat experience.
After all, there is a reason he was my favorite character in the old games. His ability to say it how it is, and execute his goals thoroughly was phenomenal, and an example of how to react to the spectacle that was happening on the islands.
Although not much is known about the other original survivors, at least we know Sam is sippin’ some Henny by a pool somewhere watching the world go round. I see that as enough of a win, don’t you agree?
My thoughts on the newest game.
Months after the initial release of ‘Dead Island 2’, I had the pleasure of completing the ‘main quests’, nearly every ‘side quest’, and even a few ‘lost-and-found’ quests with one of my older brothers, (shoutout to Hussain). During this process of learning the mechanics of the game, we stumbled upon multiple different challenges that left us wondering whether or not we could beat the game at all.
The game does not follow an open-world type environment, instead, some may call it a semi-open-world landscape instead. Although the original gave you the ability to explore as much of the island without any fast traveling, Dead Island 2 still delivers the appropriate amount of space to complement a complex landscape.
People ask for way too much from a zombie shooter. The amount of criticism the game received for not being open-world was absurd, and still is. We, as the players were given a lot of room to explore and try out our new skills and weapons, what more could you want? Go check out the beaches, the views were lovely and the space felt endless.
The only thing that bothered me and my brother was the lack of a trading system, and not being able to sell low-level weapons. These perks proved critical during the times when money was scarce, as we progressed deeper into the game. We were able to compensate for this by dropping weapons, and scrapping unsellable weapons as we saw fit.
Scrapping weapons allowed players to attain parts, which led to upgrading their arsenal to your idea of perfection. Weapon upgrades such as electric, fire, poison, and more, were accessible in the crafting tables scattered across the playable areas.
The scavenging/mapping system also proved to be hard to navigate as well.
See, the original game had luggage scattered across the map for players with endless amounts of money and items. Even when leaving the area, the luggage would spawn back the items that were originally lost. This made it very easy to get back money that was originally lost when being defeated by the undead or buying items from a vendor.
The maps also proved annoying to use as well. It was not until we finished 70% of the game before realizing how it worked. I say we, but it was mostly my brother, (shoutout to Hussain, again), who did know how. I made him upset on numerous occasions because he kept carrying the team, it was pretty funny but it was kinda sad for me as well. Anyways, that’s something to look out for when playing the game.
I would rate the overall game at: 8.5/10
If you love slashers, you will love Dead Island 2. If not, you’re better off playing Rocket League or something else of that nature. Also, make sure to play with a friend, we all need a Hussain in our lives, they come in handy when you need more than one opinion on what to do next.
The gore was absurdly unnecessary, and I loved every bit of it. Have fun walking the streets of the undead, you’ll have a HELL-OF-A time!
