Who Do You Voodoo 2
Do you remember Dead Island? You’d be forgiven if not, having launched 2011 by Techland it has the genesis of what they would later use to become Dying Light. Unlike most zombie games that have players mowing down the undead with firearms, DI bucked this tradition and instead focused on melee combat. The game was a hit and even got an expansion that some people think is the sequel, in fact the actual sequel was announced in 2014 but has been in development since 2012. Just like Duke Nukem Forever before it, DI2 was passed between many developers until finding its place at Dambuster Studios and finally it will see its release.
Dead Island 2 takes place about 10 years after the events of the first game on the island of Banoi. This time the game takes place in sunny LA, players are caught in a plane crash that is trying to evacuate the city after a zombie outbreak sends things into chaos. It’s at this point where players can choose their character, each one offering a set of skills useful for dispatching the undead. Just as in the original each of the survivors have their own unique personalities which leads to different results when interacting with the various supporting class. In co-op the game will randomly move between characters for responses so that players can all get a chance to crack wise.
MSRP: $69.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $69.99
When it comes to skills in DI2 these are handled by the cards that players will earn through progression or find throughout the world. These consist of core abilities like block or dodge and even a two-footed jump kick which is always fun to do to more random ones that will augment weapon attacks or stamina drain. It’s with these cards that players can further customize their chosen characters. While DI2 doesn’t have any hard ‘classes’ players can read each person’s passives and gauge what role they would be best at. Each of them has stats that players can compare if one wants to go into the game with the mindset of min/maxing you can.
Dead Island 2 can be a difficult game at times, and the lack of a difficulty meter really hurts this game accessibility wise. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed by zombies and have weapons break if players aren’t paying attention. In the original DI, the melee system was controlled using the right analog stick, which was all the rage then and gave more flexibility for control. But the most important thing it did was allow players to target specific limbs on the zombies. Want to hobble a walker, use the bat and target his rotting leg breaking it, chop off an arm to stop them from swinging or go for the ‘money shot’ and slice the head off with a bladed weapon. For some reason though, they opted to take away the ability to target body parts in DI2, instead melee is just players swinging their weapon wildly or they can hold the button to charge it up for a powered up heavy attack. This just seems like such an odd design choice when paired with the fact the team have developed a special way to create zombies that realistically reacts to the damage they receive. As players slice the cuts will appear on the flesh, knock a jaw off and it will be hanging on by some sinew. All the damage is based on location, so it seems counterintuitive to take away the ability to specifically target locations. Earlier in this game than in the original Dead Island though, players will gain access to guns and can shoot and snipe to their hearts’ content.
Just as in the original the maps are huge, not a seamless open world but very large stages for players to explore. Each of these locations are full of things to find like scrap, parts and the like; these are used to upgrade and craft equipment. The world is also full of various blueprints that will allow weapons to be modded to add fire or electricity to attacks. These things not only will burn or stun a zombie accordingly, but DI has various fluids that can be used to interact with things in the world. Jerry cans of water, fuel and acid are commonplace and can be mixed with your modded weapons to some fun effects. Create pools of water and strike it with an electric hammer to create a sizzling trap for those undead, or if you like some BBQ set up a fire trap and watch them burn to a crisp.
All of this chaos is made even more fun due to the FLESH system that the developers have come up with for the in-game zombies which procedurally breaks skin on enemies. As players slice the zombies each cut can be seen, even cutting through fabrics of clothes. Which means that every zombie that players run into will be unique, there are so many ways to maim and destroy them that most of the fun will come from just setting up epic zombie traps with friends. Some enemies will be resistant to some attacks though as there are a varied amount of zombie types. The large crusher variety (who you will first meet as a literal Bridezilla) to army zombies with grenades strapped to them and lots of things in-between; there are a large amount of undead for players to murder.
Audio is another area that I feel like Dead Island 2 shines, not just with the usual moans and groans of the undead but also with the various human voices’ players will hear. The cast of player-controlled characters all sound great and exude a personality each their own. Dead Island 2 has also leveraged the use of Alexa voice technology, by linking your Amazon account with the Dead Island 2 game players that have a microphone can use their voice to control different aspects of the world. For instance, shouting ‘Hey You’ will taunt zombies in the area, but players can also use their voice to switch weapons mid fight. There is a long list of accepted commands but just by saying “gimmie a gun’ the game equipped my rifle while I was fighting with a sword. Or you can say “equip a blunt weapon” and the game will give you the best one in your inventory. Using your voice to control a game isn’t anything new, I mean Xbox tried to make it a common thing but the way it’s handled here is perfect. And if players don’t want an open mic, it is set by default to hold a start button to activate the feature.
I’m not going to lie, any time I can get a co-op game that has me killing zombies I am usually down. I had a lot of fun taking apart zombies with the wide array of modded weapons and tools in Dead Island 2. The story isn’t going to win awards, but it is fun B movie faire. And they even manage to bring back some faces from the original like my boy Sam B. Here though he isn’t bald, but instead has hair like an older Luther Vandross but still rocks his gigantic, gold ‘B’ chain. As someone who played the original, I enjoyed the easter eggs and callbacks, but Dead Island 2 is its own game and no prior knowledge is necessary other than that zombies are bad and need to be put down, no matter the cost. Even the reversion of the melee controls from the original didn’t make me like this game any less and for those of us who have been waiting for the sequel since it was announced in that now classic trailer, Dead Island 2 delivers on the promise and provides and fun, sunny jaunt in a zombie filled ‘HELL-A’ that is an absolute blast with friends but also fun in solo.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
