The wait was long, but in the case of Deep Silver and Dambuster Studios’ Dead Island 2, it was definitely worth it. Shambling its way back onto the scene, Dead Island 2 cements the franchise’s place as one of the most fun beat em’up zombie games in the genre.
Choosing between six slayers whose personalities inject the humor and wit that’s to be expected out of the Dead Island franchise, players can change up their combat style with each slayer, allowing for greater replayability. For the purposes of this review, the Irish, doesn’t-give-a-hoot Dani was chosen to run around the lovingly nicknamed Hell-A with.
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Right from the start, Dead Island 2 shows the player exactly what to expect. It’s nothing ground-breaking, and the story won’t win any awards, but throughout the entire game there are no moments that feel laggy or stretched out. Above all else, Dead Island 2 delivers on its promise to be good, gory fun.
No longer actually on an island, Dead Island 2 introduces a lot of the same concepts and story beats: groups of survivors who need help, an immune protagonist, and lots of zombies to deal with. But unlike the original, this plays in a smooth frame rate, with fleshed out combat and more dynamic side characters. Immediately the standouts, and the ones that receive the most context, are the endearingly peculiar Patton and the famous British actress Emma Jaunt, who offers refuge in her mansion, alongside many others.
When the player first visits Emma’s mansion, it’s hard not to be taken aback by the view of the beautifully rendered Hell-A. It might not be Banoi island, but it’s still stunning, with standout environments and set pieces across the game. LA itself offers enough of a varied backdrop to keep things visually interesting during the journey from the Hills of Bel-Air down to the city’s famous Venice Beach. Overall, the map areas feel much more contained than the original Dead Island; however, that’s not to its detriment, as it feels clean and tight, with no unnecessary padding beyond good old-fashioned zombie takedown challenges.
This leads to the place Dead Island 2 really shines; its combat. Introducing Dambuster’s new procedural F.L.E.S.H system that allows skin and organs to be literally ripped away means the player can now plan and see the effects of specific hit points on a zombie, and also watch the different impacts and effects of each attack in full gory detail. Aiming for a zombie’s jaw will result in a horror-esque jaw dislocation as they still stretch futilely towards the player to bite. Taking off their legs or cracking their ribs will be shown in explicit detail, and adding environmental damage can cause skin to literally melt away.
Where enemies are hit really matters, and weapon effects vary from zombie to zombie. The vast number of options means the player has to think strategically and use interactable objects and their environmental effects tactically to press their full advantage. There are so many different variables and chances to become overwhelmed that simply running in and hacking and slashing just won’t cut it this time round.
Fundamentally, this strategic element is what really sets Dead Island 2 apart from other zombie adventures, even before the player gets to develop and expand their skill cards deck, which adds extra perks (and sometimes detriments). This additional skill section works differently to a skill tree to great effect, meaning the player is forced to think about the card choices made and swap them out according to playstyle, zombies and in-game progression. As the story evolves, skills unlock, and the player has to weigh the pros and cons of choosing a certain playstyle.
If there’s any criticism of Dead Island 2’s combat gameplay, it’s that some of it comes just a bit too late. Certain abilities and cards are locked until so close to the end of the story that by the time they are available, they seem almost pointless. This might have been to encourage continuing on with side quests and other missions after the final boss is beaten, but for those who aren’t completionists, the pacing of these unlockables is slightly off.
This lack of balance is particularly notable during the end game when the final skill set is unlocked. While it adds a new dynamic to the combat, it also has the unfortunate effect of making the endgame extremely anti-climactic. Despite the level scaling of regular zombies, if the player has completed some side quests and explored Hell-A a little, they’ll find their fury mode too overpowered to make the end game as spectacularly bloody as it could have been. In fact, due to the increase in skills, the last boss fight ends up being the most anti-climactic of the whole game, with little attention needed to take down the final big bad enemy.
While the narrative itself is fairly uninspired and character development is extremely basic, frankly, Dead Island 2 just doesn’t need to be anything more than it is. There’s enough offered throughout that there isn’t a boring moment, making it totally deserving of its approximate 35-hour runtime.
Overall, Dead Island 2 proves itself to be a totally fleshed out, fully realized version of what Dead Island can be with modern mechanics and gameplay. Most would be happy to find themselves stuck in Hell-A all over again, with a brand-new slayer to learn. For those who are fans of the original, there’s no way they won’t be taken by Dead Island 2.
Dead Island 2 releases on April 21, 2023 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Microsoft Windows. A copy of Dead Island 2 on PS5 was provided to Screen Rant for the purpose of this review.
