Dead Island 2 review – Bleeding slow but worth it

In front of him Dead Island 2 ReviewI struggled to form an opinion after experiencing a mix of joy and disappointment and saw that others had experienced the same thing, so that’s exactly the hook we’ll be using. Dead Island 2 takes time to start, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get infected.

We begin our story after the last escape plane from Los Angeles crashes, leaving you and other survivors stranded during the zombie apocalypse. You will be bitten, you are immune and someone will tell you that you are the key to the vaccine. Of course, we’ve all heard this before. But unlike The Last of Us, we’re not here for the story.

There’s nothing groundbreaking about the story or the characters of Dead Island 2, which are essentially actors, drunks, and egotistical bodybuilders in a deliberately stereotypical Los Angeles atmosphere. Some get little development, while others never become anything more than a flash in the rearview mirror. The spelling is inconsistent. Sometimes it can be downright boring, other times it can be just plain boring. It’s better to be funny, though, with wacky quest titles, references to the first game (“Who are you voodoo, bitch?”), and, of course, light humor (“Be Randy to all of us”). At times, however, it strays from Duke Nukem-esque, unearthing fruit within arm’s reach despite a commendable performance on the show in its main cast.

Dead Island 2’s commitment to fun is best achieved through gameplay. If you’re thinking of picking up a zombie game just for the sake of the story, you’ll probably be disappointed, but that’s not the kind of criticism one can make. The story improves as the game progresses and even handles some twists and turns, but the game’s combat, and specifically the Dambuster FLESH (Full Location Evisceration Simulator for Humanoids) system, offers hours of customizable and scalable gameplay. It seems the story is designed to promote bloodshed, not the other way around.

Each model consists of layers of skin, muscle and bone, anatomically corresponding to the human body. The more damage you deal, the more The types damage: you will be able to see how your weapon affects your poor undead enemies. Hit them with corrosive acid and their skin will literally melt away. Throw a shuriken correctly and you’ll cleanly chop off limbs or even the head. Burn them with fire, and even the largest varieties of zombies will drop on you like incinerated skeletons in their final minutes. Trying these methods out and finding out which zombies work best is part of the learning curve and part of the fun.

However, like a zombie taking fire damage, Dead Island 2 burns slowly and navigation isn’t always smooth. In fact, the first steps can be a bit tedious, especially if you choose the wrong assassin. You’ll find yourself using the same mechanics, moves, and finishing moves to learn how to fend off zombies on all sides. Some of the early skills can be difficult to master; for example, I found that Amy’s “Block” starting ability is more difficult to use than Carla’s “Evade”. In two games I found those early stages tedious and boring in equal measure, but as you unlock more weapon upgrades and ability cards the game really opens up.

The workbench has always been an essential part of the Dead Island experience, and finding the various Dead Island 2 blueprints scattered across the map allows you to craft one of the craziest and most gruesome weapons I’ve ever seen. in a game. . Customization is at the heart of Dead Island 2, and the more you unlock, the more you can be confident in how you want to play. Would you rather melt zombies with acid or set them on fire? Build your weapon around that desire and change it when you change your mind. Of course, abilities need to be considered here as well, as does your overall tool set – some zombies are immune to certain effects, so it’s best to have at least one in your arsenal, but you’re free to kill. undead like You want. And that’s where the real fun begins.

As you upgrade your weapons, you will also collect ability cards and complete your set of skills, survival skills, special assassin skills and more. This greatly increases the customization element of the game, as you can play around with these abilities to build a deck of your favorites. The skill deck also gives Dead Island 2 significant replayability, choosing different assassins and different cards for a new experience.

This escalation of your skills and arsenal fits the difficulty curve perfectly. Dead Island 2 features a variety of zombies, each of which, especially in the latest game, show off their terrifying abilities. When you can use “higher” rarity weapons, you find yourself taking out shufflers, walkers, and even runners with a single counter, making it easier to take out the crowd. However, the truly terrifying Crushers, Screamers, and Butchers will spawn more frequently to keep you on your toes, and that’s before you face off against their fire- or acid-breathing counterparts. The same goes for the bosses in Dead Island 2, which tracks your own increasing lethality well and presents you with new zombie options before they become regular enemies.

You will die again. A lot. Dead Island 2 is not an easy task, even on normal difficulty, and standard big battles play out like battle puzzles: to solve them, you have to study the arena map, which zombies spawn, at what time, and when to drop them. your skills respectively and other similar rhythms that will take you several races to assimilate. Pay attention to your surroundings and don’t get carried away by the big bosses as they will usually surprise you by summoning the cavalry when you least expect it.

So another argument in favor of Dead Island 2 is its respawn mechanic. No matter how many times you die, you will never lose too much progress, but if you die multiple times for the same boss or quest, it will send you even further than when you first spawned. This may sound infuriating, but it’s actually condescending; this allows you to get a broader view of your surroundings, grab some extra medkits, or upgrade your weapons at a workbench. You’ll even end up with all the weapons you might have picked up in the previous attempt, and some of the zombies you killed will remain dead. It’s a breath of fresh air, especially since we’ve just had a zombie game constantly respawning in the same spot before a fight, with no way to improve your situation until your next try: I’m looking at you, Resident Evil 4 Remake.

There’s no denying that Dead Island 2 is awesome. You have enough freedom of movement to call it a semi-open world game, and even surrounded by bloodthirsty zombies, you’re invited to simply walk Venice Beach at sunset, see Beverly Hills from one of the many impressive observation decks, and just generally… Smells. Like Roses – This invitation is found on blueprints and collectibles you find while exploring. However, Dead Island 2’s environments aren’t just about long walks on the beach, but how you can interact with them. And that, if I can start fighting again, is the best of the game. The most interesting thing I’ve had in HELL-A is the use of well-placed fuel canisters, caustic-x, and even some variants of the zombies. themselves, which explode nearby undead hordes when shot correctly.

Dead Island 2 is an uneven experience; its ups and downs can make you feel like you’re on a roller coaster at the end of the Santa Monica Pier. But the highs are worth the bump in the lows. Stick to a slow opening, take time to enjoy and explore the world, upgrade your toolbox and experiment with it, and the fun you get from dominating hordes of zombies will carry you through moments of horror, forced typing, and forgettable characters. . . Who needs it anyway? It is you who kills.