Dead Island 2: We tried the continuation of the brutal zombie action

Dead Island is essentially a classic zombie slasher with in light tone. No serious plot or fights with people are waiting for you here. You get a gun in your hand and you can run to complete missions and cut off the heads of zombies. The fact that the name does not play for nothing is really nice. This is pure entertainment, during which even your character often realizes how absurd things really are.

And that’s good, because the first part was not the best in terms of plot, and the duo decided to change that. There is no heartbreaking story to distract you from killing zombies. It’s just that this time the creators decided to make funny characters. really funnyto make you laugh, not “cringe”. He himself confirmed it to us. James Worrallwho works as the game’s creative director.

We think the lighthearted tone works because it allows us to balance horror and humor. It’s a pretty brutal, bloody game, and if it was taken very seriously, I think it would get too serious pretty quickly. So we’re trying to balance it sense of humor and a bit of irony, which also makes our heroes rather frivolous. So they run a bit towards the dangerous type of person. They would rather run in the middle of the street than sneak around picking up knick-knacks and stuffing them into their backpacks. These are guys who just ride down the street and fight. However, the core of the game is still zombie related. Here you will not fight with other people. It’s not about human factions, human politics, and human this and that. Monsters are bad, people are good. And you play such an ambitious hero. We’re just focused on having fun.

At the very beginning of the game, you can choose one of six unique characters. Each has its own voice acting, its own motivation for killing zombies, and most importantly, its own statistics and passive abilities. However, by choosing a character you are not limited to one style of play, but it would definitely be better if you played with a favorite. For example, with Amy you will have a lot of stamina but little health. Ryan relies on two-handed weapons, while Jacob likes to attack quickly, which increases his damage. This approach is certainly not bad, but personally I would appreciate it if each character had their own active ability that would make them truly unique.

They additionally indicate the style with which you will play. skillswho are here presented in the form of maps. As you play, you will unlock more and more slots and cards to put in them. These cards can be swapped out at any time and allow you to, for example, regenerate health with successful dodges, increase your critical damage when you’re low on life, or when you’re hitting multiple zombies at the same time. Most of them again though passive abilitiesbut we’ll also find a section for action, which will presumably be modded and give you new ways to kill zombies.

Of course, there are also guns, and this is where the fun begins. Their offer is quite extensive and they are even divided into Various types. For example, blunt weapons do extra headshot damage, while sharp ones mostly chop off limbs. This allows you to strip the zombies of their arms or legs and thus different types of attacks, or of course you can go straight to the head. However, poles and sticks became my favorite category because they are perfect for quick attacks in a row and in addition to the really cool feeling of fighting, you also get additional damage on successful hits. In addition, weapons can also be improved – for example, to increase their durability or damage. But I was most interested in the category of elemental improvements, which allows you to set fire to zombies, electrify them and so on.

In Dead Island 2 you will find me firearms, and there should be quite a few of them. However, I didn’t get to play them for the short stretch I had the chance to, so it’s unfortunately impossible to judge how they’re being treated. But it definitely looks like they will be a lot of fun with them, and ammo won’t be as much of an issue as it was in Dying Light.

If you’ve been following Dead Island 2 closely, you may have noticed that the developers are pushing a new system called FLESH. Of course, we also had the opportunity to test it, because. it’s part of the core of the game. The FLESH system takes care of the zombies blood and especially limbs flew off beautifully. All this at the same time procedurally, so there was no need to animate everything manually. In addition, it offers players a smooth combat system and a beautiful spectacle, which I think is necessary in a game like this.

There must be some basic technological element in the game that brings something new to the player. And I think we’ve achieved that, and once we’ve done that, once we’ve set it up and implemented all of its features, it was easy to hang on to the core gameplay and define what is the absolute core of the game. Our FLESH procedural system optional this not only works in terms of gameplay, but also makes game development easier. Because now we don’t have to simulate the movement of each zombie and how blood will fly from it after each hit and blah blah blah. The FLESH system relieved us of this burden because it does it procedurally. And it also means that development can be more iterative because you just move the sliders around and try out slightly different settings. The FLESH system is not only the core of the gameplay, but it also freed our developers and allowed us to work faster.

The average player will probably not even notice the existence of the FLESH system. However, this is exactly what is good. So far, the developers could have spent more time creating the world and polishing the combat system, instead of endlessly animating.

At the same time, the world is arranged very beautifully. The game takes place in Los Angeleswhere you will visit beautiful beaches, the city itself and rich houses Hollywood starsaround which the beginning of the story revolves. At the same time, it is a kind of semi-open structure where you can move between different areas and explore them as much as you want. Here and there you will meet side quest or a legendary weapon that can only be found by choosing puzzles.

The locations themselves are interesting and detailed. For example, I had the opportunity to visit the premises of Hollywood studios with many sets and mannequins with which I could kill zombies. If there are more such places in the game, then I can assure you that you will definitely not be bored.

We focus more on violence than realism – if you understand me. We drew inspiration from various brands such as Alien, Predator, Robocop and the like, where the tone allows you to be more creative and focus on fun rather than just creating an endless, harrowing horror game.

My first impressions of Dead Island 2 are really great. The game has well thought out combat system, fun story and worldwhich has a lot to offer. If he can handle the title introduce new mechanics often enough and the ability to mow down zombies and move around the world, this can definitely be a game in which you will happily spend dozens of hours. Especially if it’s well crafted. cooperative mode, which should allow you to play with up to three players. So let’s hope the developers’ hard work over the last twelve years has paid off and we can enjoy another great zombie game.