Dead Island 2 preview: zombie sequel with troubled history returns like nothing has happened

It was true: Dead Island 2 After a notoriously long and complicated development, it is now back in the limelight. And it’s not that far off from seeing the light of day, either. Deep Silver re-revealed the zombie survival sequel during Gamescom’s Opening Night Live, and confirmed it will be released on Feb. 3, 2023, on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.

Deep Silver and three other developers took 10 years to arrive at this stage. Techland was the originator of the original. Dead IslandIt stands alone expansion RiptideDeep Silver began looking for studios that could make the Dying Light sequel. Germany’s Yager (The Line: Spec OpsIn 2012, ) was promoted and Yager’s game was revealed for release in 2015. A public build was also shown. Deep Silver decided to drop Yager, apparently due to creative differences.

In 2016, U.K. studio Sumo Digital (LittleBigPlanet3, Crackdown 3The contract was won by ), and he worked on it. Dead Island 2For two-three years, in complete silence. Sumo too was then abandoned. Deep Silver revealed in 2019 that the development team had switched to Dambuster Studios, an internal company.The Revolution at the Homefront). There it stayed, and Dambuster’s is the version of this game that will be released, and that Polygon had the chance to play at an event in London earlier this month.

Image: Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver

This is the game. It comes with lots of baggage. The Dambuster Team is a different story. Dead Island 2 The game’s development began in 2018 and has continued as a typical process, despite the outbreak. This team was based in Nottingham in England’s Midlands. They took Yagers Californian setting and began to build. Dead Island 2Completely made from scratch

This game feels almost like a time-warp. That’s not a value judgment. There’s as much that’s refreshing about the straightforward approach Dambuster has taken as there is that seems simplistic or outdated about it. Its technical advancements aside, Dead Island 2It picks up right where the original series ended and seems like it should have been released in 2015. It’s a pulpy, wisecracking, ultraviolent, first-person action-RPG, with its sights firmly set on making killing zombies fun again.

Dead Island 2Six characters are available to play, with three-player online multiplayer. All characters have been infected by the zombie virus. However, they are immune and can channel their mutation via bursts zombified rage mode and through a skill-tree that personalizes and develops their skills. Tree is the wrong word for it, actually: Skills are presented as a deck of cards and can be swapped around at will once they’ve been unlocked, in a very free-form loadout-building process.

Image: Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver

Some skills will be perks; others will alter how various core moves work, like the flying kick, or the signature attack that’s triggered with both bumper buttons on a controller. Amy was the only character that I tested. This signature attack can be changed between an aggressive dash attack and a defensive ground-pound to quickly bring Amy into melee reach.

This is the taste of Dead Island 2 comes from combining these skills with some useful ranged attacks — I used Molotov cocktails — and with the game’s large and varied range of craftable and customizable weapons. There are a few guns, which are a little underwhelming to use — deliberately so, presumably, in a melee-focused game. A large, slow-moving sledgehammer can be used to strike with great force. Or an electrified machete that has a sharp edge. You could also use a swift and precise katana which is capable of cutting down zombie limbs. (Dambuster is very proud of its “procedural gore system” that allows for the undead to be mutilated in all sorts of creative and surprising ways.)

Like most first-person melee combat systems, it’s a little sloppy, but this isn’t entirely out of keeping for a game about bludgeoning walking corpses. The system is flexible and tactical, as well. It does not overwhelm players with disposable enemies. Dead Island 2They are introduced in smaller quantities that can be quite impactful. My demo was played on Santa Monica Pier. It had tight environments and lots of cover. This allowed me to play with heavy-hitting combat. I found I didn’t mind dying, as it meant a chance to experiment with different tactical approaches.

Image: Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver

Yager spoke out about its plan to bring the Californian zombie-apocalypse vision to San Francisco in 2014. But Dambuster plans to limit itself to large areas of faithfully rendered Los Angeles. Dead Island 2It is not an open-world, but rather allows for movement between several distinct and large areas. You will find more extensive areas, with side-quests available, but the primary thrust of the game, which will take you through L.A. street by street, will remain the same.

It’s a far cry from the exhilarating, freewheeling, open-world traversal of Dying Light 2. But maybe that’s the point, and maybe it’s no bad thing. Keep it real. Dead Island 2’s feet on the ground and keeping it simple might be the best way to move on from its difficult past.