Dead Island 2 review: An enthralling, zombie-slaying experience

I've been waiting on Dead Island 2 since the original game launched. There's something satisfying about slaughtering zombies with a wide variety of skills and weapons. There was a lot of fear that, because the fans had been waiting for eight years, the expectations would be far too high, and no amount of quality gameplay would be good enough. Though I am a Dead Island/zombie movie fan, I understand that sometimes these things just take time.

I have to say, the gameplay was exceptional. Zombie games can go one of two ways - too easy or too ridiculously hard. The game throws challenges at you at a reasonable level, and since foes scale up with you, there's no expectation of needing to grind. Dead Island 2 did not disappoint at all.

Dead Island 2 has some incredible new additions to the zombie-slaying franchise

No matter which Dead Island 2 survivor you play as, the beginning is the same. An unfortunate plane crash occurs outside of Los Angeles, and it's up to you to get free. Somehow, you're one of the few people to survive. I won't go over much of the story since, while it's predictable, it's still got enough mysteries to unravel and twists to discover.

You can't switch Survivors once you pick one, but you can have multiple playthroughs. This means you should take your time because they all have different base stats and special abilities that make them worth selecting. The characters can easily complement each other in multiplayer, so there's truly no wrong choice. Some are easier to play solo than others, though.

The biggest and best change to Dead Island 2 has to be the Skill Deck. You'll unlock skill cards in several categories as you progress through the game. This can be done through a variety of methods. Some come from in-game milestones, some are hidden in the world, and some drop from the hordes of the undead. These are Abilities, Survivor, Slayer, and Numen.

These cards in Dead Island 2 enhance your abilities and give you special powers. Some even improve your power while channeling your inner fury. Without spoiling too much, survivors can enter Fury Mode where they go wild and thrash enemies with raw melee power.

It was extremely useful, and frankly, it made a few bosses (such as the last boss) incredibly trivial. One thing that hasn't changed is the ability to create custom weapons. However, it has expanded since the original release. You can even harvest the body parts of zombies to create some truly special powers for your guns, swords, bats, and swords.

I love that weapons aren't useless when they run out of durability. It's cheap to repair weapons, and you can even enhance their item level/damage if you pick up something you like early. I kept a few weapons in my collection for nearly the entire game. These changes to Dead Island 2 will certainly augment the experience.

Combat in Dead Island 2 delivers on every level

Combat is intense in Dead Island 2, that's for sure. It features the FLESH System (Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids). While that sounds a bit silly, I'll break it down.

You can target virtually all limbs and sports on a zombie and slash, slaughter, and shoot them off the body. Once I had a hunting rifle, I spent much time shooting legs off of zombies and immediately popping them in the head.

You can slash, cut, melt, electrocute, and burn these various zombies. They respawn fairly fast, so there's almost always one or two lurking somewhere nearby - unless you're in a safe house. It's so easy to defeat enemies in a variety of ways. You can still use the environment to your advantage, and I adore that.

Heck, I even defeated one of the Dead Island 2 bosses by knocking them into the ocean, never to be seen again. You can throw car batteries into water (or oil to set it ablaze) and so much more. I set up so many amazing kill zones where zombies shambled right to their deaths. This was easily my favorite part of the game, which is good - killing is the most important part of a zombie game.

You also have throwable items called Curveballs in Dead Island 2. I was worried about these because I thought it was one more thing to purchase. Once you have these items (Caustic-X bombs, Grenades, Throwing Stars, et cetera), you have them forever. They simply have a cooldown before you can use them again. It's such a great way to deal with throwable items.

However, once I had access to guns, the ammo was in short supply. It took until later to start crafting it, and gunpowder was also pretty sparse. Thankfully, crafting reagents respawn - so if you find a good place to farm what you need, you can save repeatedly and come back in to grab more. That, or wait in-game - it won't take long.

I also appreciate that, while yes, there are variant zombies in Dead Island 2, Apex Zombies, the concept is introduced slowly. You have a few variants (which also come in other flavors), but they are introduced as boss battles, so you learn how to fight them.

There are the big muscular Crushers, the grotesque, jiggly Spitters, the psychotic, sword-armed Butchers, and the Mutators. Mutators have several of the other monsters' abilities. Frankly, the most frustrating one to fight on a regular basis is the Butcher.

The only real complaint I have in combat on Dead Island 2, is that the checkpoints aren't very consistent. Sometimes, I could run right back into a fight and resume fighting, and others, you have to start the entire event over. It wasn't a big deal, but it did result in me having to fight a few events quite a few times.

However, the most important thing you have to learn in Dead Island 2 is to block or dodge. Master at least one of these. I spent more time dodging, personally. If you dodge a regular zombie once (sometimes twice) perfectly, they essentially enter a stunned state. Then, you press Square and mash attack (R2) twice.

If you're as strong as them, you'll likely instantly kill the zombie. If you're stronger, you can defeat them in just one hit. Otherwise, you deal some damage and have to resume the fight. There's a Skill Card that gives you health back on successful dodges/blocks, and it's invaluable.

Dead Island 2's music and visual style is unique, and the gore is turned up to 11

The colors of Dead Island 2 are bright and flashy, and it definitely feels like Los Angeles and its surrounding areas. Beverly Hills and Venice Beach, it all feels so vibrant and real - despite being in the middle of a hellish apocalypse. However, the game has some truly horrific and gross areas and moments.

Some of the underground areas were covered in horrific blobs and waves of human flesh that made my stomach turn. I adore zombie films and love seeing all that intense body horror; even parts of this game made me shudder. I loved that! I didn't expect to be shocked by anything I saw. But when I saw something described as a "flesh slurry," oh lord.

Blood and gore were not in short supply in Dead Island 2. From zombies that explode to chopping off limbs and blood spurting everywhere, this game had all the violence and explosions I could want.

If I can complain about one thing in the game visually, it's the map. Now, I like it - it fits the aesthetic of the game. The map resembles a "Map of the Hollywood Stars", and that's brilliant. But I detested using it to find anything. I also enjoyed the calm music of the safe havens and the moments when there was dead silence.

However, some of the boss music felt incredibly on the nose. One of the boss themes was something about needing to run away and survive, and coincidentally, that's what I was doing.

It reminded me of the film Pro Wrestlers versus Zombies. Now, I don't say this as something I hate, but it did make me laugh a bit. The music was excellent but I felt like they were singing about what I was doing.

It fits the aesthetic of the game, though, because it felt like a Hollywood zombie survival epic. From the story to the over-the-top violence, it felt like a mid-2000s zombie film. I say that with nothing but the utmost respect, though.

Final Thoughts

Dead Island 2 is an incredible and enjoyable experience. I only briefly played it in multiplayer, but I look forward to potentially playing it with my friends when it goes live in a few days. There's still plenty for me to do in the game, and I can always start over. I do hope there are more story missions to come, whether it's DLC or updates, though.

The ending, while satisfying, was a bit sobering, and it felt like the developers were teasing that something else was waiting - a further truth, or more information about the zombie apocalypse. It was even briefly mentioned in one of the side quests I took on in the post-game, so I hope there's more to tell here. Even with what's on offer, it will not disappoint. It's an incredibly wild ride, and I'm glad to have taken it.