It’s been a very long time coming but Dead Island 2 is almost here.
We first saw a glimpse of what was to come way back in 2014, since then the game has been passed around to multiple development companies before finally landing in the lap of Deep Silver’s Dambuster Studios.
This preview piece was also published on 9News.com.au
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The initial trailer became iconic, and it still stands up as one of the best teaser trailers for a video game ever.
Its depiction of a person running along the boardwalk in LA pumping music through headphones, oblivious to the happenings around them, was spoofed by the announcement of Goat Simulator 3.
The first Dead Island game sold over five million copies in 2011, a whole 12 years ago, and now the blood bath is returning with a vengeance.
Last week, Quest Daily went hands-on for a preview of the game, and it’s almost everything we’d hoped it’d be.
First up, the world looks great. It’s full of incredibly detailed environments, big celebrity mansions, rockstars, hotels and narrow LA (or HELL-A) streets.
It’s worth noting this is not an open-world game, but there’s still plenty to explore. It’s divided into large areas of HELL-A, with many locked doors and tough enemies blocking paths.
Much like the previous titles, there’s a lot of generic loot and items lying around. I’ve never known a town to have so many fuel and water canisters spread throughout it – but gosh darn it, they come in handy.
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After an action packed intro and an exploding plane, you’re offered your choice of six characters, or Slayers, to play the game as. Each Slayer has its own unique abilities and attributes, I chose Amy
The combat is very hack-and-slash, but it’s as expected and exactly what you want it to be.
As more you level your character up, the more moves you unlock, making combat that little more fluid and exciting each time.
You can also craft and customise weapons to your liking.
During my five hours or so of game time, I played around with a few elemental upgrades for melee weapons; “Cremator” mod, “Electrocutor” mod and the “Impactor” mod, which applies force for knocking back enemies.
There’s no shortage of creative “kills”.
I say “kills” because they’re already dead… Right?
It was so satisfying to jump and launch myself sideways at a zombie, knocking them to the ground.
The game has one of the first-ever layered tissue and dismemberment mechanics, which is as brutal and gross as it sounds.
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Striking an enemy will cause its skin to split open at the exact spot you’ve targeted. Hitting that same spot again will expose bone – keep hitting and – well, you get the idea.
Deep Silver Dambuster Studios’ call it FLESH (Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids), and it works a charm.
When downing a walker for the first time, I pretty much destroyed my weapon looking at all the ways FLESH could be utilised – it’s a truly unique system.
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When my time was up with the preview, I was still itching to play. I jumped on Steam and booted up the original game – my save files from 2012 still there in all their glory.
It was a great game back then, but they have come such a long way. After all of those delays and studio changes, things are really looking up for Dead Island 2.
It’s coming to Xbox, PlayStation and PC on April 21 – look out for our full review in the weeks to come.
Deep Silver recently release about 15 minutes of gameplay, check it out below
