Review | Dead Island 2 ‘an absolute blood bath’ (PlayStation 5)

Back in 2014, Dead Island 2 was announced at E3 with one of the most memorable game trailers ever. It depicted a man jogging up the Venice Beach boardwalk, listening to music, oblivious to the chaos unfolding around him.

Fans eagerly awaited more news, and now, after almost 10 years and a couple of studio changes, Dead Island 2 is here and ready for players to sink their teeth into and it’s an absolute blood bath of a game.

For the past week, I’ve been swinging machetes and sledgehammers into faces and launching Molotov cocktails into hordes of terrifying flesh-eaters – it’s been a blast!

Whether you’re new to the series or have been readily waiting all this time, I’m happy to say it delivers.

Gameplay

There’s no escaping the gore. If you’re going into this thinking there’s just a little bit of blood and a couple of severed limbs – think again.

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Every attack with a weapon is categorically brutal, tearing off layers of flesh and snapping bones with every swing.

In fact, the team at Dambuster Studios created entirely new technology to make sure every layer of rotting flesh is on show.

Named FLESH, or Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids, the function sees each zombie layered from the skin to bones and organs, creating incredibly detailed and gory kills.

Did I excessively slice up a zombie to see how each layer was exposed and how far it could go? Yes. Yes I did, and I did it in the name of this review.

Ignoring all the blood splatter, limb slicing, and head bashing, there’s nothing overly crude in the game – it’s a happy medium of stupid amounts of violence, no nudity and minimal sexual references. It’s tasteful excessive violence (if that’s a thing).

There’s one difficulty setting for all players, so if you’re wanting an easy ride you’re out of luck. It’s survival of the fittest when it comes to the zombie apocalypse. That said, the game isn’t overly difficult – just make sure you keep your weapon fully upgraded and in tip-top shape and you’ll be fine.

The game does feature co-op, with the difficulty slightly increasing when playing through the game as a team. Thankfully, if you’re joining a co-op session you can take all your weapons and skills across with you – which is a God send when you’re mate is a much higher level with better gear than you.

Do you like collecting loot and resources until your bags are full? If you answered “Yes”, you’ll love this game. I’m an absolute fiend for checking every room and crevice for new items and weapons, even if the majority of things in this game are protein bars and energy drinks. Some are even dropped by blood-soaked infected, and who doesn’t love a gooey health boost? 

The zombies are relentless, just when you think you’ve cleared out an area you’ll turn a corner and there will be more – then you’ll turn back and you’re boxed in again. It’s great! 

There are some area limitations that aren’t quite clear, like accessing some rooms and loot boxes. I found myself spending a lot of time trying to find a key or way into a specific room with no luck – turns out it was part of a later side quest and I needn’t waste my time.

Weapon customisation is absolutely stacked. Want to make your katana drip caustic acid with every swing? You can do that. How about semi-explosive brass knuckles that make every critical hit send shockwaves through zombie enemies? You can do that too.

The amount of weapon cusomisation is impressive, but I would’ve loved to see the addition of different colour schemes or ‘stickers’ to really personalise your undead whacker.

Juggling gear is always an issue for a hoarder like me. Working out which weapons to scrap, store or sell, which ones I’ll need in combat – I spent a lot of time fussing about this… But in the end, why do I need to carry 5 different types of guns, 6 edged weapons, and a set of Wolverine-like claws? (That’s sarcasm. I NEED THEM ALL).

Believe it or not, in between all of the violence and gore, there is a storyline and quests.

Most of the side quests are fetch-styled; go to the location on the map, kill zombies, locate objective, kill zombies, go and find another item, kill zombies, unlock the door, and get a prize. 

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These can be tiring after a while, thankfully there’s a bit more variety in the main quest line. 

Tip: Always make sure your ‘Fuses’ are fully stocked, you can buy them from traders at most safe houses. Fuses are the keys to unlock doors to many of the game’s best weapons.