This summer Dead Island 2 celebrated a sort of anniversary – 10 years in development. All the while, the company Deep Silver, which owns the rights to the game, did not give up the desire to get their zombie apocalypse and repeat the 2011 hit. And so the publisher announced Dead Island 2 again at gamescom 2022 – what is the project, and whether it’s worth believing in again, let’s find out now.
What is “Dead Island”?
If someone doesn’t know Dead Island is an open-world arcade slasher RPG focused on killing zombie hordes with unprecedented mayhem in a tropical resort environment. To help the player, a wide variety of melee weapons were issued, which could be further customized. And some may even remember the tragic CG trailer about a young family who defended themselves against zombies in vain:
I went through Dead Island once and I can’t say it was some kind of ideal, rather a very specific representative of the slasher genre. The gameplay all the time boiled down to monotonous swotting of various zombies, losing body parts at the click of a mouse or even bursting like watermelons. There were problems with the balance and the difficulty curve – in the beginning it was too hard, towards the end it was too easy. All this mechanics Techland, after his “divorce” from Deep Silver, largely completed in Dying Light and, most importantly, added parkour.
zombie game
The rights to Dead Island, on the other hand, were left to the publisher, who, judging by the reports, wanted no innovations or a change in concept, but simply wanted to repeat the formula of the original on the principle of “serving the same cabbage soup and more.” ” But why it hasn’t developed in the last 10 years is a question without an answer.
Some bosses have become more flexible and agileJudging by the leaks, Dead Island 2 was all along a living dead of poorly connected mechanics, which was at various technical levels. Until the third developer took over – Dambuster Studios, the former Crytek UK (authors Home Front: The Revolution). Now this is an in-house studio of Deep Silver, so we can safely speak of full creative control on the part of the publisher.
The current Dead Island 2 has almost nothing in common with previous projects, we have left most of the developments from previous studios. However, they stuck to the concept: carefree and crazy zombie action with an emphasis on co-op.
After watching the recording of the demo, I can say that this is true. You see, Dead Island (even the remaster) looks outdated and it’s not as comfortable to play as modern games. The sequel, thanks to Unreal Engine 4, may not look super modern, but it’s pretty on the level, and it also has a good balance of colors (compared to the original’s outrageous color scheme).
Which Dead Island 2 mechanic would you change?
In terms of gameplay, there’s the same dismemberment using improvised (post-crafted) resources, a bit of tight movement, and a sharp change in camera angles. And also narrow streets with zombies mixed with bosses. I did notice how many substantive differences there are.
What did they show us?
The sequel has been suggested for a long time, but the developers say they won’t just do it “Break Zombie Bones” – they deepened the main mechanics.
Other bosses are even deadlierDead Island 2 will boast of the “Flesh” system – fully procedural mechanics of the breakup of walkers, performed anatomically as accurately as possible, that is, taking into account the musculoskeletal system, internal organs, fat and skin. By shooting at the knee joint, you actually destroy it; each hit, depending on its strength, also affects the zombie’s external and internal model.
There will be such a function as the destruction of zombies with your bare hands (this is the legacy of the authors) Spec Ops: The Line, can you imagine how old she is?!). Any hero – there are 6 in total – can enter “berserker” mode and literally tear the ghosts around with their bare hands. Of course, you can’t do it that easily with bosses.
What exactly looks like overkill for a generation that grew up on Overwatch or PUBG is ultra-violent. I’m talking about faces broken by blunt objects, shown up close in all their gory beauty. Compare the progression of cruelty to the transition of Mortal Kombat x Mortal Kombat 11, so if you’re a kid, a nursing mom, or just very impressionable, you’d better refuse to buy.
A lot of attention is paid to naturalistic ferocity – both in the trailer and in the gameplay shown. And for good reason – this is one of the main features of Dead Island, the game has an adult rating. In addition, the accents in the combat system have shifted: hand-to-hand combat and close combat with melee weapons in hand are now everything to us. There will also be firearms (and even their craft), but secondary.
World – Los Angeles in the form of several large areas that open up as you progress. There will be no parkour, so I wouldn’t expect any tall buildings. But we will be able to search every corner in search of useful resources – this was pleasant enough for the original, by the way.
Story scenes are staged with new technologiesIn each of the city’s districts, we encounter unique types of enemies: zombie jocks live on Muscle Beach and screamers can ride roller skates on the sidewalks. Can’t live without the Malibu and Beverly Hills rendition. Whether we see insta zombie models with selfie sticks attached there depends on the courage of the developers. But I don’t mind.
So, are you waiting for the updated Dead Island 2?
Get up and go!
The first impression of the demonstration is extremely positive. In place are the old chips with breakup, loot collection, crafting, and world exploration. Active environment (this is when you can spill oil and set fire to or shock enemies by breaking the transformer) – too.
In Dead Island 2, the main focus is on the co-op squad of three, so those who want that will now have to stray in groups. Nobody forbids playing solo, but just like in the original it won’t be as much fun. As for role-playing elements, they affect character development: skills are presented in the form of cards that add perks or constantly improve the fights, moves, and so on. But I wouldn’t count on a full-fledged role-playing game.
Exploring the world is an important part of the gameThere will be a story campaign, some old heroes will return and everything that happens before the show will be tied to the events of the last game. Dambuster’s main job is to create a fun adventure, so don’t expect a serious approach to the plot, characters, or room production.
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And here it is worth remembering once again that Dead Island 2 has been around for many years. In such cases, there are usually two problems: the layering of mechanics and ideas from different stages of development, and tight deadlines for the guys trying to finish the project. Before release, we can only hope the relics of the past don’t end up in huge piles here and there, and the game itself won’t give any complaints in terms of work or balance.
Releases February 3, 2023 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: VG Times