How strange it is to be here. I remember sitting in my college dorm, watching E3 conference streams with my roommates, and seeing the initial announcement trailer for Dead Island 2. It was a silly little trailer that left us all interested in seeing more.

Nearly nine years later and here I am reviewing it. This is a title that has had a lot of issues during its long development that had left many wondering if it would ever come out. Thanks to the development team at Dambuster Studios, who you might know from working on Homefront: The Revolution (and hiding TimeSplitters 2 in it), this zombie slayer has made it to the finish line. Now that it’s heading out to storefronts there’s only one question on everyone’s mind. Is it worth it?

Before we get into the gameplay, I do want to want to talk about how everything looks. After getting through the introduction sequence and arriving in “Hell-A,” it becomes very apparent just how much of a visual delight Dead Island 2 is. All of the different zones are distinct and wonderful representations of the various cities/landmarks in Los Angeles County. Killing zombies in the Bel-Air mansions was just as fun as when I did it in Venice Beach. Elevating this is some pretty great level designs that help each section you come across feel unique.

It’s not just the locations that look amazing either. All the different zombies look great and between the numerous variants of each as well as the multiple model types, there was a satisfying amount of diversity that you don’t always get in games with the undead. I was a big fan of how over-the-top the gore levels were as well. It’s not as overtly detailed as say a Mortal Kombat title, but all the blood splatters and limb flying gave it a B-movie feel that fit very well.

Those that aren’t fans of a lot of blood and gore might not have the best time. There are a ton of zombies in Hell-A to take on alone or with two friends and most of the time you won’t be running past them. You’ll be using the environment to inflict different statuses on them or swinging your melee weapons to slice off their limbs and heads.

Equippable skill cards and weapon modifications only add to the chaos. By the end, I was swinging a fiery sledgehammer that sometimes made the zombie on the other end of its swing explode in a big red mist. Firearms were also introduced after a little bit and provided even more options to kill the undead.

I won’t get too far into it but there are a lot of different gameplay elements that are continuously introduced or expanded upon. Between different enemies, new skill cards, and even new mechanics, what can be done in the beginning feels quite different than the latter half. One of my favorite aspects of progressing through the main story’s quests was how steady the addition of new things was to help keep it from feeling stale.

Speaking briefly on the story, I thought it was serviceable at best. I don’t think it’s terrible, but I wouldn’t say it’s memorable either. Part of the problem is that only a few characters from the initial group have a focus and then the latter half of the story introduces a whole lot of new characters that aren’t given time to shine. Even the more antagonist-like characters feel underbaked.

Contrary to the main quest line, the side quests are (for the most part) better. Some of the most humorous writing can be found during these and even the characters they sometimes focus on are more enjoyable than those in the proper story. Quite a few stand out further by providing unique objectives that help to keep things fresh. Their rewards ranged from powerful weapons to one-of-a-kind curveballs so I typically thought they were worth it.

Unfortunately, most of them just feel like fetch quests given by an NPC yelling at me from a ledge. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re exactly the same because there could be some added guesswork or investigating, but they’re fetch-quests nonetheless.

While new zones are introduced, a lot of the fun is going back into previous areas for new challenges. Newer enemies and even those related to side quests will begin to appear. This didn’t always make much sense for the latter case. Most of the time a note and a specific zombie holding the key to a locked safe would spawn in, even though the safe was probably seen much earlier. I spent a lot of time looking for keys that weren’t even set to appear yet. I understood the reasoning but it was annoying and didn’t feel like the most satisfying reason to come back.

Something that felt off to me was the amount of money I found or made. Even with selling weapons and excess materials, I never felt like I had money to spare. By the time I did in the latter half, there were new weapons and blueprints to more than drain everything I had. On the one hand, that fits well in an overrun zombie setting. At the same time, it almost feels antithetical to how much fun the game seemingly wants me to have.

Going together with that was the expendable nature of the weapons. There are mechanics put in place in case I wanted to keep a weapon with me throughout. I could attach mods, repair, and even upgrade a weapon to bring it up to my player level as I progressed. For the first third of the game, I had a very trusty shovel that went with me everywhere.

It didn’t take long for me to feel like keeping that thing was a waste. Right after spending what cash I had to repair and upgrade it, I would always find random weapons that were just as strong on the nearest zombie. When the RNG weapons you find always match your level, there’s no reason to keep anything unless it’s a higher rarity or has a powerful mod on it. I would completely understand if that’s the intended way to play, but if you give me options and they don’t feel well-balanced, it’s going to stick out like a sore thumb.

Dead Island 2 has been a long time coming and although it doesn’t fit as much into that survival horror genre anymore, it is a fun action game set in a zombie-filled setting. There are some occasional bumps and things that I wish were implemented or utilized a lot better, but it’s not as if I was ever bored.

It’s difficult to say whether this meets the hype or whatever was left in the long wait for the sequel. If you’re looking for an inventive zombie game like no other, this might not make any impression on you. If you’re looking for a bit of mindless fun to spend an entertaining weekend or two with, Dead Island 2 is worth a look.

An Xbox Series X|S Review copy of Dead Island 2 was provided by Deep Silver for this review.

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Also, if you’d like to join the Phenixx Gaming team, check out our recruitment article for details on working with us.

Phenixx Gaming is proud to be a Humble Partner! Purchases made through our affiliate links support our writers and charity!

Dead Island 2

$69.99

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• Distinct Visuals
• Satisfying Combat
• Wonderful Nuggets of Humorous Writing
• Steady Implementation of New Mechanics
• Great Level Design

Cons

• Forgettable Characters and Story
• Certain Mechanics Feel at Odds with Each Other
• The Rest of the Writing is Pretty Meh