After more than a decade, Dead Island is back with a second episode. A new chapter in this apocalyptic saga that our editorial staff was able to test in detail
Little throwback. It’s 2011, the world is discovering singer Adele and the iPhone 4S, the latest Harry Potter hits theaters and a modest studio is busy designing a new apocalyptic survival game: Dead Island. A few months later, this game landed on Playstation 3, PC and Xbox 360 and met with deserved success, hailed for its atmosphere as wacky as it is authentic, its colorful characters and its enjoyable gameplay. For Techland, it is the consecration, the studio develops its own franchise, Dying Light and leaves to go it alone not without having provided fans of Dead Island with a successful DLC in 2013, Dead Island Riptide. Since then, our famous series of tropical survival games has fallen into oblivion, after various second episode projects abandoned by Deep Silver.
Here we are now in April 2023 and the American publisher has made the choice to resuscitate its popular franchise. This time developed by Dambuster Studios, Dead Island 2, which we thought was dead and buried after several failed projects, has been available since April 21, 2023 and prides itself on offering an exhilarating experience in quasi-photorealistic environments. The game does not hide its ambition and intends to offer an exhilarating experience in both solo and multiplayer. Our editors were able to test Dead Island 2 in detail and give you their opinion.
A technical slap
If you had the opportunity to play Dead Island first of the name, you will probably have noticed the contrast between its uncompromising brutality and its very light tone. The scenario and the dialogues do not hesitate to combine humor and dismemberment, plunging your protagonist into situations as funny as they are dramatic. And on this level, Dambuster Studios has learned its lesson, honoring the work of Techland and offering us a Dead Island 2 in the image of its elder. Because Dead Island 2, although offering a certain form of freedom in its exploration, should almost be seen as an interactive story. Its strength lies in its colorful characters, with sometimes particularly well-animated familiar faces, and in its dialogues rich in contemporary references sometimes falling into a heaviness perfectly suited to its context. Dambuster did not hesitate to repeat references to the world of George Romero, the one often called the Father of Zombie Movies, in this story that mixes movie stars, disillusioned haves, disconnected influencers and traumatized veterans. FYI, the game drops you a few days after the authorities lose control of Los Angeles, and will transport you from its elite hills to its devastated beaches.
The other strong point of Dead Island 2 also lies in its technique. We have rarely been able to appreciate such photorealistic graphics in the world of gaming. Without exaggerating, the environments of Dead Island 2 are breathtaking and have nothing to envy to Cyberpunk 2077. So of course, the game remains a semi-open world divided into different areas which allows more room for maneuver to combine graphic ambition and performance. But each area is extremely worked, detailed to such an extent that one would wonder if the teams of Dambuster Studios did not go for a ride to Los Angeles to take some photos of its indecent houses and its disgusting sewers. On the animation side, nothing to complain about, the zombies fall apart as you strike in combat sequences of almost refreshing gore. The environment around you is very interactive, the pipes are pierced, the cans explode and spill their contents on the ground, the windows shatter under the heat, we repeat it to you: the technique of Dead Island 2 is impressive. The only downside comes in co-op mode when you can watch your comrade run or fight. Let’s say that our in-game actions make it slightly less well seen from the outside, but nothing serious.
Dead Island 2 is a small epic, of course, but above all remains a survival game in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, making combat the main part of its gameplay. You should know that this game is not placed as a simulation, so forget about hunger, thirst, fatigue and other classics of the survival-horror genre. A gun in your hand, medicine in your bag and a grenade in your pocket and off you go in the streets of Los Angeles, happily dismantling everything that can no longer line up three syllables and has a strong penchant for fresh flesh. . The bar was quite high given what Techland had managed to offer us more than ten years ago, and Dambuster has surpassed itself here. Each weapon gives you a different feel, with controller vibration and dismemberment greatly aiding immersion elsewhere, encouraging you to experiment with different combinations of weapons and mods in different situations.
For indeed, you once again have the option of crafting and applying different upgrades and modifications to your little toys. To do this, you will need to collect the resources necessary for their manufacture, which are present in large numbers all around you, and recover plans through exploration or the completion of various quests. Weapon customization is essential to your progress (and your fun), and here again, Dambuster has done a great job.
On the progression side, your character will develop in different ways. Of course, we find the classic system of experience and levels but this time associated with a skill tree in the form of collectible cards. Indeed, by completing quests, progressing in the main story or simply exploring the surroundings, you will unlock character cards that modify and/or improve your basic skills, and offer you different more or less effective passives. However, the slots to equip these different cards are limited and their availability is defined by your progress in the main story. You will therefore only unlock your character’s full potential quite late in your game and you will obviously have to find all the possible cards to extend your customization options. An original system, which will not necessarily be to everyone’s taste, but which ultimately brings a lot of depth to this almost permanent fight.
As you will have understood, the fights are enjoyable in Dead Island 2, making the game the ideal stress relief to immerse yourself in alone or with friends. Only, offering as much pleasure to the player here comes at the expense of the difficulty of the game. Indeed, Dead Island 2 is very easy, too easy, even for players with little experience with a joystick or a mouse. This is his biggest flaw. Dying in Dead Island 2 is absolutely not punitive; once your character has fallen, you are resurrected a few meters away, your weapons and your resources intact, and the zombies in the same state as when death came to pick you up a few seconds earlier. While less regular players will enjoy an adventure that’s perfectly cut to be enjoyable, experienced players will see a big problem here. The main menu of the game being devoid of a possible selection of difficulty mode, you will therefore have to turn to a possible New Game (which was traditionally found in the games of the franchise), to find a little challenge.
Resuscitating a game more than ten years after its last iteration by changing development studio is obviously taking a risk. And for Deep Silver, the bet is successful. Dambuster Studios has provided an impressively accurate job in this second part, both technically and in terms of the script. Even two weeks before its release and in the absence of a day 1 patch, Dead Island 2 was almost perfect, apart from a few graphical glitches during cutscenes and fps drops here and there. Only co-op requires some work from the Dambuster teams, especially in balancing between two characters of different levels, physics of thrown objects, and performance.
Beyond these few flaws, Dead Island 2 is a success. The game brilliantly transports us into the absurd world of the richest people on the planet, with the blood and guts adding a little more to the indecency of the six-bathroom villas. Each environment is worked down to the smallest detail, as are its caricatured characters whose unwelcome exultations and justified nervous breakdowns often hide an unexpected depth of writing (special mention to veteran Patton). The inspirations of the universe of George A. Romero are assumed and particularly fine, making very nice nods to the late Father of Zombie Films. But despite a crazy story and enjoyable fights, the game really suffers from a problem of difficulty, turning too often into a murderous walk in the City of Angels rather than a fierce struggle for survival. However, let’s keep in mind that this major defect is in no way irresolvable by the Dambuster teams.
In short, Dead Island 2 perfectly takes the score left by its respected elder, modernizes it, and makes it one of the most technically impressive experiences we’ve seen recently. The game will be available on April 21 on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One and PC. A release awaited for more than ten years by fans who will be happy to find a complete fighting game with impressive graphics. The game is also adorned with a season pass which will include its future expansions.
Of course, Dead Island 2 has a cooperative mode that will allow you to fully complete its campaign with your friends. Accommodating 1 to 4 players, each game is associated with the progress of the host player. Characters higher in level than the host have their level reduced, but can perform quests that have already been completed. Only caches and fuses remain in a state similar to theirs in your slayer’s campaign.
