About 15 years after the zombie outbreak on the Banoi Archipelago (and 11 years of real-life development hell), another outbreak occurs, only this time in Los Angeles. Widespread panic ensues, as infected neighbors and even family members turn on each other. There's blood and limbs everywhere. The US government reacts by sending the military and CDC to contain the situation and to find out what caused it.
Now, [url=https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198067384854/recommended/383150/]Dead Island[/url] and [url=https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198067384854/recommended/383180/]Dead Island: Riptide[/url] were made by Polish game developer Techland, but due to issues with Deep Silver (you can read all about that on Wikipedia), the project of Dead Island 2 was eventually handed over to British game developer Dambuster Studios. Why do I mention this? Because Dambuster Studios went for a "lighter" Dead Island experience. Techland's games were darker, scarier, and even uneasy at times (just think about the little girl in the original Dead Island trailer, for example). While Dead Island 2 is still a gorefest, Dambuster Studios made a game that feels to me like it was made for a younger audience. The emphasis lies more on 'fun' and 'funny' and there isn't as much 'seriousness' as there was in Techland's games. However, does this mean Dead Island 2 is a bad game? No, not at all. Even an older gamer like me had tons of fun with it.
Like in the previous two games, you can beat, hack, or slash your way through the game with a variety of weapons, from a hammer to a machete or a gun. You can also 'upgrade' your weapons again and make them even deadlier. Fire, electricity, or caustic damage? No problem. You can break a zombie's arms and legs or cut them off completely. The better the weapon, the easier it gets... Until you run into an Apex Variant, hehe.
Dead Island 2 has many different zombie types and Apex Variants, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. As you progress through the game, you'll learn about them and can use that to your advantage while upgrading your weapons and coming up with better strategies to get the upper hand. Contrary to the previous two games, Dead Island 2 is not an open-world game; rather, it's now divided into several districts or neighborhoods that you unlock as you progress through the game.
One thing I noticed, is that Dambuster Studios did their best to tick all those inclusivity boxes. There's a girl with a prosthetic leg, a lesbian, a guy with a disfigured face, a girl in a wheelchair (Neighborhood Watch), a deceased but clearly female character that is referred to as "they/them" (also Neighborhood Watch) and every single race you can think of (although, with the game taking place in Los Angeles, that does make sense). Now, I like a lot of diverse characters in games (I think everybody does), but this felt forced. To me, it just emphasizes the difference between a Polish and a British game developer. Techland was focused on telling a good and exciting story, while Dambuster Studios seemed more concerned with inclusivity. This is a trend we've seen for a couple of years now in Western entertainment. It's unnecessary and cringe. Yes, we live in a society over here where many different people exist, but you don't need to cram them all into every single game or movie. If it works, it works, but don't force it. People notice.
That said, the story was quite confusing to me. In Techland's Dead Island games, the zombie outbreak was caused by [spoiler]a mutated and genetically modified strain of Kuru disease[/spoiler], and it made sense to me. In Dead Island 2 it gets too convoluted for my liking, and DLCs like Haus and SoLA really didn't help either. I've spent more time playing Dead Island 2 than both of Techland's games combined, and I [i]still[/i] barely understand this whole [spoiler]Autophage and Numen[/spoiler] plot! Also, [spoiler]the open ending sucks big time[/spoiler]. [spoiler]When will game studios realize they should reward a player for playing their game and not leave them hanging on a cliffhanger[/spoiler]?!
One thing Dead Island 2 from Dambuster Studios has in common with Techland's games, is unlikable characters. I'm not just talking about flawed characters, but genuinely unfriendly or - as is the case with Dead Island 2 - just not appealing at all. In the first two games, you had Sam B, Logan and Purna who were just cranky all the time ([spoiler]although Sam B is more likable in Dead Island 2, but I guess that's because he's gotten 'older and wiser' over the years[/spoiler]). In Dead Island 2, the characters aren't necessarily unfriendly, but half of them look like they do drugs every weekend. Bruno, although surprisingly nice for the short time I played with him, looks like a psychedelic mushroom junkie. Not very appealing to a white Christian far-right radical like myself. But even among this band of misfits, I did find two characters I liked, those being Ryan and Amy (yes, that would be the girl with the prosthetic leg).
As kids on the internet say these days, too long, didn't read (TL;DR). As I say myself, I don't care. I'm a writer. I write. It's what I do, and I find joy in it.
So, final verdict... *drum roll*... I recommend this game! Yes, forced inclusivity and junkies be damned, it's a good game, and I look forward to the next game in this series. :-)
