Almost a decade in development turmoil with numerous publishers and developers attached to the game, Dam Busters and Deep Silver finally have brought the long-anticipated zombie slaying sequel to Dead Island to life. While there is no denying it is a gamers game, a helL-A lot of fun exploring and beating up on zombies solo or in co-op, the whole package can be summed up with one word, safe.
My Steam rating: Mostly Positive at $25 including all DLC(I have seen price at $10 lately)
At its core DI2 is a safe by the book ABC/123 zombie slaying first person action-adventure game. See if you have heard this before, the story begins with you surviving a plane crash on the outskirts of LA. As you make your way you are bitten by a zombie and wake up finding out you are immune to the virus. Your new comrades tell you to make your way to find the CDC(Center of Disease Control) so you can provide them with your blood to possibly create a cure. And that is pretty much it for the main campaign there is a small twist but overall, the main story plays out as expected with a cliff hanger ending setting up DI3.
While the story is pretty much what I expect from any big budget game the performance is one the biggest surprises and probably because it was made in Unreal 4(Take note ALL devs). I have a low end PC(Specs at bottom of page) and this game runs phenomenally at high settings(1440P ultrawide). The game never missed a beat hovering between 55-85 FPS with increase in smaller areas and a few dips in larger outdoor spaces. Even when tackling hordes of enemies (max of 15-20 it seems) performance remained consistent. The game also looks fantastic from the attention to the smallest detail, the multitude of environments, the weapons you wield and the carnage you will be inflicting on enemies. I can’t stress how refreshing it was to play a newer big budget game with no performance issues from start to end.
The biggest disappointment that cannot be overlooked is the setting itself and how it was basically ignored. Don’t get me wrong, this game world from exterior to interior is at Ubisoft/SE art team level with its attention to realistic detail. However, you could change the name of all the locations and it could be any wealthy town that borders an ocean. There is nothing that takes advantage of the unique setting. I kept thinking about games like Fallout 3 , New Vegas, The Division and how they took utilized their locales in every way. If you are going to use a well-known site you must go all in. Where is The Forum, Rose bowl, Hollywood sign, the Whiskey a go-go, etc. and not spending any budget for some B list actors makes no sense. Again the game looks fantastic but really a missed opportunity.
If you are fan or zombie or action games, then the weapons and combat will feel very familiar. It is for the majority a stamina melee focused game with light and heavy attacks with the option to either block or dodge. You will also receive an arsenal of guns from pistols to M60s which allow you to play as you want. You will also get all types of grenades which here they are called curveballs and are on an extensive cooldown as they are pretty powerful. There are 4 tiers of weapons to find ranging from basic to legendary. You can modify them all by adding effects such as electric, fire, toxic and bleed(No frozen. All of them work as expected but again it is disappointing as we have seen this all before numerous times in other titles with a lot more creativity.
Lastly, just a few thoughts on the DLC and co-op mode, which for good and bad basically mirror my sentiments of the base game in almost every way. While both DLCs added some fun, beautiful new environments to explore and have more fun the stories are still an afterthought. And as for co-op, I had a really good time with random players completing missions. There is no voice chat which is fine, but if you JOIN a game your progress will not transfer to your account but overall it’s a solid experience especially when completing new game+.
It’s really a miracle we are even talking about this game today, but it’s even more of a miracle it’s pretty good and most of all fun. However, the industry has changed and the genre really hasnt evolved in the decade since the original Dead Island. While the game looks and runs fantastic I can’t get over how the setting was ignored and the weapons for the most part are just pretty generic. As a whole it’s a great package filled with hours of fun gameplay from start to finish in single player or co-op. But understand this isn’t a game to move the genre forward but simply a safe step to the side.
