A few weeks back, Dambuster Studios announced an upcoming update for Dead Island 2, with mention of its new Neighborhood Watch mode. On top of th?at, fans are now being treated to New Game Plus, which promises to be quite the grueling challenge for even the most ardent zombie killers.

A recent post on Steam from the developer talks about Patch 6, which should be rolling out soon, and is definitely one to watch out for if you're after a challenge. If you need a reason to dive back into Dead Island 2, then this could be it, especially since Dambuster seems keen to lure in anyone who th?inks they've got the game down to pat.

The whole point of NG+ is to "mix up enemy encounters and make damn sure that even skilled DI2 vets face a serious?? challenge." By the studio's own admittance, the update �particularly New Game Plus mode �"isn’t taking any prisoners." Ye have been warned.

Almost as though they're goading you on

Some changes that are coming include z??ombies in new locations, new revenants, and tougher enemies in unexpected places. In a nutshell: the rule book has been casually thrown to the wolves. The zombie wolves, perhaps.

Here's how it's going to go down:

Once players arrive in Bel Air �New Game Plus skips the campaign’s prologue �they’re going to? find the action very different. They’ll encounter familiar zombies in new locations, and some tougher zombies where they wouldn’t previously expect them. Even the basic walkers have had their health upgraded along with their damage, while Apex Zombie variants aren’t going to wait for their turn in the spotlight.

However, all is not lost:

Luckily, players come in with a few advantages. Not only can they bring in their existing skill cards and capabilities, but they’ll have? more slots to fill in every category. This allows for builds players couldn’t create before, where they can explore new tactics and killer s??kill and weapon combos. Meanwhile, every weapon that drops in New Game Plus will be more powerful than those in the main game, with more fixed-rarity weapons to collect and wield. The team hopes this will encourage players to make the most of weapons that they might previously have left behind.

I'm not ashamed to admit that I found Dead Island 2's base game quite a tough experience. In fact, I never even completed the main campaign all the way through. With that knowledge, it's safe to assume Patch 6?? might not be aimed at people like me. But who knows how I'll feel once the update actually starts rolling out.

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A couple of days ago, Dead Island 2 was finally released on Steam, giving you another avenue to thoroughly have your ass handed to you by a merciless horde of the undead. Of course, when a game is released on Valve's PC client, it's only natural to wonder whether it ??wi??ll be compatible with the Steam Deck.

Well, wonder no more. Or at least wonder a little bit, as things may not be 100% straightforward. You see, in a recent forum post on Steam, the Dead Island 2 team has offered up a little bit of? advice for anyone who's wanting to play the title on the Deck.

According to the post, it does indeed run on the handheld gaming device, but there may be one or two things you'll encounter when trying to play it. While we've been assured the sequel has "been tested for smooth gameplay without significant bugs," some of you may experience? some small issues.

What do I need to do?

There is, for example, an issue with booting or the game hanging for too long. The developer says this is "a known minor emulation issue on Steam Deck that wi?ll likely cause the first launch of the game to stall on the Steam logo screen, after installing the prerequisites."

To counter this, a simple ??restart should suffice. There is, however, a fix that's apparently being looked into by Valve itself, so an update could be imminent.

Likewise, it also looks as though the game doesn't allow for virtual keyboard popups for when you need to? enter information. Again, it seems like a fairly simple fix, which involves pressing and holding the STEAM button, then pressing X, which should make the keyboard appear.

No word on whether a more permeant solution is in the pipeline, but it seems like something Valve or Dambuste?r St??udios will be thinking about.

What does "playable" even mean?

When looking at Steam Deck compatibility, there are essentially three outcomes for games that? have been tested: Playable, Verified, and Unsupported.

In the case of Dead Island 2, Valve has deemed it Playable, which �according to details in a noted checklist �means the game will run on the Deck, but players can encounter some issues, such as the aforementioned problem with the virtual keyboard. However, it has most of the functio?nality you can expect from playing it on a regular PC.

Verified means it's been tested and shown to be just as functional on the Steam Deck as on your home gaming rig. As for Unsupported, that'd kind of self-explanatory. While Dambuster does say in this post say that DI2 is "compatible with Steam Deck," it seems an update i?s needed to iron o??ut the kinks.

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For good or ill, Dead Island 2 came and went without a huge amount of fanfare. Currently, the game has a Metacritic score of 73 (7.7 from us?ers), which is pretty good, but not exactly boundary-breaking.

However, if you missed your chance to check it out when it was released last year, here's your chance to play it on Steam soon: On April 22, to be exact. Yeah, pretty much on the one-year anniversary of the game's release, you can pick up Dead Island 2 on Steam, which, until now, was only available via Epic Games Store if yo??u wanted it on PC.

Developer Dambuster really wants to make sure you don't forget about its sequel, so to celebrate the re-release (let's call a spade a spade), the studio is offering discounts on the other entries in the series.

Weird how zombie games are still a thing these days

As well as being able to wishlist the new game, Dead Island Definitive Edition and Retro Revenge are currently 85% and 75% off, respectively. Additionally, Riptide is 100% f?ree for a limited time only. And when I say "limited," I mean you literally only have until tomorrow to pick up a copy (the other two are discounted until February 20).

It was quite a tumultuous development cycle for DI2. Originally scheduled to come out in 2015 �and being made by Techland of Dying Light fame �??the project passed through a number of studios before Dambuster took the reins.

Considering the first inst??allment did not leave much of an impact, it's surprising a sequel was even green-lit. By this point, you'd think everyone would have been sick of the zombie genre by now. Evidently not.

But say what you will about the first Dead Island, that trailer still packs a punch to the gut to this day. It's just a shame the actual game content didn't match the ??marketing.

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The Dead Walk (and sell)

Dead Island 2, the open-world horror sequel that took a over decade to launch and everybody was entirely convinced was going to be complete shit, has now sold two million copies, be??coming the biggest launch title in publisher Deep Silver's entire history.

"I am happy to state that the game has now reached a sell-out of well over two million units," notes Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors, in a written statement where you can actually hear a sig?h of relief. "It is rewarding to see that the decision to give [Dambuster] time to polish the game has paid off."

The ultra-gory monster-masher finally hit the shelves in late April, following a torrid development process that saw the project pass through multiple studios and stumble over each and every hurdle on its way to fruition. Hit with years of delays, and based upon an IP that had already failed to prove itself in the past, Dead Island 2?? was a title ?that practically nobody was willing to bet on. A fumbled project destined for comical collapse.

And yet, Dambuster Studio utilized its talent and passion to craft a stylish, fun, and cathartic open-world experience, as a pack of the worst protagonists in history hack, slash, shoot, and cleave their way through an apocalyptic Los Angeles, overrun with hordes of zombies and mutants, and packed to the rafters with brutal, adaptive weaponry and a cast of interesting, flawed, and desperate characters. While perhaps not anybody's GOTY, Dead Island 2 absolutely defied the odds, its critics, and even the stigma of its own br?anding, to become one of the happiest endings of the year, and a helluva lot of fun to boot?.

Dead Island 2 is a?vailable now on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox platforms.

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The Dead Rise (to the top of the charts)

In what is absolutely one of the wildest "development hell to success" tales of all time, Deep Silver has announced that its turbulent release Dead Island 2 has already sold one million copies on PC an?d console platforms, less than a week on from its initial release.

The sun-soaked zombie slayer, which finally hit the market after a chaotic, 10-year development cycle, also debuted at number one in the UK Charts, surpassing new releases Minecraft Legends and Advance Wars 1+2: Reboot Camp and usurping last week's number one, EA's perennial top-slotter FIFA 23. Deep Silver notes that players/slayers have already killed over a billion zombies since launch, while biting the sand themselves somewhere in the r??egion of 28 million times. Nobody said it was gonna be easy.

//twitter.com/deadislandgame/statu????s/1650551266337075211?s=20

Dead Island 2, first announced way back at E3 2014, has passed through several developers, went through a number of rewrites and redesigns, and was a frequent running gag throughout the gaming community �A ti??tle that never seemed to ev?er reach fruition, yet simply refused to go away.

As I wrote in our review, the final result isn't exactly a Game of the Year contender, but sports a healthy sense of humor, deeply satisfying combat, and smart and attractive visuals, resulting in a title that will definitely go down as having one of the most surprising "happy endings?" in game development history.

Dead Island 2 is available now on? PlayStation, PC, and Xbox platforms.

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Hosting parties needs a little more oomph

Dead Island 2 finally rises from the ashes this week, with plenty of?? zombies to slay in either solo or co-op. But if you're running on some older hardwar??e, you'll need to be the one joining rather than making the party.

In a blog outlining Dead Island 2's co-op features, Dambuster Studios and Deep Silver clarify that certain consoles ??won't be able to host parties, only join them. These are, specifically, the PlayStati?on 4, the Xbox One, and the Xbox One S, or what they call "Base Generation 8."

Because Dead Island 2 co-op games are peer-to-peer, rather than server-based, this means a player will have to host the game. Dead Island 2's graphical requirements mean that, at launch, ??a base Gen8 console won't be able to handle hosting co-op, only join it.

"We're working on giving the option to host on all consoles in the future," reads?? the blog post.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=f70Uz0fnX7E

PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S players are fine to host. Higher-mark Gen8 consoles, or the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, can?? also muster the resources to handle it.

It's also important to note that Dead Island 2 is not cross-play, only cross-gen. PlayStation and Xbox players cannot play with each other in Dead Island 2. But, those within the same family of consoles—Xbox to Xbox, or PS4 to PS5—will be able to team up. You'll also need to reach a certain point in the game to unlock co-op as an option?, though Dambuster estimates this should be about 20 to 30 minutes in. Players also can't jump ahead in the story, so while someone at Chapter 6 could help another at Chapter 3, it does not work in reverse.

City (un)living

H??opefully this is a road-bump that can get cleaned up soon after launch. While more people seem to be moving up in console generations, there may still be some folks getting their last miles out of the PS4 and Xbox One. At the very least, it's nice those players can still join on higher-generation system's parties.

If you're wondering whether this L.A. getaway is worth it, you can check out our review here, which comes away with a similar sentiment I had after playing it at PAX East: it is a bit of a miracle that this game actually came toge?ther.

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To Live and Die in HeLL.A.

During the 2014 Sony E3 press conference, viewers were treated to a surprise cinematic trailer, one that has since gone down in history. The trailer featured a meat-headed jogger taking a casual dash down Venice Beach, blissfully unaware of the absolutely bombastic chaos that was exploding all around him, as hordes of flesh-eating creatures lay waste to the beautiful people of California. Ultimately becoming one of the infected himself, the jogger is eventually wiped out by a speeding minivan, before an onscreen graphic finally reveals the trailer as a preview for Dead Island 2.

That trailer debuted almost 10 years ago. And on April 21, 2023, Dead Island 2 will finally release, two console generations on from its initial announcement, and after passing through no less than three development studios. Having been mired in development hell for almost a decade, and been the subject of cancellation rumors, internet jokes, and even a reference point for other games and studios, it seems a miracle that we finally have anything in our hands. But can the talent of British developer Dambuster Studios resurrect this long-since-decay?ed release, or would it have been better left dead and buried?

Look, we all? know the story, so there ain't nothing left to it but to do it.

Dead Island 2 (PlayStation [PS5 reviewed], PC, Xbox)
Developer: Dambuster Studios
Publisher: Deep Silver
Released: April 21, 2023
MSRP: $69.99

It must be noted that, with Dead Island 2, Dambuster Studios is not attempting to reinvent the wheel. The long-time-coming sequel essentially builds upon the general design and gameplay structure of its now-decade-old predecessor. That isn't to say that this is a case of "If it ain't broke...", because Dead Island was fucking broke. This is a title where I once kicked an inflatable beach ball, which resulted in my character screaming, keeling over, and dying on the spot. No, rather than attempting a full conceptive rebirth, Dead Island 2 is more a "Take Two" on what came before, with stronger efforts made to deliver the player experience perhaps expected of that release.

Our story concerns a party of six survivors �each one the worst person you've ever met �who crawl from the wreckage of a failed evacuation flight, crash-landing in the heart of Los Angeles, or "Hell-A" as it is now known. Beginning in media res, the outbreak is already underway, covering the City of Angels in blood and bodies while the local authorities attempt to put a band-aid on an oozing, pustulous wound. Choosing one member of the pity party, our "Slayer" is thrust into the thick of the carnage, and must utilize adaptation, improvisation, and smart-mouthed quippin' (boy howdy, the quip??pin') to find their way out of the city and to higher ground, away from millions of arm-munching, TikTok-filming posers.

What follows is an open world odyssey, as the Slayer treks through a million-dollar city of broken dreams �From the closed gate communities of Bel Air and the splendor of Beverly Hills, to the baking, radiant sands of Venice Beach and, of course, the star-studded avenues and alleyways of Hollywood. It goes without saying that these venues have all seen better days �less brain-encrusted d??ays, at least �and this bizarre juxtaposition of celebrity and atrocity never fails to remain an unnervingly attractive take on a potential armageddon. I'll still take it over Florida.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=f70Uz0fnX7E

You Ought'nt Be In Pictures

Initially, Dead Island 2 appears poorly plotted at best and baffling at worst �why your punk-rock character chooses to instantly do the bidding of The Rich makes zero sense whatsoever �but, as the story progresses, an evolving tale of survival?? and desperation unfolds, joined by elements of conspiracy, human evolution, and man's endless inhumanity to man.

And though our ensemble cast is, for the most part, intolerable, a pragmatic realization gives way; These aren't bad people, per se, they're just in a bleak and thoroughly miserable situation. As the story progresses, we come to understand the stage and its players better. Even beginning to develop an actual kinship with the same folk that we originally couldn't stand the sight of. They aren't necessarily terrible. They're just human... Except for "Who Do You Voodoo, Bitch?" singer Sam B. He is terrible.

Though disconnecting at the outset, the spirit of Dead Island 2 and its world grows on the player as they come to understand the hopelessness that faces these stragglers �From the whiskey-soaked rock stars and uptight Hollywood divas, to bronze-skinned beach bums and simple folk just trying to survive, let alone thrive. The mask of humanity is off, and the outbreak is making a monster of many, as viral outbreaks tend to ?do. There are no real "good guys", just different shades of survivalist.

While it's fair to say that the plot of DI2 is hardly original, it's still surprisingly compelling. By the time ??the final ?act rolled around, all of sudden, the realization dawned that the survival of this pack of awful bastards had suddenly become the most important thing in my life.

Look, I k?now the trailers are terrible. There's?? some great performances in here. Honest.

Sun's Out, Guns Out

The core of Dead Island 2 is its combat. It's the decaying meat of the piece, and the melee-based carnage on offer here is brilliantly devised. Whether wielding swords, baseball bats, axes, steel pipes, or Triple H-esque sledgehammers, there is an effective, wholly satisfying weight and impact to the violence on display, bolstered by the addition of counters, parries, and gleefully explosive execution maneuvers. It's important that the melee is enjoyable, as it is ultimately 90% of the player's activities, and Dead Island 2's "crunch" is so delicious, that it actually becomes a tad detrimental to the game when guns finally do come into play, (though they do add some ??variety to all the?? home-run swingin' action).

In addition to the weaponry, Dead Island 2 has a mix-and-match build system, that affords your chosen Slayer various skills and perks, sometimes for free, sometimes at the detriment of other abilities. These range from defensive tactics such as dodges and slides, to bonuses such as damage boosts for downing zombies, or awarding health for severing undead limbs. Without giving too much away, things get pretty funky after a point, and you can make your Slayer?? quite the force to be reckoned wi?th, finely tuned to your own bespoke playstyle.

Still, despite the enormous range of customizable weapons and skills on offer, Dead Island 2 remains challenging. Even as the Slayer levels up, the difficulty remains in a sweet spot that prevents the player from ever becoming too powerful. As kitted out as you become, the infected are perpetually a legitimate threat. But with clever combinations of weaponry, skills, elemental boosts, and environmental attacks, DI2 ensures that whi??le the numbers are on the side of the undead, the wits are with the player.

A special tribute must also be paid to the most satisfying dropkick in video game history. A?? move that, I guarantee, will become your best friend. Especially on rooftops and in front of windows.

You can't spell slaughter without 'laughter'

Dead Island 2 is a repetitive game, wholly and unashamedly. It is essentially a title that tasks the player with going on endless "Locate this person/item" quests, almost always boiling down to making your way to the location in question and slaying triple figures' worth of zombies en route. There are plenty of side quests in each district, all of which offer rewards in the form of rare weapons, blueprints, and perks, but ultimately, Dead Island 2 only has one real trick, and that is to ask the play?er to get to an undead infested venue and back alive.

This in itself was a major problem with the first game, and would le??ad to boredom just scant hours in.

While DI2 doesn't stray too far from this design path, what it does do to combat fatigue is ensure that the environments are legitimately fun to explore, while constantly drip-feeding the player new characters, fun conversations, and a wide variety of different enemies to be hacked 'n' slashed. There is also a metric ton of environmental storytelling, much of which is of the tired "audio log" variety, but some of which is executed via simple set design and in-universe audio �distant screams, abandoned radios, a wedding from hell, a strongman competition turned massacre, a frightening theme park, and a horror movie set where things got a little too meta.

Dead Island 2 has a gameplay mentality that is generations old, but it uses the benefits of modern tech to polish up its 2010's vibe. The infected are large in number, varied in design, and look gruesomely gorgeous. The world itself is well-realized and intelligently mapped. Elemental and gore effects are dazzling, and cleverly limited use of music ensures that, while the combat is relentless, the player knows when shit is really going down.

Dead Island 2, at its heart, is an old-fashio??ned game, but it's wearing a ?damn flashy new suit.

Don't Forget to Bring a Towel

Dead Island 2 is far from an excellent title, and its flaws might turn away those without the patience to fully explore its world and mechanics. While it certainly gets better the deeper you delve into its world, this style of explorative, combat & craft-heavy action isn't going to be to everyone's tastes, especially in 2023. The endless grabbing of crafting components, audio logs, and keycards �actions that are so repetitive the Slayer themselves repeatedly rags on it �may lead some players to consider double-checking t??he calendar.

From a technical standpoint, the sequel is a massive improvement over the notorio??us original, but still suffers from choppiness �Min?or frustrations such as immovable prompts, occasional clipping, failed enemy spawns, or unresponsive enemies. Strange one-off bugs, such as a character's voice remaining echoed even after they had left a building, (all of which fixed themselves after a reload). Performance-wise, however, the PS5 edition played for review was sound, maintaining its framerate in even the busiest and messiest of zombie massacres. Most importantly, I kicked a beach ball and kept breathing.

When you combine the small technical troubles with the generally Gen-7 approach to gameplay, Dead Island 2 becomes something of a divisive release. Those who perhaps crave more in the way of firearms, vehicular mayhem, or more variety in its quests and activities may struggle to persevere to the point where Hell-A opens up its vulgar box of delights. That said, those who enjoyed the original Dead Island, or similar relentless, zombie-smashing experiences �such as Capcom's Dead Rising, will think ?it's fucking Christmas, with perhaps the best gaming interpretation of a Zack Snyder zombie flick yet.

Rewarding player experimentation and exploration, you get out of DI2 what you put into it, and thus, it's very much a ga??me for a specific and dedicated audience. And given its exceptionally lofty $70 price tag, "de??dicated" is doing a lot of lifting in that sentence.

Gods and Monsters

I'll level with you. I didn't want to review Dead Island 2, and I sure as hell didn't want to play it on my own time. If you'd had asked me to point to a 2023 release that I felt was going to be an absolute slog to play, as well as being a chore to write about, th??en this sequel would've probably been number one with an acid-tipped bullet. 10 minutes into playing, I still felt this way, eye-rolling and d??eep sighing at the characters, the setup, and the teasing of 15 hours of fetch quests and keycard searching.

But, as time passed, as Hell-A opened up, as the combat evolved, and as I met more and more denizens of Hollyweird, I warmed up immensely to this title. I became excited to explore each new district, while di?gging the world design, the attractively gruesome visuals, and th??e "Glam Apocalypse" aesthetic. I appreciated the wanton, salacious, and satisfying violence, and, most surprisingly of all, this atrocious cast of characters eventually became my friends, (except for Sam B.)

It is testament to the talent of Dambuster Studios that they picked up the remnants of the most development hell title of the past 15 years �a game that had "contractual obligation" written all over it �and have turned it into a great sequel. Dead Island 2 sports a solid world, great audio/visuals, and an excellent combat system, wrapped up in a resonant, bleakly comic story of mankind's inability to ever save itself. Is it perfect? No, it's not, but it is the redemption story Dead Island needed, as well as perhaps the greatest example of a seemingly doomed release that actually delivered when it finally crawled out o??f purgatory. I was wrong. I had a fine time with a game I absolutely did not want to play.

And, y'know what? I a?ctually ??think I'm gonna play through it again.

It shouldn't have worked. It should have been a disaster. A decade-long internet joke ending in a comically terrible release. And yet, with Dead Island 2, Dambuster delivers a sequel that hugely improves upon the original, offering raw, no-nonsense chaos, wrapped up in a gaudy wrapper of sun, sand, and slaughter. While the old-school, repetitive gameplay won't be to everyone's taste, decadent violence, tastelessly compelling environments, and?? a surprising amount of heart await those who have the patience to wade through the misery of a paradise lost.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Dead Island 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Here's the machine you'll need to resurrect Dead Island

We're not far off from the release of Dead Island 2, which means it's probably a good time to know if your rig can handle it. Dambuster Studios has put out a list of PC system requirements for ??the upcoming zombie action game, as well as an FAQ to address some common questions ahead of launch on April 21.

On the PC side, it looks like you'll need a decently modern rig to play at the recommended 1080p /?? 60 FPS settings. That entails either an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X or Intel Core i9 9900K CPU, as well as an AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT or GeForce RTX 2070 Super. Keep sliding on up to 1440p or 4K, and the requirements get even heftier.

While the minimum memory requirement is 10 GB, everything above a base 1080p / 30 FPS experience will need 16 GB. And across the board, you'll need 70 GB of hard drive space available. A decent chunk, though thankfully less than some other games coming soon. Here's the full breakdown, by each s?pecification:

Dead Island 2 PC - Minimum requirements

Resolution/FPS: 1080p / 30 FPS

CPU: AMD FX-9590/Intel Core i7-7700 HQ

Memory: 10 GB

GPU: AMD Radeon RX 480 / GeForce GTX 1060

Storage: 70 GB available

Dead Island 2 PC - Recommended requirements

Resolution/FPS:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X / Intel Core i9 9900K

Memory: 16 GB

GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT / GeForce RTX 2070 Super

Storage: 70 GB available

Dead Island 2 PC - High requirements

Resolution/FPS:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X / Intel Core i5-12600KF

Memory: 16 GB

GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT / GeForce RTX 3070

Storage: 70 GB available

Dead Island 2 PC - Ultra requirements

Resolution/FPS:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900 X / Intel Core i7-13700K

Memory: 16 GB

GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT / GeForce RTX 3090

Storage: 70 GB available

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKFXvXjhBT8

The dead rise once again

The requirements page also outlines a few other key points. Namely, there is no crossplay for Dead Island 2, so buy this where your friends are. There is multiplayer with up to three players. It's also apparently ?cross-gen, though what that means in detail has yet to unveiled.

We got a chance to go hands-on with Dead Island 2 recently at PAX East, and found it to largely be, well, more Dead Island. I know that's not really a revelation or anything, but there's a part of me that's amazed we're seeing this game launch. It's been in development for ages, and soon, those years of trailers and mentions will finally come home to roost. Dead Island 2 goes live on PlayStation, Xbox, and?? PC on April 21.

Related: Is Dead Island 2 Open World? �Answered on Prima Games

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Play it again, Sam

Dead Island 2 has been a long, long time coming. At 11 years on from the original and a whole history behind it, I went into my PAX East 2023 demo wondering what a new Dead Island would look or play like now, in 2023. The answer, as it turns out, is a lot like the first Dead Island.

How that answer lands for you will depend on, well, how exactly you felt about the preceding entry. Dead Island 2 certainly looks good; it's got some lighting that creates s??ome memorable moments. When I started the demo, my player character was on a beach at night. Fires burned, creating silhouettes of the walkers and runners who were soon going to set themselves on me.

So, anyway, I started swinging.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKFXvXjhBT8

Melee it on me

While guns exist in the world of Dead Island, it's always felt like the franchise?? likes to lean towards the melee side of things. Bullets can be a ??precious commodity, while a bat can keep on swinging. And if that bat has nails, electric wiring, or a butane torch hooked up, it can do some solid damage.

The core of Dead Island to me, that persists in Dead Island 2, is melee combat with layered, makeshift implements of zombie destruction. In my demo, they didn't skimp on the goods either. Already in my inventory, there were electric claws, a flaming axe, and some sort of water-spreading tool. Sure, I had a katana and a staff, and even a few guns. Those were weapons meant for taking down enemies. But it's Dead Island. I'm going to use the fire axe.

[caption id="attachment_341314" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Deep Silver[/caption]

Elemental effects are a big part of Dead Island and in the sequel it seems like they take a much more central role to the action. With the original, I felt like elemental effects were a nice little addendum. But Dead Island 2 rewards you for masterful elemental use. Water can spread?? around, creating potential shock zones when mixed with electricity. Fire can obviously do some damage over time, but so can acid. And paying attention to which enemies have elements, especially ones that could help you if activated, is crucial when trying to fight off a big wave of ??infected.

Staving off the horde

Most of the level I ??played was spent carefully making my way around a boardwalk, seeking my objective marker all the while. Everything is shut and locked down, so occasionally some light puzzle-solving was required. There were some environmental tidbits to pick up, in order to learn more about what awaited? me near the end. But for the most part, it was pretty straightforward: Forge ahead. Slay zombies.

While small encounters broke out frequently, full chaos broke loose when I reached the boardwalk's Ferris Wheel. Here, I had to kickstart the ride's system in order to move on, but doing so was going to attract the horde. It's a zombie classic at this point, and so much like I'd done many times before, I looked for the best ?holdout and chokepoints, grit my teeth, and started the action.

[caption id="attachment_368520" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Deep Silver[/caption]

Though there are normal, shambling infected as well as faster, running variations, here I also contended with giant ground-slamming behemoths and exploding zombies using my special abilities �which consisted of a Molotov and a zombie-distracting grenade. Still, it was tense. I even got taken out here, eaten up by the small army of undead. Eventually making it through, I got on the Ferris wheel and caught sight of an unusual, extremely dangerous type of zombie, right before my tim?e ran o?ut.

The song remains the same

Again, it might feel reductive to say that Dead Island 2 feels like "more Dead Island", but it really, really does. It's certainly been polished up and given some new tools, but the core framework of Dead Island 2 still feels like that Left 4 Diablo blend of RPG loot and bonuses in a zombie s??hooter world.

None of that is a bad thing, if what you wanted was more Dead Island. To be honest, my demo made me reminisce on the Xbox 360 era that bore the original title. Given the development history of the sequel, it almost feels miraculous that Dead Island 2 even exists, especially as other games �that have similarly toiled in development �haven't seen t?he light ?of day.

Dead Island 2 will see the dawn soon enough though, as the game's scheduled to launch on April 21, 2023 for PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

The post PAX: Dead Island 2 rekindles all the ??same feelings as its pre??decessor appeared first on Destructoid.

Light up Hollywood

The long road to Dead Island 2 is nearing a launch date. Ahead of that, Dambuster Studios and Deep Silver have published a new extended gameplay trailer, highlighting all the ways in which you can thin out the zombie horde in Dead Island 2.

Much like the first game, Dead Island 2 is a first-person zombie game that looks to have a similar mix of ranged and melee combat. As the player vent??ures through the infected streets of in-universe Los Angeles, you can see how the different systems interact.

It looks like elemental effects still play a big role, as both environmental hazards and weapon accoutrements. I m?ean, if you're taking down the undead, why not add a little electricity or? fire to the situation?

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHOqRtA4OK8

Dambuster also showed off a bit of its gri?sly dismemberment and flesh-tearing tech. It certainly looks like all the undead s?laying will be gruesome, if you're looking for that.

The dawn of the dead looms

Dead Island 2 has been in development for quite a long time, as it's moved around dates and studios alike. Next month, thoug??h, that road seems like it will be coming to a close, as Dambuster and Dee?p Silver look to finally get the zombie action out the door.

And honestly, after watching today's deep dive, I'm more intrigued than I initially expected. I played the first Dead Island and had a decent enough time with it. Where other zombie games have opted for parkour or co-op action, there was something about Dead Island's weapon-crafting and pseudo-RPG concepts that gave it a litt?le bit of a different feel.

So maybe I will craft my own flaming axe of destruction and set out into "Hell-A" next month. Get acquainted with some of the Slayers you can play as in the new game here, before Dead Island hits on April 21.

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The dead rise faster

Dead Island 2 is nearing a launch date, and it's coming up faster than expected. Today, Deep Silver and Dambuster Studios confirm that Dead Island 2 has gone gol?d, and will be launching a week earlier than previously determined.

This puts Dead Island 2 on April 21, 2023, rather than April 28. No specific reason was given in today's announcement.

//t??witter.co?m/deadislandgame/status/1625147886643150852

This does push Dead Island 2 away from Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, which had also locked in an April 28 date. Both had moved to the end of April following delays, but now Dead Island 2 is shifting gears once more, now sharing a week with the return of Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp.

Moving on up

It's a bit of a surprise to see a date moving up in the world of video games. Delays are usually more common, as teams need a few extra weeks to polish, tighten the screws, and put the final touches on a multi-year project. Still, we do see it from time-to-time. The gnarly Scorn moved its date up by a week last year, Martial arts brawler Sifu also bumped its date up a bit before launch, too.

Still, for Dead Island 2, it's a bit of a surprise. First revealed at E3 2014, the zombified sequel has shambled through the years, eventually arriving at Dambuster Studios. The team there has finally got it together and ready to move out the door though, and it may be heartening for fans to see them so ready to hit the gas on the Dead Island sequel.

We'll find out whether Dead Island 2 and its motley crew of slayers can truly stick the landing a little bit earlier than expected. Dead Island 2 is ??now slated to launch on April 21, 2023 on PlayStat??ion, Xbox, and PC.

The post Dead Island 2 goes gold? and moves its launch up a week appeared first on Destructoid.

Sun. Style. Survival.

It sure took its sweet-ass time getting year, but at least Deep Silver's death-development monster-masher Dead Island 2 is ensuring that it's gonna be gosh-darned sexy on arrival. Dambuster Studios has released several new trailers over the past month, introducing players to the four baseball-bat-swinging maniacs attempting to make a life for themselves against the backdrop of the zombie-ridden Los Angeles �or to use the Dead Island 2 vernacular: "HelL-A".

Each of the Dead Island 2 Slayers will be equipped with their own skills and abilities, as well as what I'm assuming will be a serious dose of Poochie-powered focus group cool. They'll be running, they'll be gunning, they'll be whippin', and boy howdy you can bet your ass they'll be quippin' �as our team of survivors utilizes? their homegrown skills, killer instincts, and lashings of duct tape and rubber bands, to fight off the charging masses of decaying humanity.

So, l??et's take a brief look and see who do the voodoo bitch this time aroun??d.

Jacob

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3BX9mtKuF0&ab_channel??=DeadIsland

Hometown: London, England
Job: Stuntman
Loves: Shakespeare
Hates: Doing Fuck All
Voice: Okezie Morro

Cover star Jacob has rolled into Hell-A from Blightly, and worked as a broker on the British stock market before traveling to America to fulfill his lifelong dream of being a stuntman in action movies. What a natural career transition. Jacob seems rough around the edges, but he record scratch likes Shakespeare?! and frequently quotes the bard in combat. Jacob hates Doing Fuc?k All, which isn't actually a personality trait and thus doesn't mean anything. I guarantee he claims he's from "The School of Life"

Skills:

• Feral â€?Jacob gets a stackable minor Damage boost when attacking in quick succession.
• Critical Gains â€?Jacob gets a moderate Critical Damage boost while his stamina is low. Critical hits regain Stamina

Amy

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=syRoRiBG42A&am??p;ab_channel=DeadIsland

Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Job: Athlete
Loves: Being in The Lead
Hates: Losing
Voice: Skye Bennet

A Hell-A native, Amy's training as a Paralympian affords her top-notch mobility to stay one step ahead of the infected, which has kept her alive and well amid the chaos of the Outbreak. Her outfit can be best described as "Sports Queen meets The Hardy Boyz", and she's blowing bubblegum because developer??s like doing that with women characters these days. Amy's running blade is bedecked in Stars and Stripes because God Bless America.

Skills:

• Relief Pitcher â€?Amy regains Stamina when hitting a zombie with a weapon throw.
• Divide & Conquer â€?Amy gets a minor Damage boost when she attacks isolated zombies.

Ryan

//www.youtube.com/watc??h?v=HAYwTp-p0dI&ab_channel=DeadIsland

Hometown: Fresno, California
Job: Exotic Dancer
Loves: His Brother
Hates: Exercise for Fun

Ryan, who may or may not be a redesign of the original Dead Island 2 protagonist, is a stripper by trade and a fireman by pretend �I ?bet he has a helluva hosepipe. He's described as having a "pessimistic sarcasm as dry as the Saraha", which makes it sound like he's probably annoying af. Regardless, Ryan has a heart of gold, as he is try??ing to make it back home to reconnect with his missing brother. Ryan hates Exercise for Fun, so I honestly don't really know whether zombie-slaying is up his alley. I guess it depends on your definition of "Fun".

Skills:

• Retaliation — Ryan gets a moderate Force boost when using Block or Dodge to avoid an attack.
• Seesaw â€?Ryan regains Health each time he knocks down a zombie.

Dani

//www?.youtube.com/watch?v=7X51w7eZ8hc&ab_channel=Dea?dIsland

Hometown: County Cork, Ireland
Job: Retail Assistant
Loves: Breaking the Rules
Hates: Talking to Her Family

Dani is our tough-talking, roller-derby-playing Irish lass who fucking loves Breaking the Rules. She also works as a retail assistant where one can only assume she breaks the rules �thoroughly and consistently. She doesn't like talking to her rule-following family, who probably stopped inviting her over for game night as she was completely ruining it for everyone. Dani is my personal favorite of the Dead Island 2 Slayers, mostly because of her shoes, but also because I don't follow the rules, not ??even my own.

Skills

• Bloodlust - Dani regains Health when slaying multiple zombies in quick succession.
• Thunderstruck - Dani's Heavy Attacks trigger a Forceful explosion on impact.

Dead Island 2 l??????????????????????????aunches April 28 on PlayStation, ??PC and Xbox platforms.

The post Meet your mot??ley crew of sexy Slay??ers in Dead Island 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Y'all come back (from the dead) now!

You wait years and years for a Dead Island 2 update, and then three come along at once! Publisher Deep Silver and developer Dambuster Studio has offered up a selection of trailers and screens for long-in-development zombie-masher, which launches on PC and console platforms in April 2023. The new information was delivered via a special online showcase, which you can now watch in its entirety.

First and foremost is the new "Welcome to HELL-A" trailer, giving us a new look at the sun, sand, and shredded skins ??that will come clawing for both your attention AND your flesh in the new sequel. In true Dead Island fashion, homemade weaponry, procured vehicles, and on-the-spot adaptation w?ill be key to ensuring that you don't become part of the city's sun-bleached army of the damned. The trailer also introduces us to Jacob and Amy, two of the slayers that head up the Dead Island 2 roster.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEmrfritmg8

Dambuster Studios also announced that Dead Island 2 will support the Alexa Game Control system. Launching on the PC and Xbox platforms, the strange feature will allow players to sync up Dead Island 2 with their home Alexa system, calling out commands in order to perform in-game tasks with more speed. Much like the Kinect's obsession with spoken commands, I can only see this as a gimmick, but it might provide further accessibility options for some of the player base, which will be ??most welcome.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyTe6rKhYmA

Finally, Publisher Deep Silver announced the coming of the Dead Island 2 HELL-A Special Edition. This kit will include a hard copy console edition of Dead Island 2 in steelbook packaging, the Dead Island 2 expansion pass, additional in-game c??haracters and weapons, character cards, two pin badges, a map of Venice Beach, and a felt patch. The centerpiece of this exclusive set is a hand-painted figurine of heroid Slayer Amy, posed in her local diner after a ?bout of monster mashing.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8g_5WHoYPk

The Dead Island 2 HELL-A Special Edition is now available to pre-order from online and high street retailers. Dead Island 2 laun??ches April 28 on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox platforms.

The post Dead Island 2’s new trailer welcomes you to HELL.A. appeared first on Destructoid.

A fresh look at what Dead Island 2 has been up to

Dead Island 2 is rising from the beyond to share more of what the team's been working on. A new Dead Island 2 showcase is scheduled for Tuesday, December 6.

The stream will kick off at 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET, with the Dead Island 2 showcase airing on the Dead Island YouTube channel. You can find that link here.

//twitter.com/dead??islandgame/status/1595462356230115329

What's the team planning to showcase? Well, so far we just have a description of "action, gore, and zombies." Hopefully we get to see some details of what's in store for the long-in-development sequel to Dead Island.

Rising from the grave

It's at least another sign of life from the Dead Island 2 project, which has been in the works for quite a long time at this point. We did get confirmation of a release date and details at Gamescom earlier this year, but publisher Deep Silver confirmed last week that it's been pushed from February out to April 28, 2023.

“The irony of delaying Dead Island 2 is not lost on us, and we are as disappointed as you undoubtedly are,�reads a statement from Deep Silver on the delay. “The delay is just 12 short weeks and development is on the final straight now; we’re going to take the time we need to make sure we can launch a game we’re proud to launch. For those of you who’ve been waiting for years, thank you for hanging in there with us.�/p>

More delays tacked onto Dead Island 2 is one thing. But players also probably want to know what the game looks like after so many years. The zombie-smashing, weapon-crafting action of Dead Island could be pretty fun to play again. It's ??just a matter of ?getting it onto platforms and out of the lab.

We'll see if the showcase delivers on December 6.

The post A Dead Island 2 showcase is set for December 6 appeared first on Destructoid.

You couldn't write it...

Publisher Deep Silver has announced that the long, long, loooooong late coming Dead Island 2 has been delayed and will not see its intended February 3 release date �The MIA zombie smasher will now arrive on PC a??nd console platforms on April 28, 2023.

"The irony of delaying Dead Island 2 is not lost on us, and we are as disappointed as you undoubtedly are," reads a short statement from Deep Silver. "The delay is just 12 short weeks and development is on the final straight now; we’re going to take the time we need to make sure we can launch a game we’re proud to launch. For those of you who’ve been waiting for years, thank you for ?hanging in there with us."

"In the meantime, we will be releasing an exciting new trailer and gameplay at The Dead Island 2 Showcase, which will premiere on December 6 on our Twitch and YouTube channels, as well as on the Dead Island website."

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dv1cqr1npA

Whilst you undoubtedly do not need a refresher course, Dead Island 2 has had a long and arduous road to fruition, having first been teased way back at E3 2014. Over the following years, myriad reports of cancellation and delays �with no less than three studios working on the title, led many to believe that the open-world sequel was becoming something of an urban myth. However, a release date was finally announced in August of th??is year... A release da??te which has now been pushed just a little further backward.

The best things come to those who wait? We'll soo??n see if this turns ?out to be an axiom supporter.

Dead Island 2 launches April 28, 2023, on PlayStation, Xbox??, and PC (via Epic Games St??ore).

The post Dead Island 2 delayed to April 2023 appeared first on Destructoid.

Just another day in a zombie-infested paradise

A long-in-development zombie game is back in action, and arriving early next year. Dead Island 2 will launch on February 3, 2023.

During today's Gamescom Opening Night Live 2022, Deep Silver and Dambuster Studios revealed a cinematic trailer for Dead Island 2. It features plenty of ??zombie-slaying action, and one of the game's playable characters, Jacob.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dv1cqr1npA

We also got a look at some gameplay for Dead Island 2, which features a ton of the bloody first-person action seen in the first Dead Island.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEkkrJpI6XA

Players will b?e able to play as one of six different characters including Jacob. Each one has ??their own style and skills, and you can instantly re-spec if you don't like the build you're putting together.

The story takes place in Los An?geles, with locations around the city ??including Beverly Hills and Venice Beach.

You can play the adventure by yourself, or opt to do some co-op. Up to three players can party up and blast through hordes ??of zombies together.

Rise from the grave

Dead Island 2 has been kicking around in some form or another for quite a while. We got some indication earlier this year that a Dead Island 2 launch could be set f??or 2023, and it looks like t??hat's panned out.

While the news did leak a little bit ahead of schedule, it looks like the zombie-crushing, weapon-crafting action of Dead Island is due back soon. The original was a goofy, decent enough zombie-smasher with some light RPG elements and good co-op fun. While the successor to the series has been mired in development for quite a few years, we'll at least finally get a chance to see what a new Dead Island looks like soon.

Dead Island 2 will launch for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xb??ox One, and Stadia on February 3, 2023??.

The post Dead Islan?d 2 re-emerges and sets a launch date for February 2023 appeared first on Destructoid.

Rave from the Grave?

A staggering eight years on from its initial teaser, there is fresh evidence that zombie-mashing sequel Dead Island 2 is almost ready to grace us with its putrid presence. Online retailer Amazon has opened a new listing for the "?Is it even happening?" release, complete with a launch date of February 3, 2023.

The listing includes box art, screenshots, and a game description, which is more than anybody has seen of Dead Island 2 from publisher Deep Silver or developer Dambuster Studios. According to Amazon, the sequel is ready to rock on PlayStation and Xbox consoles, (current and last-gen), and will, once again, see players choose from a selection ?of characters before engaging in gory, open-world mayhem on the streets of a plague-ridden Los Angeles. The blurb also suggests that the heroes themselves are infected, and can utilize the zombie inside them to unleash further carnage.

It's the best evidence yet that Dead Island 2 is not only still on deck, but is, apparently, mere months away from launch. Originally announced with a memorable teaser trailer at E3 2014, the sequel has since bounced through several studios and has been subject to an array of cancellation rumors. Can the long-awaited title deliver after being mired in development hell?? It seems, according to Amazon at least, that we really don't have to wait too much?? longer to find out.

With Gamescom on the horizon, I would expect that we'll be hearing some official news from Deep Silver in the very near future.

Dead Island 2 is currently in develo??pment at Dambuster Studios.

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The game within the game

Homefront: The Revolution might have been sitting dormant in some people's game libraries, but there's a new reason to break it back out. Following a tease that TimeSplitters 2 was hidden away in the game, players have since discovered how to ?access it.

A recent bout of developers sharing their Easter eggs, to coincide with Easter, prompted a former Dambuster developer to divulge his proudest moment: a "fully playable, native 4K" port of TimeSplitters 2 hidden inside an arcade machine in Homefront: The Revolution.

TimeSplitters 2 holds a special place in the hearts of split-screen console shooter fans, so a modern playable version would be a big deal. The existence of TimeSplitters 2 inside Homefront: The Revolution has actually been known for years, but only to the extent of a few levels, not the full game. Phillips said the game was "fully playable" through an unlock code, but he no longer had the notebook where he jotted it down. According to Phillips, he even tried leaking it through a friend in a Discord, and that friend was banned for it.

Luckily, it seems like the code hasn't been lost ??to time after all.

Here is a nice writeup. You can just enter the code on the level select screen for the easiest result. pic.twitter.com/ovUXyohqAr

— Lance McDonald (@manfightdragon) April 9, 2021

The codes were discovered by users and shared in Discord (via Lance McDonald). There's a full list, for both PlayStation and Xbox inputs, to unlock the Story, Arcade, and Challenge modes, as well as additional codes that users specu??l?ate are for Extras.

It turns out that in the previous thread, a mostly unknown user had posted one o?f the codes and it we??nt mostly unnoticed, until another community member decided to test it out. Looks like you can finally play TimeSplitters 2 on a "modern" console; and while the data and files have been kn??own for some time, being able to freely access the game as-intended is pretty neat.

Reports right now are indicating that you'll need to play through enough of Homefront: The Revolution to get to the arcade cabinet and use the codes, though. While that's a bit of a rough ask, TimeSplitters 2 might just be worth it.

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