Game Pass is having its biggest month ever, and it's all thanks to the return of Donut County. The chill title is one of, if not the best, games about dropping stuff in holes. The month also starts the biggest Activision drop yet with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and more.

Supposedly, most folks care about the latter than the former. It's their loss, to be frank. Still, Microsoft and Xbox are rounding off October 2024 with some of the most significant games from the Activision Blizzard roster. And that's cool if you're into it. Before that, you should try Donut County. It's really good.

Game Pass October starts the biggest Activision invasion so far

The Activision list is looking beefy. Two Call of Duty games are going on the road with Cloud gaming. Xbox is also teasing StarCraft and its sequel, but those won't appear until the first week of November. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is a day-on launch title available on Cloud, PC, and Console?.

Activision games coming to Game Pass this month:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (October 25)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (October 25) - Cloud
• Call of Duty: Warzone (October 25) - Cloud
• StarCraft Remastered (November 5)
• StarCraft II: Campaign Collection (November 5)

If you're not interested in the above, Game Pass will host other options for you. The boys are back in town on October 16 with the inclusion of South Park: The Fractured but Whole. Donut County, the highlight of the month, is arriving on October 17. MechWarrior 5: Clans also arrives on Octob??er 17 as a day-one launch title.

Several more games will be available after the big Call of Duty wave. Ashen, like Donut County, also returns to Game Pass this month. You can play it again on October 29. Dead Island 2 is maki?ng its debut on?? Game Pass starting October 31, but only for PC players.

Games leaving Game Pass at the end of October 2024

As usual, Game Pass also removes a handful of titles at the end of the month. Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery, Headbangers, Inkulinati, Lonely Mountain's Downhill, and Mineko's Night Market will bow out on October 31. If you've been pl??anning on playing any of the aforementioned games, consider this your two-week warning.

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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 that, 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 thinks they've g??ot 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 s?erious 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 chan?ges that are coming include zombies in new locations, new revenants, and tougher enemies in unexpected places. In a nutshel??l: 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, an??d 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 skill 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 experi??ence. 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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Dead Island 2 was pretty dang good on day one, back in 2023, but it's only been getting better still from that point onwards. Specifically, the upcoming Patch 6 promises to round off the game's selecti?on of modes and activities with New Game+, Neighborhood Watch mode, and a lot more.

This news comes directly from the developer, Dambuster, with the company announcing its plans for Dead Island 2's Patch 6 on Steam. Now, Dambuster did promise a few months ago that Dead Island 2 fans would have much to look forward to in the comin??g months, and the team is now delivering not just with the hotly anticipated New Game+ option, but also the all-new survival Neighborhood Watch mode, where players need to team up and defend a frat house from an ever-growing horde of zombies.

Dead Island 2's biggest free update, Neighborhood Watch, is coming soon

Obviously, the introduction of a proper New Game+ mode is a huge deal for Dead Island 2 in its own right. Neighborhood Watch, however, is the surprising part of the equat?ion, as it combines a fixed-length survival scenario with a full-featured horde defense mode. The best of both worlds, in theory.

In Neighborhood Watch, players will take on the role of the Bobcats: a fratern??ity that's taken upon themselves to clear out their neighborhood over the course of five in-game days. The catch, though, is that players will need to juggle home defense, resource scavenging, and neighborhood clearouts all at once, which means there will be many different moving parts to this particular game mode. The implication, too, is that the Bobcats are all-new c?haracters rather than just stand-ins for the personable campaign avatars. Dambuster hasn't specified yet whether Neighborhood Watch will be playable solo, or if this is purely a co-op ordeal.

As for New Game+, players can expect to en?joy higher-level enemies, an additional skill slot, an increased level cap, and a whole assortment of all-new weapons and skins to chase after. Interestingly, the announcement specifically says there are some "brand new foes" coming in New Game+, too, which could be neat.

Dead Island 2's Patch 6 is set and primed to release on October 22, and all of its content will be available at no additional charge. By my count, this means Patch 6 will be the single biggest content update the game has received since it first came out, which is quite the feat for Dambuster. More information about Neighborhood Watch and New Game+ for Dead Island 2 will be coming "?soon," Dambuster claims, so if you're intrigued by the prospect, you may want to stay tuned as more info drops in.

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Dead Island 2 had been a long, long time coming before it was finally released, but the game ended up being fairly solid in the end. Now, a full year after its release, developer Dambuster celebrates the occasion by revealing that there's "more Dead Island 2 content to come!"

According to Dambuster's recent Steam blog post, over 7 million players have played Dead Island 2 within the past year. This resulted in the delightfully efficient destruction of over 24 billion virtual zombies: a feat that was no doubt aided by the release of two expansion packs which propped the game up as months went on. The subsequent Steam release is sure to have helped, too, as the game was a timed Epic Games Store exclusive. Initially, only the SoLA and HAUS DLCs appear to have been planned for the game (alongside a wealth of other, smaller micro-DLCs), but more is now on the way, thanks to Dead Island 2's success.

Dead Island 2 is getting more content than initially expected

While Dambuster's statement isn't particularly loaded with details, it is clear that some type of content is yet to come to Dead Island 2 down the line. "In the following months we’ll share some exciting and long awaited new game updates, so st?ay tuned for more Dead Island 2 content to come," reads the blog.

This could be taken to mean that Dambuster has some amount of bonus post-launch content in the pipeline, set to be delivered over the next couple of patches. Conversely, it could also suggest that there's a HAUS or SoLA-sized DLC in the oven, and we just don't have enough information to go on just yet. A full-featured new game+ mode, for example, sounds like something that'd feel natural in Dead Island 2.

Fans of the zombie-slaying FPS do have something to look forward to regardless, then. More information on the what and the why of Dead Island 2's second batch of post-launch content will be coming rel??atively soon, so stay?? tuned.

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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 will 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 h?as 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 s??mooth gameplay without significant bugs," some of you may experie??nce some small issues.

What do I need to do?

There is, for example, an i?ssue with booting or the game hanging for too long. The developer says this is "a known minor emulation issue on St?eam Deck that will 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 apparen??tly being looked into by Valve itself, so an update could be imminent.

Likewise, it also loo??ks 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 but??ton, 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 someth??????????????????????????ing Valve or Dambuster Studios will be thinking about.

What does "playable" even mean?

When looking at Steam Deck compa??tibility, 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 ?check??list �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 functionality 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 is needed to iron out 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 users), which is pretty good, but not ex??actly 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? Stea?m, which, until now, was only available via Epic Games Store if you 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% free for a limited time o?nly. And when I say "limited," I mean you literally only have until tomorrow to pick up a copy (the other two are discou?nted 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 Dambu?ster took the reins.

Conside??ring the first installment 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 mark??eting.

The post Dead Island 2 is coming to Steam this April, Riptide temporari?ly f?ree appeared first on Destructoid.

Deep Silver and Plaion has revealed that the first expansion for Dead Island 2, titled Haus, will be released on November 2. According to the Expansion Pass for Dead Island 2, Haus is the first of two planned story expansions. In Haus, players will explore new locations and discover new weapons and skill cards while having a front-row seat to the slow decay of ??a cryptic group of survivors.

A Deadly Trip to Malibu

The expansion will bring players to a surreal psycho-horror dreamscape in Malibu as they investigate a mysterious cult. The storyline-focused expansion revolves around a billionaire cult that has l?eft behind humanity's moral restraints. The stylish Malibu villa will serve as both a sanctuary and a machine as players explore the deranged labyrinth.

From a gameplay perspective, Haus will introduce several new weapons. The new K-ROSSBOW, Hog Roaster, and Dead Islands w?eapons were mentioned in the release. There are also eight new skill cards that players can acquire to expand their arsenal.

Dead Island 2's Haus expansion releases on November 2 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, an??d Xbox Series X|S.

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The Dead Walk (and sell)

Dead Island 2, the open-world horror sequel that took a over decad??e to launch and everybody was entirely convinced was going to be complete shit, has now sold two million copies, becoming 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 sigh of relief. "It is rewarding to see that the deci??sion 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 branding, to ??become one of the happiest endings of the year, and a helluva lot of fun to boot.

Dead Island 2 is ?available 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 and conso??l?e 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 alre??ady killed over a billion zombies since l?aunch, while biting the sand themselves somewhere in the region of 28 million times. Nobody said it was gonna be easy.

//twitter.com/deadislandgame/sta?tus/165055126633707??5211?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 w?as a frequent ru??nning gag throughout the gaming community �A title that never seemed to ever 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 g?o down as having one of the most surprising "happy endings" in game development history.

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

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Send

Howdy ho, my friendly batch o' buckeroos, and welcome to this week's Whatc??ha Been Playing? You find me at the end of a pretty heavy week, which has seen me operating on very, very little sleep, thanks to some medicine-induced insomnia. I'm most certainly looking forward to resting up today, and I hope that, wherever you are and however you're doing, that you too find the opportunity to take some time for yourself and recover from the trials and tribulations of the week.

Have yourself some coffee and cake. Or whatever floats your throat boat. I know I'm going to be treating myself today, and I think that you should to. A??hhhh, that's some quality en??abling.

More

This week has been a week defined by zombies and insomnia. I've spent my hours either failing to get any sleep at all, or smashing? in the heavy heads of the undead. This, as you might imagine, has made for something of a delirious mindset for your pal Moyse �A fever dream of tired, red eyes, dizzying evenings, and fever dreams of severed limbs and exploding brains.

It's almost getting to the point where the two are starting to merge, but I will deny all of the above in court, should it ever come to that. Regardless, Dead Island 2 is much better than anyone thought it was going to be, even if it is hardly Game of the Year material. Oh, I also went on a secret journey to a secret place, but that's information better saved for a later dat??e.

Paramedics

So now there ain't nothing left to it but to do it. And I want to see you jumping into this weekend with your whole ass, ensuring that it is a great one for you, and for those around you. Be good to the people you care about, and be good to yourself, and I'm sure that �whatever your plans �you'll make the weekend work for thee. And if you want to make the weekend work for me, then all you gots to do is dive into the comments and tell your fellow community members Whatcha Bee??n Playi??ng.

We're certainly in a quieter spot right now, but that's fine, because a squillion video games exist, and we all want to hear what you, that's an?yone readin?g this, are enjoying. Fill us in!

Have a wonderful weekend??, from all of us at Destr??uctoid.

The post Whatcha been playing this week, Destructoid? appeared first on Destructoid.

The times they are a-changin'

It's 2009, and I go to my first-ever midnight launch for a game. Infamous was the next big exclusive game for the PS3, and I was incredibly excited. I was in?? my final weeks of high school, in the middle of exam season in the UK. I took the game home, unwrapped it, and played all night until around 7 am. I had an exam the following day, but I didn't care. I just had to play that game.

Fast forward to 2023, and I couldn't tell you what exam I was supposed to be studying for. I couldn't tell you whether I passed it or failed it, and it doesn't matter. The memory of lining up for the midnight launch of Infamous and playing it all night will stay with me forever. The next few weeks, while I should have been studying for other exams, I was instead playing Infamous. That summer of playing Infamous is one of my fondest gaming memories.

Over the next few years, I went to midnight launches for nearly everything. Modern Warfare 2, t?he Nintendo 3DS, the PlayStation Vita, and countless other games. Despite moving countries several tim??es over the years, I still have many of those physical games that I lined up for.

Each one of these releases is ?a memory on my shelf of games.

[caption id="attachment_374649" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via PlayStation Blog[/caption]

There was a time when a midnight launch for even a medium-sized video game was a given. I missed out on some of the biggest-ever launch events, like Halo 3, but the ones I did go to are sea?red in my brain.

I don't know when exactly midnight launches stopped happening. If I remember correctly, the last one I attended was probably for Pokémon X & Y. Then I moved to Korea for a few years, and when I got back, it was like midnight launches had never e?xisted at all.

What happened?

I'm sure the lack of midnight launches for games these days has something to do with the rise of digital games. Depending on the game and platform, digital sales can vastly outpace physical. The surprise is that even juggernaut titles like God of War: Ragnarok and Elden Ring aren't getting big launches anymore.?????????????????????????? Digital or not, those games sell a crap ton?? of physical copies.

I feel like we've collectively lost something from that as a community. The electric atmosphere of the wait outside the local game store, the excitement of everyone aroun??d you being hyped for the same game. Without that, it feels like we've lost the social aspect of a big release.

It's rare that anyone of any fandom can get that sort of collectivity feeling. Where you can be in a place surrounded by people who love the same thing as you. It's a similar feeling to going to a concert or a live show. Outside of those walls, very few people care about or get the thing that you like. But wi?thin tha?t arena, everyone is together, delighting in their passion.

As I write this, Dead Island 2 is currently installing on my PS5. I went out on launch day this morning to buy the game, and I'll probably be playing it for much of the rest of the day. I'm excited for the game, it has been close to a decade in the making, after all. But I can't help but reminisce over the years gone by when even a game like Dead Island 2 might have had an exciting midnight release.

I have? still maintained the ritual of going out on release day, getting to the store as soon as it opens to buy the latest game. But it's just not the same at all.

[caption id="attachment_374576" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Deep Silver[/caption]

Help me, Nintendo, you're my only hope

I may be in the minority of people who still buy every game physically and then in an even smaller minority who would have lined up for a midnight release, but I hope we see it again in the future. I'd love to experience the immense hype of the release of Tears of the Kingdom or Final Fantasy XVI this year.

I don't think that's going to happen, though. I think my only hope for another midnight launch would be for a console. The launch of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 was relatively muted due to COVID and stock issues. So perhaps midnight l??aunches for consoles aren't quite dead yet?

Since the next major console release will likely be the successor to the Nintendo Switch, maybe we will see a return of the midnight launch for that. After a??ll, the Nintendo Switch is one of the best-selling consoles of all tim??e. If we don't get a midnight launch for Nintendo's follow-up device, I think I'll finally have to accept that the midnight launch is dead and buried.

The post The life and death of midnight game releases appeared first on Destructoid.

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 runni??ng on some older hardwa?re, 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 PlayStation 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 h??ost 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

Hopefully th??is 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 together.

The post Dead Island 2 won’t let ‘base’ PS4 or Xbox One consoles host co-op at launch appeared first on Destructoid.

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 develop??er Dambuster Studios resurrect this long-sin?ce-decayed release, or would it have been better left dead and buried?

Look, we all know the story, so? the?re 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 quippin') to find their way out of the city and to higher ground, away from mill??ions of arm-munching, TikTok-filming posers.

What follows is an open world o??dyssey, 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 days, 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 d??esperation 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 br??onze-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 sudde??n, the realization dawned that the survival of this pack of awful bastards had suddenly become the most important thing in my life.

Look, I know t??he traile??rs 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 sw?ingin' 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 with, 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 ensure??s that while 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 v??ideo game history. A move that, I guarantee, will become your best friend. Especially on rooftops and i?n 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 p??layer to get to an undead infested venue and back alive.

This in itself was a major problem with the first game, and would lead? 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-fashioned game, but it'??s wearing a da??mn 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-checkin??g the calendar.

From a technical standpoint, the sequel is a massive improvement over the notorious original, but still suffers from choppiness �Minor frustrat?ions 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 interpre?tation of a Zack Snyder zombie ??flick yet.

Rewarding player experimentation and exploration, you get out of DI2 what yo??u put into it, and thus, it's very much a game for a specific and dedicated audience. And given its exceptionally lofty $7??0 price tag, "dedicated" 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, then 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 deep sighing at the characters, the setup, and the teasing of 15 ho??urs 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 digging the world design, the attractively gruesome visuals, and the "Glam Apocalypse" aesthetic. I appreciated the wanton, salacio??us, 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 of purgatory. I was wrong. I had a fine time with a game I absol??utely did not want to play.

And??, y'know ??what? I actually 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 gaud?y wrapper of sun, sand, and slaughter. While the o?ld-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 quest??ion?s 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 o??r 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 th??an some other games coming soon. Here's the full breakdown, by ea??ch specification:

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 wi?th 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, X??box, and PC on April 21.

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

The post Dead Island 2 PC requirements: minimum & recommended specs appeared first on Destructoid.

License to Ill

Good Weekend to one and all, and welcome to a fairly subdued edition of Whatcha Been Playing? As those of you who have been paying attention will be aware, I'm not so peachy at the moment. Unfortunately, this cruddiness is rolling into we?ek two, and as such I'm not really feeling myself in any form of fashion. Regardless, it is Saturday, and I hope that today will bring me some rest, bring you some ??good times, and will bring every last one of us a little sunshine, both literally and metphorically.

Thanks a helluva lot for showing out thi?s morning, and here's to you and your weekend, ma??ke it a great one!

Sick, Sad World

I have spent much of this week at rest, for obvious reasons, while crawling out from under the sheets in order to write various pieces of quarter-quality work for this here website. It has to be done, even if I'm not putting out close to my best. In regards to gaming, I've not been feeling very much at all, though I have taken my first steps into the crimson-splattered city of HelL-A for Deep Silver's long-awaited Dead Island 2.

Yes, folks, seems I drew the short straw, and thus will be covering this bout of corporate cool for our dear website. Will it have been worth the wait? Well,? I'm afraid I'm still a couple of weeks from being allowed to spill the beans and brains. Still, stick around. You'll h??ave my thoughts before too long.

Touch me I'm sick

Anyway buckos, let's get to this weekend, complete with all of the joy and inspiration that I hope it brings yo??????????????????????????u and yours. Before you get stuck into Saturday, however, it would cheer me up muchly if you'd take the time to jump into the comments below and let me know Whatcha Been Playing? It's something of a dry period for new releases, but that doesn't mean that we don't all have plenty to be getting on with. So please tell both myself and your fellow community members all about it. Y'all inspire me with your love and commitment to the bit, so help make my stinky morning a happier one, while also doing the same for the rest of the travelers on the good ship Dtoid. Can't wait to hear from y'all!

Have a wonderful weekend, from? all of us at Destructoi??d.

The post Whatcha been playing this week, Destructoid? appeared first on Destructoid.

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 some 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 norma??l, 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 time ran out.

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 bonu?ses in a zombie shooter 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 the 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 feel?ings as its predecessor appeared first on Destructoid.

When there’s no more room in development hell

We’re about a month away from Dead Island 2’s escape from development hell, so Deep Silver is getting us primed?? with?? a peek at the game's intro cinematic.

In the stylish intro, we’re shown various eerie scenes from “HELL-A,�the zombie-fied version of Los Angeles. While it’s no zombie-child being defenestrated in reverse, the intro is plenty moody, with a slow, reverb-laced song playing over top of familiar places in various states of dereliction. While it’s obviously trying to disturb you with its depiction of a vacant society, it does so in a pretty stylish way. The cinematic was done by ELASTIC, who has also had a hand in a lot of cool stuff, and their work for Dead Island 2 is not exception.

//youtu.be/rCS3Faf2R1w

While I wouldn’t say I’m burnt out on zombies, the original Dead Island left me less than enthused about a sequel. I played it with a friend a number of years ago, and the standout moments for me were when a guy kept pestering us for empty bottles and when we had to go to a zombie factory. I don’t remember if it was actually a zombie factory or if it was just where the zombies came from, but I turned to my friend and wondered allowed what had happened to our plan of escap?e.

Maybe there was a good reason why we were going to the zombie factory; I don’t know. It just seemed like an odd detour for a bunch of rubes just trying to survive. Maybe I’ll play Dead Island 2. I don’t know. However, it will take more than a cinematic trailer to convince me to put my money ?down.

Dead Island 2 ?is lurching toward an April 21 release date on Xbo??x, PlayStation, and PC.

The post Check out Dead Island 2’s bloody intro cinematic appeared first on Destructoid.

The Force will be with you this month

The April 2023 games lineup might have far fewer blockbusters to offer, but there are still some intriguing standouts worthy of a mention. We can take on an epic quest across the galaxy in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, or enjoy the adorable story in Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories You'll also get the opportunity to engage in strategic battles in Advance Wars 1 + 2: Reboot Camp or carve up some zombies in the long-long-long-time-coming Dead Island 2. 

Here's everything to expect from the April? 2023 games lineup.

Advance Wars 1 + 2: Reboot Camp (Switch)

[caption id="attachment_368515" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Nintendo[/caption]

Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: WayForward
Price: $59.99
Release Date: April 21
Trailer

After a long delay, Advance Wars 1 + 2: Reboot Camp will finally be on store shelves from April 21. This strategy game is a complete remake of the classic releases and will test mettle as players maneuver their army through various battlefields. Reboot Camp includes both original games and lets you pick any commander from those titles in its Versus Mode. This remaster is developed by the Shantae series studio WayForward, so there should be an essence of quality wit??hin its animation and gameplay. This will be a really enjoyabl??e nostalgia trip fans of the series, to be sure.

Dead Island 2 (PS4 PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

[caption id="attachment_368520" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Deep Silver[/caption]

Publisher: Deep Silver
Developer: Dambuster Studios
Price: $69.99
Release Date: April 21
Trailer

Speaking of delayed games, Dead Island 2 will finally be unleashed on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC systems on April 21. Similar to the previous game, it offe??rs a large sandbox packed out with many melee weapons to uncover and lots of zombies to smash. Instead of an island, however, this sequel will be taking place in Beverly Hills, as well as its neighboring areas like Venice Beach. The sequel features online co-op for up to three players, so you can team with friends to combat dozens of distinct zombie types, each with their own mutations, attacks, and hundreds of visual LA-themed variants."

EA Sports PGA Tour (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

[caption id="attachment_368542" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via EA[/caption]

Publisher: EA
Developer: Electronic Arts - Tiburon
Price: $69.99
Release Date: April 6
Trailer

Get ready to earn those beloved Eagles and dreaded Bogies because EA Sports is bringing back golf to PC and consoles on April 6. The game features the Masters Tournament, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open Championship, and The Open Championship. The publisher EA claims on the game's Steam page that it will have "unique golf wings with a fluid feel and realistic outcomes on every golf shot." In addition, there are "golfer-specific tendencies?? with unique Course Dynamics and revolutionized Ball Behavior" mechanics. A new Career Mode will allow players to can create their own ??golfer and compete against the likes of Cameron Champ, Nelly Korda, and other pros.

The Mageseeker: A League of Legends Story (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

[caption id="attachment_368550" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Riot Forge[/caption]

Publisher: Riot Forge
Developer: Digital Sun
Price: $29.99
Release Date: April 18
Trailer

The League of Legends universe expands when The Mageseeker releases on April 18. Something that makes this game notable is that it's from the critically acclaimed developer of Moonlighter Digital Sun. In this game, you play as Sylas, a mage that has freed himself from the Mageseekers. With the chains on his hands, you fight enemies that try to contain you and free your homeland from The Mageseekers. The action-RPG combat seems intense and the game has a gorgeous pixel art style, similar to Moonlighter.

Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

[caption id="attachment_368563" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Poppy Works and XSEED Games[/caption]

Publisher: Poppy Works and XSEED Games
Developer: Froach Club and Poppy Works
Price: $14.99
Release Date: April 6
Trailer

Melon Journey: Bittersweet Memories was a standout on the PAX East 2022 show floor and will be dropping into store shelves on April 6. As those of you who played the demo will know, it has an adorable Game Boy-inspired art style and a charming story. You're a rabbit strolling around a town that has out?lawed melons looking for your lost best friend. The concept is a?dorable, but the intrigue arrives once you realize things aren't as peaceful as they seem.

Minecraft Legends (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

[caption id="attachment_368572" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Xbox[/caption]

Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Developer: Mojang Studios and Blackbird Interactive
Price: $39.99
Release Date: April 6
Trailer

There's been a TellTale series and an action RPG, and now Minecraft is stepping into the Strategy genre with Minecraft Legends. Launching on Xbox Game Pass and on store shelves when April 6 hits, Minecraft Legends challenges you to third-person RTS battles. You'll be gathering allies and resources as you explore the different biomes this game has to offer. There's also a multiplayer mode, so you can charge enemy fortresses with your buddies online. Hopefully, Minecraft Legends will be just as fun as the other Minecraft spinoffs.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyfWJmk2c7U&t=125s

Publisher: EA
Developer: Respawn
Price: $69.99
Release Date: April 27
Trailer

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor continues Cal Kestis' journey as he attempts to discover his true purpose as a Jedi. The game takes place five years after the events of Fallen Order as Kestis finds himself escaping into the outer sectors of the galaxy. EA asks the question on the game's Steam page, "How far Kestis willing to go to protect himself, his crew, and the legacy of the Jedi Order?" There will be an engaging storyline, to be sure, new force abilities to learn throughout the adventure, and new fighting styles for Cal to master. The game releases on April 27.

Honorable Mentions

[caption id="attachment_368596" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Image via Digixart and Ravenscourt[/caption]

There are some other April 2023 games that should get honorable men??tions. They include:

• Curse of the Sea Rats (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC) - April 6
• The Last Case of Benedict Fox (Xbox Series X/S, PC) - April 27
• Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection (PS4, Switch, PC) - April 14
• Moviehouse - The Film Studio Tycoon (PC) - April 5
• Omega Strikers (PC, Switch, iOS, Android) - April 27
• Road 96: Milo 0 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC) - April 4
• Strayed Lights (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC) - April 25

The post Most anticipated game releases �April 2023 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 ventures 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 mean, if you're t??aking 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 grisly dismemberm?ent and flesh-tearing tech. It certa??inly looks like all the undead slaying 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, though, that road seems?? like it will be coming to a close, as Dambuster and Deep 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 weapo?n-crafting and pseudo-RPG concepts that gave it a littl?e 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.

The post Dead Island 2 shows off some g?risly action in extended gameplay? trailer appeared first on Destructoid.

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.

//twitter.com/deadislandgame/status/1625147??8866431?50852

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 n??ow slated to launch on April 21, 2023 on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.

The post Dead Is????land 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 P?oochie-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, let's take a brief look and se??e who do the voodoo bitch this time around.

Jacob

//www.youtube.com/??watch?v=z3BX9mtKuF0&ab_c?hannel=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 Fuck 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&a?mp;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 s??tep 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 developers 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/watch?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 "pessimisti?c 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 trying 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=7X51w7eZ??8hc&ab_channel=DeadIsland

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 launches April 28 on PlayS?tation, PC and Xbox platforms.

The post Meet your motley crew of sexy Slayers in Dea??d? 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 will be key to ensuring that you don't become part of the city's sun-bleached army of the damned. The trai??ler 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 Alex??a 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 i??n-game characters and weapons, character cards, two pin badges, a map of Venice Beach, and a felt patch. The centerpie??ce 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 launches April 28 on PlayStat??ion, PC, and Xbox platfo?rms.

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/deadislandgame/status/15954??62356230115?329

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 b??e 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 wil??l not see its intended February 3 release date �The MIA zombie smasher will now arrive ?on PC and 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 w?ho’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 this year... A release da?te wh??ich has now been pushed just a little further backward.

The best t?hings come to those who wait? We'll soon see if this turns out to be an axiom supporter.

Dead Island 2 launches April 28, 2023, on PlaySta??tion, Xbox, and P?C (via Epic Games Store).

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 playa?ble 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 be able to play as one of six different characters includi??ng Jacob. Each one has their own style and skills, and you can instantly re-sp?ec if you don't like the build you're putting together.

The story takes place in Los Angeles, with locations around the c?ity including Beverly Hills and Venice Beach.

You can play the adventure by yourself, or opt to do some co-o?p. 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 fo??r 2023, and it looks like that'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, Xbox One, and Stadia on February 3, 202??3.

The post Dead Island 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 ha?ppening?" 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 themselv??es are infected, and can utilize the zombie inside them t??o 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 a??nd 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 devel?opment at Dambuster Studios.

The post Dead Island 2 listed on Amazon with art??, screens, and Feb 2023 date appeared first on Destructoid.

It's still alive!

After the success of the first Dead Island game, players expected and looked forward to a sequel relatively soon. Instead, we've gotten radio silence for the better part of ten years. Dead Island 2 was first announced at E3 in 2014, and has been in development hell for around a decade. We finally got an update last week though, bringing to a close the years-long silence we had been enduring from Deep Silver, the game's developer. At an earnings presentation last week from Deep Silver's parent company, Embracer Group, we finally got some information that could point to a launch for Dead Island 2 as early as 2023, as reported by VGC.

The comment in question came from the event's host: “It [Dead Island 2] very clearly is [still alive], and I at least expect the release this financial year, or sorry next financial year, I should say. So, is that reasonable??, and what can we expect from a title that has been in development for probably 10 years or so?"

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST262ZbNcos

Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors responded that the company does have an "unannounced AAA project" that the host thought might be Dead Island 2, but that he couldn't comment further. For context, the company's financial year ends on March 31, 2023. It's a cryptic comment at best, but it's also the first we've heard of anything about the game for years. I understand why Wingefors had to deflect, but he also can't blame us for wanting any bit of information we can get about a ??game we've been looking forward to for this long.

For a long time, fans had given up any hope for the game, and thought that plans for its release would slowly fizzle out. Techland developed the first Dead Island game, so naturally they planned to make the sequel. After deciding to focus their attention on Dying Light, however, Dead Island 2 was going to be helmed by Yager Development, who are best known for creating Spec Ops: The Line. Sumo Digital took over after a while, but Dead Island 2 finally landed with??? Dambuster in 2019, a studio owned by Deep Silver.

The post Dead Island 2 could launch next year appeared first on Destructoid.

Dead Island 2 remains lost at sea

Koch Media is already getting set for E3 2021, and will be taking a moment out of the jam-packed weekend in order to make some big a?nnouncements. These announcements, however, will not involve subsidiary Deep Silver, nor any of the latter publisher's upcoming releases.

As confirmed by the publisher on Twitter, titles such as the Saints Row sequel, the recently announced TimeSplitters entry, the next Metro, or even the long, long, loooong in development Dead Island 2 will not be putting in an appearance at any point?? during either E3 or the Summer Game Fest. It appears that Deep Silver's catalogue will be taking a backseat during this summer's important media blitz. Deep Silver ends the tweet by telling fans that it will be sure to inform them when it has new news to share on the aforement?ioned releases.

Instead, Koch Media will be dedicating its airtime to revealing what it has been referring to on social media as "THE big announcement". Koch will play its hand on June 11, when it sits down with Summer Game Fest host Geoff Keighley for the mysterious revelation. If you want to check out the news live, then visit the weknowsomethingyoudontknow webs??ite at 12:00 PT / 15:00 ET / 20:00 BST. We will also keep you informed right here on Destructoid, naturally.

As for Deep Silver, while it is a shame we won't be seeing any of the above titles, it is also a much different media world now, with new streams seemingly taking place every few weeks. When the time is right, there will be plenty of time throughout 2021 for Deep Silver to show off its litany of upcoming releases... except for Dead Island 2, of course, which isn't ever coming out in my lifetim??e?? or yours.

//twitter.com/de??epsilver/status/1400814786884116483?s=20

The post Deep Silver: Dead Islan??d 2, TimeSplitter??s, and Saints Row will not be at E3 appeared first on Destructoid.

Still not dead

Like a good little zombie, Dead Island 2 refuses to stay down. You could be forgiven for thinking Dead Island 2 was one of those games that got quietly cancelled; Deep Silver hasn't said much about it since developer Yager was tak??en off the project in the summer of 2015. The marketing trail has gone cold.

However, Dead Island 2 isn't six feet under taking a dirt nap. In a statement to Eurogamer (who simply asked something? along the lines of "Hey, is this still happening?"), Deep Silver confirmed the game is still in production. Here's the comment in full:

"Dead Island 2 is in development at Sumo Digital, and we are excited by the progress th?e team are making with Deep Silver's most successful IP. When we are ready to share more information, we will."

It's not the sexiest of quotes but it does the trick, essentially just raising its hand as the teacher does role call. Present and accounted for. Basically "don't bury me, I'm still not dead."

(As a side note: Whoa to Deep Silver calling Dead Island its most successful property. I figured that would have easily been Saints Row. Maybe Deep Silver can't completely love Saints Row because it's a stepkid.)

Dead Island 2 is still alive, Deep Silver insists [Eurogamer]

The post Dead Island 2: Still a thing appeared first on Destructoid.

'Dead Island is our child'

The status of Dead Island 2 is up in the air after publisher Deep Silver took developer Yager off the project last month. Chances are that it's not dead given that Deep Silver has already sunk money into the project and it's one of the company's more prolific prop??erties. Still, we don't know who (if a?nyone) is working on it.

Techland, developer of the first Dead Island, says that it would be happy to pick up development. Speaking with VideoGamer at gamescom, Techland producer Tymon Smektala said that he'd "love to go back to Dead Island" if approached by Deep Silver. "... Dead Island is our child. It's a title that we imagined, we developed. We made this game and we still have a very strong connection to that IP. So, it's very bad news. I hope that we will see some more Dead Island in the future and I hope that Yager is not affected that much as it may seem right now," Smetkala conti??nued.

According to Smetkala, there would really only be one caveat to Techland's involvement: It'd have to be different than Dying Light. He elaborated " I think there is a place for both franchises to strive in the market. As long as someone would be able to find something that would make them different, that would draw a clear line, 'Okay, here's Dead Island, here's Dying Light,' and I think that's doable, then why not?"

Of course, this is all just one perspective. Long before Deep Silver distanced itself from Yager, it also split with Techland who was possibly going to make Dead Island 2. There's nothing to say that Deep Silver would be intereste?d in rekindling that likely fractured relationship. But, if it wants to talk, it sounds like ?Techland's door is open.

Techland prod?ucer: I'd make Dead Island 2 if Deep Silver asked [VideoGamer]

The post Techland says it’d take over Dead Island 2 if asked appeared first on Destructoid.