Dead Island 2 Review: Gameplay Impressions, Videos and Speedrunning Tips

Back in 2011, Dead Island launched to a positive reception thanks to an immersive atmosphere and fun blend of impactful melee combat and RPG-like systems.

All these years later, Dead Island 2 has arrived from developer Dambuster Studios.

It's no secret Dead Island 2 has had a tumultuous journey to this point. Announced in 2014, developmental duties switched hands several times before this final destination, a fitting survival for this action-survival horror hybrid.

Still, all signs point to this sequel very much following up with an improvement on the fun formula of the first, wrapped in modern design inspirations and presentation. Done well, it could easily be one of the year's sleeper hits and develop a similar cult-like following the first enjoyed.

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Graphics and Gameplay

Dead Island 2 takes place in an stunning rendition of the greater Los Angeles area, dubbed Hell-A.

Going firmly against the buzzwords of modern gaming, it's not exactly an "open world" experience, with the map chopped up into 10 districts separated by load screens.

Like its predecessor, the game catches a fairly unique grisly-but-beautiful vibe. The setting is gorgeous at times and feels realistic enough, besides some obvious reused asset moments for building interiors. But stuck in there are outstanding depictions of zombie warfare, like clobbering an undead once and watching its eye pop out and dangle, proper physics and all.

It's a truly remarkable balance. The lighting, shadows and in-depth environments are stunning in their own right. But it's not long before a player can paint the walls red, with something disconcerting like the remaining upper half of a zombie clawing its way toward the player across a glossy hardwood floor.

An action RPG that unfolds in first person, players pick from one of six playable characters at the start of the campaign.

This unfolds similarly to Overwatch, with each character boasting distinct personalities and play styles. One, for example, is a tank who gets health back when knocking enemies down. Another is very quick and gains bonuses when attacking solo enemies.

The overall movement feels a little slower than players might expect initially, especially compared to some of its competitors. But it's a pacing easy to adapt to and feels great within the world and combat.

Fortunately, exploration is a blast and it tackles open-world concepts in a smart way. Doubling back to re-explore areas after earning items that unlock doors is often hugely rewarding. Players will know when they stumble into special zombie variants far out of their league—from getting one-shot, if they don't happen to notice the red skull next to its name first.

There are different classes of weapons, too. Headhunter weapons, for example, specialize in the obvious. Maiming weapons critically damage limbs and Bulldozer weapons can—indeed—plow through hordes of basic undead. These, like the original, also have rareties attached to them, and it's downright thrilling to find a rare through exploration.

This plays into the different enemy types, too. The fast runners won't do much of that with injured legs. A zombie type that specializes in melee attacks at the ground level can't perform the attack without arms.

Without going into spoilers, there are plenty of boss-styled zombies too. Some of them will look very familiar to players of the first game. Regardless, each offers surprises in combat style and uniqueness in how to take them down.

As they should, different weapon types feel wildly different. Heavy-bladed weapons lodge into an opponent's body in an almost risky way depending on the situation, while quicker weapons feel fast and damaging alike. Like Dead Space earlier this year, the game promises to realistically tear through flesh, fat and bones naturally for a sort of procedurally generated gore that is both appealing and impressive.

Like the original game, there are elemental forces at play, too. The most common example is the fact again that a fire-based weapon won't do much to an enemy that is already...wait for it...on fire. This isn't Pokemon with zombies by any means, but common sense rules apply.

Such as...tossing a bucket of water on a zombie before tossing a car battery at it. That's the sort of fun, goofy-but-serious thing players can utilize while they look for creative ways to use elements and environmental hazards in order to survive (aim for those grenades dangling on zombie soldiers' vests, people).

Enhancing the experience is the series-norm battery of RPG systems.

Skill Cards allow players to equip cards that enhance up to three core abilities (Defense, Jump Kick and Special Attack).

These funnel out from the umbrella of main-category skills: Abilities, Survivor, Slayer and Numen. The latter is the most powerful, letting players unleash. There are 15 slots in a skill deck to fill out and two non-customizable cards, with some cards exclusive to certain characters.

Players also have access to two Fury abilities, Fury Skill and Fury Special Attack. Like the original, players can earn a state of fury and dish some unique special attacks.

As a whole, the card system for skills is refreshingly basic. Many a game has been bogged down with hard-to-understand skill trees. This is simple—slap down a preferred ability, further amplify it from there.

Granted, especially early, none of the cards are game-breaking. But it's fun to have agency over a character and tweak to a player's liking for certain situations. And there's certainly nothing wrong with more health or bonuses for a perfect parry.

Weapon customization is a big element of the game too, as players use parts and money at workbenches to craft all sorts of hellish devices. Think, stereotypical like nails in a baseball bat to some fantastical things not actually possible.

Combine it all together and on the gameplay side, Dead Island 2 is just as fun as the original, if not more so. There's a simplicity to the melee-based combat and systems that just feels right for the genre. It helps that feedback is always punchy and visceral.

Dead Island 2's gameplay will meet some "repetitive" criticism and for good reason. But it's a little like lambasting the experience of beating a pinata senseless. It's offering a very obvious gameplay formula and admittedly, there is enough depth to keep things interesting for those who seek it out.

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Story, Multiplayer and More

Dead Island's story all those years ago wasn't anything to write home about, but its goofy-but-serious-sometimes vibe was a fitting way to help the player get from Point A to whatever was next.

Same story here. Look at the locale—Los Angeles has been renamed Hell-A. Get it? Because it rhymes with L.A.? Right, not terrible and fits what the characters in the universe might do. And there's an underlying sense of optimism about the whole thing, a nice tone for the game to hit compared to ultra-gloomy contemporaries.

Players start the story by surviving a plane crash. Everyone important (or not?) in the city was in a rush to hop on a private jet and head out, so it was only natural disaster struck for a few. Players immediately get bit, only to come up immune, setting the stage for an almost "chosen one" romp.

The voice acting is a little jarring, which is something the original suffered from thanks to six very different characters needing to fit into one role. Also jarring is the lack of guns early so the melee weapons can get their shine, but it still works within the universe.

To its credit, Hell-A is compact and in a good way. It's nice to feel a large area so packed with enemies and things to explore as opposed to say, some of the more empty-feeling open-world games of late.

Sometimes the side missions just don't land, though. There's the groan-inducing "streamer wants player to do things in specific ways for their audience" thing, but that even made it into the recent Spider-Man games, so it's hard to complain too much.

Much of what made Dead Island such a hit beyond the combat and thrill of collecting and crafting was multiplayer. That returns here, as three-player co-op is a blast.

There are drawbacks. Players without voice chat are stuck with the communication wheel, which is limited to silly emotes and such. But again, in-universe, it almost fits.

Multiplayer is just plain fun and the amount of chaos even two players can cause out in one of the big playgrounds is amazing. Messing around with physics, assembling traps from the area's ignitable items, etc.—it's easy to see how this will add untold hours to the game for players.

Dead Island 2 also offers a rather stunning amount of options. There is the ability to rebind keys on PC, plus a trove of other options, from accessibility items to being able to just disable most UI elements for a more immersive experience. This includes nice difficulty options for those who want a more relaxed or challenging experience.

Admittedly, it's a little jarring in 2023 to see a lack of cross-platform play, especially for a game that would so clearly thrive from its inclusion. But cross-generation play on the same family of platforms makes it in, at least.

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Speedrunning Tips

Believe it or not, Dead Island was actually a pretty interesting speedrunning game.

With solo and co-op world-record times hovering around the two-hour mark, it was always interesting to see how runners attacked the routing of the world and what weapons and builds they came up with for the most optimal times.

It's the same story for Dead Island 2.

Runners will again likely flock to the character with the most stamina so they can get around faster and avoid unnecessary fights. Also, it's likely going to be a tech to again use Fury as a way to squeak out even more movement via stamina.

Two big things to know? Health packs remove status effects and fuses are one of the most important items in the game, always buy them from vendors.

Otherwise, running is a simple matter of memorizing the most efficient routing and powering through only mandatory fights, skipping cutscenes and dialogue along the way.

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Conclusion

Fittingly, Dead Island 2 hits on a lot of the same beats as its predecessor, which means most of the same takeaways.

For one, the game is just fun. And even those skeptical could hop in and get lost in the big world with droves of sidequests and deeper-than-expected loot and crafting systems. Despite the subject matter, the game is relaxing, strange as it sounds. It's not bogged down by things that sink other titles, like overly big worlds, narratives or checklists.

The tone, gore, character quips and other items like controls or repetitive quests won't be for everyone. But few games are more interestingly amplified with the inclusion of multiplayer and the sandbox is simply a riot to explore with other players.

Simplistic doesn't have to be bad and Dead Island 2 is the best example. Each of these elements—the combat, characters, crafting, systems, etc.—have been done better elsewhere. But nobody has mashed them together this well, and it's a testament to the game experience that it excels in such an oversaturated genre to establish itself as a sleeper hit of 2023.