One of the oldest Arles women in video games has just ended. Almost 10 years after its announcement, Dead Island 2’s zombie invasion, orchestrated by Dambuster Studios and Deep Silver, is sweeping across PCs and home consoles. Is this survival game the good surprise of 2023 or on the contrary a terrible disappointment? The apocalypse is lived under the sun.
The Zombie Apocalypse Club
Dead Island 2 tells The story of a handful of survivors trying to somehow survive an invasion of zombies of unknown origin in a city of Los Angeles that has fallen into the hands of the living dead. In just a few days, the Californian metropolis is in ruins and all traces of civilization have disappeared with it. At the heart of this hell, six heroes and heroines represent a uniqueness that could change everything… they are immune. This is the starting point of this gory epic through the streets and avenues of a city rightly renamed Hell-A by its last “real” residents.
The pen of screenwriters offers us an all-encompassing but entertaining story that unfortunately rarely manages to evade the clichés of a (too) fixed and extremely polished genre. The fact remains that the twenty hours devoted to the main campaign, to which must be added an appropriate time to complete the many side quests, are enjoyable, although repetitive at the end of the course. We will come back to this specific point a little later.
Full of good intentions and above all inspired by the 7th art, the classic and therefore effective production is not burdened with anything. Almost no artifice slows down the zombie invasion that Dambuster Studios have dreamed up, guaranteeing a sustained pace at the expense of the epic. The fact remains, Dead Island 2 knows how to take care of its effects when needed, and that’s all that’s required. Finally, fans of director George Romero will be delighted to discover all the references to the modern day undead creature’s father. This beautiful intention is to be welcomed.
“Under the Sun” by Hell-A
The Dead Island saga leaves the territorial waters of Oceania to join a different type of archipelago, this time urban. The famous city of Los Angeles serves as the theater for the FPS (for First Person Shooter) published by Deep Silver. This choice, made a few years ago, allows DI2 to adorn itself with a very special seal of approval, A clever balance between the sunny seaside town and the concrete metropolis that stretches as far as the eye can see. Strolling under the sun is supremely enjoyable, especially since the developers deliberately avoided the trap of the open world.
Dead Island 2 isn’t an open world, it’s actually a series of semi-open areas. 10 in number, covering the most emblematic places in the city of California – from Bel-Air to Beverly Hills via Venice Beach and Hollywood – the time of a most deadly journey. Exploration is at the heart of this surprisingly straight-forward, but literal, adventure that favors both fun and a constant sense of discovery. However, the potential round trips between LA boroughs are made easier by a fast travel mechanism that unlocks after ten hours.
Art direction has always been one of the franchise’s strengths, with graphics that vacillate dangerously between the celestial and the apocalyptic. This new episode lives up to its elders…the over-urbanization of Los Angeles adds to it. The lack of a true open world allows DI2 to be wrapped in graphics and accomplished special effects worthy of ninth-gen consoles and the latest PCs. Technically, this FPS shows remarkable mastery, ensuring impeccable fluidity even in the face of unruly hordes of zombies. Special mention goes to the humiliation of the zombies and the damage caused by the numerous beatings on these walking corpses. Limbs come loose… skins tear… skulls shatter… to the delight of the “hunters”.
What about the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions?
JV editors have been able to test Dead Island 2 on different platforms, both new and old, and the result is unequivocal. Also on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the FPS developed by Dambuster Studios delivers the essentials. The experience is as smooth as can be and the graphics are decent, even if the comparison with the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X / S testifies to the technical limitations of the previous machines developed by Sony and Microsoft. On the other hand, the loading operations between the different zones take their time, sometimes too much time. That’s the price to pay to survive Dead Island 2 on PS4 and Xbox One.
A history of violence
Dead Island 2’s gameplay draws on the qualities rather than the playful flaws of the previous works in the franchise, beginning with fierce and violent combat where the slightest mistake often leads to an untimely death. The experience concocted by Dambuster Studios is not difficult in itself, it simply requires observing each situation and then tackling it in the best way possible using the tools at players’ disposal. One of the title’s strengths stems from the simple yet oh-so-exhilarating pleasure of taking on a regularly renewed bestiary of new zombie types and pulverizing them in joy and good fright. Unfortunately, the boss fights are much less inspired. Damage !
Managing your arsenal is essential if you want to survive in the heart of Hell-A. Especially in this area the developers have given themselves to their heart’s content to cheer up the survivors of the ongoing apocalypse. There are numerous weapons, both melee and ranged, and all have traits that make them essential (or not) depending on your playstyle. Better still, Survivors can upgrade these weapons to give them various buffs and increase their destructive power. An approach that is as simple as it is impressive.
The RPG dimension (for Role Playing Game) doesn’t stop there. It all starts with choosing your hero from the six heroes presented in the introduction, each with very different characteristics that partly determine your playstyle. Please note that it is impossible to change them during the adventure. Afterward, The Slayers gain experience, unlock active and/or passive abilities in the form of cards, and become real machines to destroy the damned. Dambuster Studios even manages to eradicate one of the main mistakes of the first games, the increase in power of enemies and heroes in parallel, and regularly make their arsenal obsolete.
In addition, the developers do everything to spice up the adventure. Several additions thus enrich the gameplay as the story unfolds through new features (Fury, Autophage, etc.) that bring a breath of fresh air to a (too) marked epic. But because there is always a but… After ten hours of play, Dead Island 2 ultimately remains linear (voluntarily) and above all repetitive (involuntarily). However, this lack is offset by the ability to share this post-apocalyptic experience with two other players in cooperation to form a trio of survivors. Note that this cooperative mode does not allow crossplay.
Diploma
strong points
- A sunny and bloody Los Angeles
- Bitter and violent struggles
- The Light RPG Dimension (six heroes, abilities, etc.)
- An apocalyptic arsenal (weapons and upgrades)
- Technical mastery, even on old gen consoles
- The destruction of bodies in real time
- Cooperative mode (up to 3 players)
weak points
- A sense of repetition after several hours of play
- Watched and reviewed a post-apo story
- Unimaginative boss fights
- Load Times (only on PS4 and Xbox One)
Dead Island 2 doesn’t revolutionize the saga or the survival game, but delivers the essentials. Dambuster Studios offers zombie survivalism fans a gory and sunny journey into the heart of a red-painted city of angels. Mutilating the emaciated has never been so brutal and the pleasure so visceral. Far from perfect, this FPS suffers from a certain amount of repetition that it seeks to eliminate with undeniable generosity. The Dead Island franchise is truly back, a resounding return through the front door!
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