Admittedly, it was very much of its time would we have another Duke Nukem Forever situation on our hands? MirrorGaming is streaming a Dead Island 2 playthrough on YouTube before the game is released. Dead Island hit the sweet spot with the extensive crafting, four-player co-op, tongue-in-cheek tone, and sun-drenched setting. Of course, not all zombie games are created equal, with Capcom’s Dead Rising falling flat for me despite the robust and frankly ludicrous weapon crafting system. You couldn’t swing a dismembered arm without hitting a shambling corpse of course there are games that made zombies their bread and butter before the undead fad – Resident Evil being chief among them. I’m a sucker for zombie games, movies and books, so I was in my element 10 years ago. The follow-up to 2011’s Dead Island was first announced in 2014 and for fans of the series, it’s been a long time coming but was it worth the wait? Undoubtedly. It took me several attempts to defeat the final boss and after every death, I found myself applying new tactics to gain the upper hand which was hugely rewarding.Dead Island 2 has been languishing in development hell for a little over a decade, passing through the hands of three different studios before landing in Dambusters’ lap. Does repetition cause boredom?Īlthough there are plenty of different zombies with numerous abilities to liven up the action, once I managed to find the most effective way to dodge any incoming attacks, the task of clearing out a group of undead became much less of a challenge.īut, just as I started mastering the art of staying alive, the difficulty quickly went up a notch to restore the challenge once more. The simple things of cracking open an oil barrel and watching the oil pour out before bursting into a blazing inferno are hugely satisfying, even if it results in my character catching fire before their eventual demise. Thanks to the power of Unreal Engine, the physics and environmental destruction were another highlight of my time in Hell-A. Instead of the map feeling like a zombie-infested metropolis, there were points where I felt the game was comprised of different areas glued together by a bunch of loading screens. In comparison to other vast open-world expanses, I found the inability to explore Hell-A to its fullest a little disappointing. Whether it’s the hills of Bel-Air or Hollywood Boulevard, exploring the bright environments made a welcome break from ducking and diving the swinging arms of nearby Crushers.Īlthough each area is packed with various details and callbacks to Hollywood b-movies, the actual playspace is surprisingly compact with most of the action taking place down a single avenue or a cluster of nearby buildings. The metropolis of Los Angeles with all of its vibrant colours and multi-million dollar mansions may be the perfect playground for the rich and famous, but it’s also an excellent city to stop the zombie apocalypse. Fortunately, the same gore-filled action raised the bar alongside a storyline packed with dry humour and all manner of scenarios. Having ploughed several hours of my youth exploring all that Banoi had to offer, I headed into the streets of zombie-infested Los Angeles with varied expectations. Thankfully, Dambuster Studios picked up the baton in a bid to bring the series back from the dead. With attention quickly turning towards a potential sequel, developmental issues and numerous hurdles made it look like Dead Island 2 would never see the light of day. The reception from fans dropping onto the island of Banoi was largely positive thanks to its vibrant environment and engaging characters. Following its initial launch in 2011, the Dead Island series seemed to bottle up the magic formula, combining brutal gore with an engaging storyline and limitless ways to stop a zombie in its tracks. Whether it’s the excellent storytelling in the Resident Evil 4 remake or some co-op action from Back 4 Blood, there are many options if you’re looking to get your fix of undead action. When it comes to zombie-slaying extravaganzas, you’re spoilt for choice.
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