I wrote this up for a video I was recording on YouTube, but I thought I might as well share it with you all too.
At the time of this video/article, Dead Island 2 officially released a week ago. In that time, I've already put a whopping 33 hours of gameplay into this zombie slaying spectical - and maybe even a little more than that! A lot of my time and energy has gone into completing all the available missions, side-quests, and things the game has to offer. Now, I'm not officially 100% done - as there's still plenty of challenges to complete, secret weapons to find, and trophies to earn...but I felt it's finally time to give my thoughts on the game after playing for so long! Opinions can change especially after the hype, excitement, and other feelings wear down.
The first Dead Island released in September 6, 2011 for old-gen consoles (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and other PC related platforms)...y'know the golden years when most of us were still kids, times were simpler, and life was good. In October of 2014 the game was remastered into the Definitive Edition and released on PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One. Many of us have been waiting for the sequel for such a long time! It finally releases twelve years after the first, and we can once again return to this beautifully horrendous world and slay zombies.
With that in mind, let's go ahead and start with the bad stuff...the things that don't sit well with me, and that kinda leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. Surprisingly, there's not a whole lot!
My main and overall gripe with the entire game...is how short it is. There's a lack of story here. What I mean by that is the lack of missions. There's only 24 story missions, 33 side-quests, and a handfull of some other detective style stuff. Comparing it to the Definitive Edition of the first game, Dead Island had a whopping 150ish story and side-quests...that of course is excluding any Dead Island: Riptide content as well! The story itself was fine and well written, but it ended abruptly.
Without giving away spoilers, the game does end on a major cliff-hanger at a random time that kinda made no sense, and it left me in disbelief. My mouth dropped to the floor and I said to chat, "There's no way this is the end right now!?" But it was. It was a fairly short campaign and that kinda sucks. I reached max level 30 before I finished all the side quests, so you won't get any more XP once you get to level 30.
Now, the developers have said there's going to be DLC content, new enemies, new weapons, additional story...and I'm really happy and exctied about that! This game deserves more time and attention, so please, DO. NOT. DISAPPOINT!
Unlike the first one, Dead Island 2 doesn't have any cars or transportaion aside from your characters legs, so you won't be able to run any zombies over. It's kinda sad because I wish I was able to drive across the sands of Venice Beach or down the street of Ocean Avenue as I ran over hordes of the undead. I was thinking Dawn of the Dead style buses decked out with barbed wire, spiked tires, and some mounted weapons...perhaps sometime soon?
There was also a few times when I was knocked over by a crusher, and then a barrel would explode...and while my character was in the animation of getting up, I was taking some insane damage by fire! I was a one hit for sure by the time I got back up, so I would run away frantically to try and heal. Most of the time I was successful, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't die a couple times this way.
Onto the good stuff and the things I really love and appreciate about this game!
If I hadn't have started with my gripes, the first thing I would want to tell you all about is the insane attention to detail this game has! You can use water...to clean up blood! On all surfaces! About 20-30 minutes or so of my time, has gone to just using a jerrycan of water and cleaning up the nasty zombie filth on the ground. What was once a nasty blood and gut covered slab of concrete, looks like a brand new slab of concrete!
There's a nice range of enemy types, and as you progress through the game, areas will change and add new enemies that weren't there previously. Character models and skins are exceptional, and very rarely would I be fighting two enemies at the same time that had the same look. That might've just been a PS4 thing, but it was nice to see some variety in the zombie's appearances.
There's a total of six playable characters, with their own personalities and special stats and starting skill card. They've got their own dialogues which helps to set them apart from one another - giving you some freshenss between them all. I used Carla, who had the most balanced stats, and is a great first character to use!
The zombie dismemberment is also a really nice touch, and so much better than other games. You can smack a zombie in the face a couple of times, and their eyeballs might pop out, or their jaw will dangle by a thin piece of cheek skin. You can block an incoming attack and the zombie might actually break its own arm off from the force behind its smack! You can chop both or one of the legs off, and the undead will start crawling after you until you finish it off! Fire damage will start burning the zombie to a charred crisp, and caustic damage will melt and eat the body away - gross! There's a lot of gore in this game, so it might make you a tad bit queasy.
The combat is also really great and reminds me of the first Dying Light! You can jump and drop kick enemies and send them flying over balconies or into other zombies. All the melee weapons and guns are really fun to use, and there was a nice variety of them too! I finished all the quests and was wandering around some houses at one point, and I stumbled upon a shovel. I went through the entire game and never once used or saw a shovel until then! So, I of course picked it up and had to go and kill some zombies with it to test it out. You'll find weapons all over the place ranging from street signs to military gear! Legendary gear is of course the best, and some of the most fun to use as they have the best mods attached!
You can parry all attacks except ranged ones and smash attacks. You can block and spam your attack button and you're sure to get a parry almost every time - it's a cheese but it works! Each melee has a special parry attack as well, and it's quite fun to go and test them all out!
There is durability when it comes to your melee weapons, but if you have a particular weapon that you like, you can repair it if you have the necessary parts. You can also match your guns and melee weapons to your current level, if you have the cash to spare!
All the parts you pick up are solely used for upgrading weapons, and you never have to use them for crafting any curveball items (molotovs, throwing stars, grenades, etc.). Your curveball items will recharge and you can get different skill cards to speed up those recharges. There isn't a skill-tier, and you'll unlock all the skill cards as you progress throughout the entire game! You can change those cards out for different abilities to suit whatever type of playstyle you want.
The game is also kinda easy, but it has it's tough spots. I found myself struggling in moments, but I remembered, "Oh yeah, I've got some special abilities I can use!" There's plenty in your arsenal to get you out of tight situations or difficult spots!
Being that I was on PS4, load times were slightly slower, but I experienced absolutely zero lag while playing through the entire game. I haven't played co-op yet, but there might be some lag whilst somebody loads into game, I'm not sure.
My final thoughts:
Listen, I'm passionate about this game. I wouldn't be here writing all morning or working my tail off for this video if I wasn't. Dead Island 2 is a phenomenal sequel and an awesome zombie game! This sits up there with the first Dying Light, and I'm hoping the developers treat it like the masterpiece that it is! Yeah it has some flaws and isn't straight up perfect, but they definitely did a darn good job with it! Hats off to the developers!
I want a Zombie Army style of survivor mode to be implemented at some point. I feel like that could add even more hours of gameplay and replayability!
This is one that you're guaranteed to have some great hacking-and-slashing zombie slaying fun in! The good this game offers far out-weighs and exceeds that of any of the bad things. If I really had to boil it down, I'd say my only gripe is the lack of missions, but with more content coming out in the near future, I'm okay with it for now! The game kept me interested and invested, and it was really hard to put my controller down. There's more characters to play as, and more zombies to slaughter! It's what we've wanted for years, so grab your friends and buddies and get to playing!
I'm a huge zombie fan and I love playing these types of games. The first Dying Light is hard to beat and the sequel left such a bad taste in people's mouths. Dead Island holds a special place in my heart, and now, so will the sequel!
But, that's all for now! I've got a video uploading, and I'm super nervous about all of that...but trusting Jesus with it.
So what do you think? What's your favorite zombie game? Have you played Dead Island 2? Let me know all things in the comments section below! Thanks for reading!!
No comments:
Post a Comment