The midnight of the Pacific Ocean is shining on the shoreline, while the light of the waves differs versus the sand. Alongside the wash of the sea, you may hear subdued, guttural groaning, the shuffling of Crocs through sand. There is a woman who can be dragged off for another time and place, and on a walk down the beach.
As we spent an hour sat down to get around Dead Island 2, this isn''t LA. It''s HELL-A, according to an enthusiastic Dambuster rep, who is basically our tour guide for this unusual west coast vacation. She told me to soak in the ambiance the sights, the sounds, and *deep breath* yes, even the sweet rotting smells of this horrible Los Angeles. Her advice was appreciated, because what a fantastic game it is.
As we research this undead woman, we see her face moving independently of her flesh, and seeing how she twitched, and shuffled, and wobbled as she fought against the sand. We want you to make sure that all of our games are fully implemented; things to see everywhere, and things to be learned. It should be a safe experience for everyone.
This is now not a well-rehearsed PR drivel. It might be, however, because this game looks great. Whether its the subdued neon lighting in a powered-down arcade softly illuminating the blade of the katana youre holding close to your body, or the fire licking out of an axe and crisping up the skin of a zombie whose head youve just had a pop at, Dead Island 2 is a delight for the eyes.
A lot of this happens to the way the undead responds to you and your broken weapons: putting your fist through their eyes, skewering them with a spear, and slicing off one of their limbs in front of you as you imagined. It''s not realistic per se (though the depth of detail and the way light and physics work are pretty close), but more grindhouse: pulpy, ultra-violent, over-the-top. Like Tarantino got into the sugar
The gore and the unreliable body horror stemming mostly from what Dambuster is calling the FLESH system. It basically means that whatever you want to do to a zombie, it replies as it should the games sandbox have fire, electricity, caustic materials, and other such elements in it. Zap a shambler and the skin will appropriately you can almost smell it cooking from the inside out. Burn one, and the skin will blister and deviate as it would in real life.
Zombies are at the core of this game, which was a zombie game for zombie enthusiasts, and an homage to anyone who enjoys it, according to the design director Adam Duckett. We just wanted to ensure we could have the best zombies possible. So to this end, we put an unhealthy amount of time into creating that [FLESH system].
We want players to feel as though they can see everything they do to these zombies; every scrape, every punch, every kick, all has this immediate feedback that is just so satisfying. FLESH was a major component of the game from very early on.
The ultimate purpose of Dead Island 2 is the mutilation system, so whether youre shot at 50 meters or are you sinking your electrified bear claws into the neck of a nearby mega-zombie, you can see the exact and practical damage youre causing at every beat.
Hm, this is a bit much that this level of gore, dismemberment, and ultraviolence rendered this gorgeously will get in your head. Dambuster is aware of this and has pushed the whole game to such a sharp end, as well as that it appears to be a clear difference between its own butchery and that you see in the real world.
Yes, theres gore, says Ducket. But we want the gore to be pulpy. Thats how the game works, really. We want to ensure that the tone of the game is complementary to the gore, and everything is done with a wink to the camera, too. We are trying not to take ourselves too seriously, and I think we have found a pretty good balance between the technology and the tone.
The Dambuster company wants to make this game a fantasy in which you are a thriver rather than a survivor. That''s why your avatar no matter which of the many player characters you choose to embody takes such joy in charging through the teeming streets of LA, armed to the teeth and ready to dance in untold blood. The game is a celebration of zombie games, and wants you to jump into its ludicrous world feet-first and experience this theme park of chaos
Rest is to see if the whole experience will stand up to scrutiny, but for the moment, one thing is for sure: it will look absolutely great no matter how it all comes together.
In February 2023, Dead Island 2 will be available on the Epic Games Store, PS4, PlayStation4, PlayStation5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
