Dead Island 2 PS5 Review

gameplay

Graphics

Audio

Value

Summary: Dead Island 2 is a fun filled games soaking up the rays in a zombie infested Hell-A

4

Rays & Zombies!

Finally! Dead Island 2 is here and boy oh boy, is it a lot of fun? Yes, it sure is! Coming to you from Dambusters Studios, Dead Island 2 is a light-hearted romp through a gore splattered zombie apocalypse version of Los Angeles.

It took them long enough to make this, but I think Dambuster did a fantastic job . The amount of humour that is in this game will have you laughing out loud constantly, and I honestly think it’s worth the price of admission. That’s not to say it’s a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but it is a lot of fun and with over 30 hours worth of story and quests not to mention the multiplayer, the bang for buck is certainly in there from the get go.

Choosing one of six characters you are thrust into this blood-soaked world and given a variety of jobs to do by some of the most ludicrous characters I’ve seen in a game for some time. Which is exactly the point. Add to that the fact that you are immune to bites but not immune to death adds to the fun. I chose Spanish girl, Carla, and was it here that I got my first little disappointment. Dambuster decided to go all PC and the character is referred to as they or them the entire way through. Don’t get me wrong if you are identifying as gender fluid. Good on you sport! But it might have been a bit better, if they had simply changed the dialogue based on the gender of character and possibly offered a gender fluid character to players.

It just detracted a little bit from the overall experience in terms of smooth dialogue, which for the most part is a lot of fun. Is this a game of the quality of Dying Light 1 & 2 which are some of my favourite games of all time? Absolutely not even though Techland was responsible for Dead Island 1. There is genuine humour in this game, which I think saves it as opposed to a lot of games that are trying to be too serious. My thoughts are, if you can’t convince me that the stakes are high then irreverance and brevity is the best way to go.

From a graphic perspective, this game looks absolutely fantastic. There are a lot of damage textures that you can inflict upon the zombies, and they look great right up to the point that you can cave in a zombie’s head and literally put your fist through it’s face. It’s a bit of a treat to say the very least. Los Angeles looks fantastic, and you do feel as though you’re in California, albeit a thoroughly trashed, on fire with the Undead roaming around version of it. In a little twist, it is called Hell-A and you access the different parts of the city through barriers and barricades that essentially let you fast travel to those areas. It’s a good way of doing things and make sure that the game is running as well as it possibly can. I did not encounter frame issues whilst playing.

If I had to nitpick, and I guess I do, because that’s the purpose of a review, some of the reflective surfaces look absolutely crap. There are too many parts of the environment where the game does have mirrors, or glass, or things that you should be able to see yourself in, but you are absent from the picture. One weird thing at the start of the game was I was in a private home gym and looking in the mirror all of the exercise equipment looks squished and laying on the ground flat as a tack. Also, some of the fake reflections are not done properly and do not truly show you what is behind you but the graphics otherwise in the game are really good. It is confusing though with these reflections being so poor because you are looking in a mirror, or looking at a glass, expecting to it to give you a heads up, if there is something behind you, but because it is not done properly, it fails to work in a manner that would be befitting a title where you do sometimes get jump scares.

There are a massive variety of zombies that you have to learn more about by killing them, and by doing so you achieve goals that allow you to unleash more powerful attacks. One of the weird things here is though once you get into a certain area the game sees fit to throw the same zombies at you constantly. By that I mean literally the same zombie in appearance and type. There was one part where I had four of the same dude attacking me in his leisure suit And two girls in the same dress waiting to have their turn dancing with me as well and by dancing I do mean killing.

From a general gameplay perspective the game is fast paced and rewarding as you play with the different weapons available and find ingenious ways of dispatching your foes. Like Dying Light, you can enhance and upgrade the weaponry and attach certain effects that will have devastating consequences for the zombies that you hit. It’s well worth playing around and seeing what works the best for you. From a combat perspective I did find that once I had mastered a good block, that was probably it for me as far as a real challenge. I found myself dying the most when I missed the block, and I was in the middle of a swarm. Speaking of swarms, there is an insane zombie that unleashes a hive of bees from its torso. It looks amazing, but was kind of stupid that the zombie can direct the hive to attack. But who am I? I’m certainly not Undead with a heap of wasps inside my guts.

The audio on this game is really cool; it is nice and clear and directional. The sound effects for both zombies, the weapons and the general environment are very well done and play a large part in being such a great immersive experience. And a neat soundtrack rounds out your time nicely within this game world.

Final Thoughts?

In summary, Dead Island 2 is a stack of fun, and there really is nothing that takes away from this game. I found it a title that I wanted to keep going back to just to see what ridiculous things would happen next, and what jokes may be cracked. The humour may not be for everyone, but it does add to the general vibe of the game and fits in so well with the settings you will find yourself in. It is possibly the best part of the title overall. Overblown jokes in an insane environment filled with the Undead what more could one want?

Give Dead Island 2 a shot, I really doubt that you would regret it.

About the Author

Tory Favro

Dead Island 2 PS5 Review