Developer Dambuster Studios
Publisher Deep Silver
Format PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, Xbox Series
Origin UK
Release February 3
More than eight years have passed since it was revealed at E3 2014, so you’d be forgiven for thinking Dead Island 2 was, well, dead. Since Techland parted ways with the Dead Island series to start work on its own zombie survival game, this sequel has gone through multiple sets of hands: first Yager Development, then Sumo Digital, and now, apparently finally, Deep Silver’s Dambuster Studios. The new developer is well aware of how the project is perceived: one of the very first things we hear in our preview presentation is the affirmation that this is not vapourware. That much, at least, we can confirm after getting our hands well and truly dirty with the game’s combat system.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/q5SyyK3Ce1662982883438/6581926566.jpg]
Zombie games are no strangers to gore, naturally – the original game let you merrily lop off limbs and heads, while its cousins over on the Dying Light branch of the family tree are ripe bloodbags just waiting to be popped – but Dead Island 2 is pushing it further still. Hammers leave wet splats where distinguishing features used to be, while blades allow for more surgical removal. But it’s the interactions between flesh and fabric that really stand out. As our katana slashes away at a towering basketball-player zombie, its back turned, we can’t help but marvel at how the tank top comes away in strips to reveal the deep red gouges beneath. And then the head comes off.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/q5SyyK3Ce1662982883438/2855565642.jpg]
“All the gore and the buckets of blood – that’s our passion, really,” game director David Stenton says. “You know, ’80s horror films, that sort of pulp tone and wink to the camera.” It’s not just about indulging the team’s enthusiasm for splatstick, he adds, but creating a sense of tactile connection between player and undead victim. “There aren’t those RPG trappings of, ‘I’m hitting this limb 22 times and doing no damage’,” he says. Ultimately, though, this is an action RPG, complete with the genre-standard damage numbers that fill the screen as you slice and splatter – but, creative director James Worrall points out, “You can turn all that off, and still play the game and understand the tactics, because every single element of combat is represented physically in the world, whether you’re electrocuting someone or melting them or cutting their limbs off or whatever.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/q5SyyK3Ce1662982883438/6455546659.jpg]
Of course, while visual feedback is part of any good combat system, what really matters is how it behaves in the hands. Worrall tells us this has been the team’s focus from the start – “making a pure game, where the combat is good enough for the entire game; we don’t need to add superfluous stuff to fill it out”. Having thrown out their predecessors’ work, this system was the first thing the team built, Worrall explains, before he was even part of the project. “When I first came to work for Dambuster, which was nearly four years ago, they showed me the tech that they'd built, and the basic combat," he says. "And I just went, 'OK, I want to work here. I want to work on this project?" Given Worrall's credits include the first trilogy of 3D GTA games, the original Forza Horizon and Driver: San Francisco, that's quite the endorsement.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/q5SyyK3Ce1662982883438/8584964152.jpg]
With all this in mind, at first blush Dead Island 2's moves seem a little simple, not to mention familiar. There's a standard attack on the right trigger, a longer squeeze charging up a heavier hit, with the left given over to looking down the sights of ranged weapons or readying melee ones to be flung. But this demo drops us right into the thick of the game's campaign, with all the attendant skills unlocked, including a dodge, a flying kick and a ground pound that sends out a shockwave. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff (except literally, perhaps, in the latter case) but they add much-needed spice to proceedings. And, vitally, they can all be tweaked and swapped for alternative moves.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/q5SyyK3Ce1662982883438/6466216815.jpg]
Upgrades are presented as 'skill cards', with a limited number of slots broken up into four 'decks. The first is essentially a series of either/or choices for what each input does. Do you want the defence button to dodge or throw up a block? Would you prefer the ground pound or a piercing scream attack? A kick that's focused on dealing damage or knockback? The remaining decks allow you to buff and modify those basic moves in ways that go beyond incremental stat boosts. They might trigger a health boost ...
Publisher Deep Silver
Format PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, Xbox Series
Origin UK
Release February 3
More than eight years have passed since it was revealed at E3 2014, so you’d be forgiven for thinking Dead Island 2 was, well, dead. Since Techland parted ways with the Dead Island series to start work on its own zombie survival game, this sequel has gone through multiple sets of hands: first Yager Development, then Sumo Digital, and now, apparently finally, Deep Silver’s Dambuster Studios. The new developer is well aware of how the project is perceived: one of the very first things we hear in our preview presentation is the affirmation that this is not vapourware. That much, at least, we can confirm after getting our hands well and truly dirty with the game’s combat system.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/q5SyyK3Ce1662982883438/6581926566.jpg]
Zombie games are no strangers to gore, naturally – the original game let you merrily lop off limbs and heads, while its cousins over on the Dying Light branch of the family tree are ripe bloodbags just waiting to be popped – but Dead Island 2 is pushing it further still. Hammers leave wet splats where distinguishing features used to be, while blades allow for more surgical removal. But it’s the interactions between flesh and fabric that really stand out. As our katana slashes away at a towering basketball-player zombie, its back turned, we can’t help but marvel at how the tank top comes away in strips to reveal the deep red gouges beneath. And then the head comes off.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/q5SyyK3Ce1662982883438/2855565642.jpg]
“All the gore and the buckets of blood – that’s our passion, really,” game director David Stenton says. “You know, ’80s horror films, that sort of pulp tone and wink to the camera.” It’s not just about indulging the team’s enthusiasm for splatstick, he adds, but creating a sense of tactile connection between player and undead victim. “There aren’t those RPG trappings of, ‘I’m hitting this limb 22 times and doing no damage’,” he says. Ultimately, though, this is an action RPG, complete with the genre-standard damage numbers that fill the screen as you slice and splatter – but, creative director James Worrall points out, “You can turn all that off, and still play the game and understand the tactics, because every single element of combat is represented physically in the world, whether you’re electrocuting someone or melting them or cutting their limbs off or whatever.”
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/q5SyyK3Ce1662982883438/6455546659.jpg]
Of course, while visual feedback is part of any good combat system, what really matters is how it behaves in the hands. Worrall tells us this has been the team’s focus from the start – “making a pure game, where the combat is good enough for the entire game; we don’t need to add superfluous stuff to fill it out”. Having thrown out their predecessors’ work, this system was the first thing the team built, Worrall explains, before he was even part of the project. “When I first came to work for Dambuster, which was nearly four years ago, they showed me the tech that they'd built, and the basic combat," he says. "And I just went, 'OK, I want to work here. I want to work on this project?" Given Worrall's credits include the first trilogy of 3D GTA games, the original Forza Horizon and Driver: San Francisco, that's quite the endorsement.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/q5SyyK3Ce1662982883438/8584964152.jpg]
With all this in mind, at first blush Dead Island 2's moves seem a little simple, not to mention familiar. There's a standard attack on the right trigger, a longer squeeze charging up a heavier hit, with the left given over to looking down the sights of ranged weapons or readying melee ones to be flung. But this demo drops us right into the thick of the game's campaign, with all the attendant skills unlocked, including a dodge, a flying kick and a ground pound that sends out a shockwave. Not exactly groundbreaking stuff (except literally, perhaps, in the latter case) but they add much-needed spice to proceedings. And, vitally, they can all be tweaked and swapped for alternative moves.
[https://cdn.magzter.com/1387349800/1662560442/articles/q5SyyK3Ce1662982883438/6466216815.jpg]
Upgrades are presented as 'skill cards', with a limited number of slots broken up into four 'decks. The first is essentially a series of either/or choices for what each input does. Do you want the defence button to dodge or throw up a block? Would you prefer the ground pound or a piercing scream attack? A kick that's focused on dealing damage or knockback? The remaining decks allow you to buff and modify those basic moves in ways that go beyond incremental stat boosts. They might trigger a health boost ...
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Edge Uk (Digital) - 1 Issue, November 2022