Dead Island 2 (THE DEVIL PLAYS)
0Dead Island 2 is a 2023 action role-playing game developed by Dambuster Studios and published by Deep Silver. It is a sequel to the 2011 video game Dead Island and the third major installment in the Dead Island series. Set about 15 years after the events of Dead Island and Dead Island: Riptide, Dead Island 2 differentiates itself from its predecessors by taking place in the city of Los Angeles, which has been quarantined due to a zombie outbreak. The game was released on 21 April 2023, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Announced in 2014, Dead Island 2 spent more than eight years in development hell due to multiple changes with the studios working on it. Yager Development was originally hired to develop the game in 2012, but was removed from the project in 2015 and replaced by Sumo Digital the following year. Sumo Digital was subsequently removed, with Dambuster, an internal studio of Deep Silver, taking over in 2019. Dead Island 2 received generally positive reviews from critics and had sold over 2 million units by May 2023.
Gameplay
Like its predecessor, it is an action role-playing game played from a first-person perspective. Dead Island 2 takes place in Los Angeles in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. At the beginning of the game, players have to select from one of six playable characters as their player avatar called a slayer. Each of them has their own unique skills and abilities. They also have to choose from one of two defensive abilities, either learning to block hostile attacks, or dodge them. The game's world is divided into 10 different zones. While the player can freely explore each zone, they must travel between different zones through Zone Exits. As the player progresses in the game, they will also unlock fast travel points, allowing them to travel to different locations quickly.
Players can pick up both ranged and melee weapons. Each weapon can be further customized with mods, which add elemental effects, and perks, which can alter the player's stat. The game features a system named "FLESH", which stands for "Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids". It is a procedurally generated dismemberment system which can create weapon-appropriate wounds on zombies, allowing players to break their skin, bones and internal organs. Weapons are divided into different rarity, with Rare and Superior weapons being generally more powerful. In addition, players can use the environment to their advantage. For instance, an electric weapon can be thrown into a puddle, electrocuting all enemies standing on it. Weapons will gradually degrade and eventually break, though players can repair them at workbenches found in the game's world.
Unlike previous games in the series, Dead Island 2 does not have a skill tree. Instead, it uses a deck-building system which allows players to alter their character's strengths and weaknesses. The Skill Deck sorts cards into four different categories: Abilities, Survivor, Slayer, and Numen. Abilities cards unlock new active abilities for players, some of which can be used during the Fury mode, which allows players to unleash devastating attacks on enemies for a brief period of time; Survival cards boost the player's health and stamina; Slayer cards grant players passive perks that enhance their combat abilities; Numen cards unlock special abilities that have a large damage output. Players can also equip "Autophage" cards. While these cards will provide perks to the player, they will also debuff them, making them weaker. Cards can be earned through completing quests, levelling up, and killing special enemies.