Dead Island 2 Xbox Playstation PC Gaming

[Dylan]

IGN 7/10

Dead Island 2 is a hilarious gore-fest and a competent zombie-slaying adventure, but lacks creativity outside of its great sense of humor.

Eurogamer

A straightforwardly accomplished zombie action-RPG that doesn't quite make the most of its Californian setting.

PC Gamer 55/100

Dead Island 2 is hampered by dull design choices, repetitive combat, and a painfully weak story, with its only saving grace being its great performance on PC.

Game Informer 7.8/10

With Dead Island 2, Dambuster Studios asks little of the player – only that you enjoy a good excuse to kill zombies in increasingly gory ways for a weekend or two – and in doing so, it delivers on the promise of what this series is all about.

Gamespot 7/10

Dambuster Studios raises the dead in a vicious sequel long thought doomed.

Polygon

There's an overwhelming fakeness and irony to Dead Island 2 that, without any oppositional hope or sincerity, can eventually make the experience of playing it feel like kind of a downer, similar to the feeling you get after eating a load of junk food. My partner turned to me during one of my sessions late into the game and said it looked like I was on autopilot. Instead of meaningfully engaging with its systems, I was mindlessly pushing through the hordes in search of more complexity, or a satisfying narrative crescendo that never came. Dead Island 2's nostalgic charms can transport you back to a simpler time, but there's often a reason why you don't see old friends anymore.

Rock Paper Shotgun

Dead Island 2 doesn't pretend to be anything other than a daft, messy romp through undead LA, and this carefree, capricious attitude is precisely what makes it fun.

Wccftech 7.5/10

For being a game that has been in development hell for over ten years, Dead Island 2 turned out alright, thanks to the wacky atmosphere and characters, fun combat, and acceptable quest quality. All of these features, however, become progressively worse as the campaign proceeds, making the game nothing more than an acceptable experience that may not be worthy of its full price tag for those looking for something a bit more involving.

Push Square 7/10

In the end, though, Dead Island 2 is a refreshing surprise amid the 2023 release roster. It's a fun and simple zombie-slasher experience that may be let down by its uninspiring RPG elements and boring loot-cycle, but more than makes up for it with its killer setting, brutal melee combat, and stunning graphics. While we suspect some will be disappointed by the game's size after all these years, we found it utterly revitalising to find a AAA experience that respects your time, and more importantly doesn't overstay its welcome. In the day and age of 300-hour RPGs, it's nice to know that some games are here for a fun time, not a long time.

True Achievements 8/10

Was Dead Island 2 worth the wait? Hell yes! The sheer carnage you can cause on the streets of LA is marvellous to witness, and with Dambuster's attention to detail, uncovering hidden caches of weapons, meeting the colourful variety of survivors around the city, and hanging with friends is a ton of fun.

Sounds like one of the most 7 out of 10 games ever. I'd like to play it but it's low on my priority list.

 

[Tom]

Looking forward to playing this at some point, really enjoyed the first one and Riptide.

 

[Gemma]

This is now available on Game Pass for Xbox users.

 

[David76]

Nice addition. No prior announcement - I'd be furious though if I'd bought it whilst it was discounted on "Free Plays" last weekend!

 

[Tom]

New DLC out tomorrow

 

[Bob the Ninja]

New free update and Ultimate Edition coming out on October 22nd

New Patch includes New Game + and a new co-op horde mode known as Neighborhood Watch

Taking place over the span of five fictional days, Neighborhood Watch sees a group of college kids - the Bobcats - defend their frat house from an approaching zombie horde.

Initially, you and your friends complete a variety of missions, setting traps, and stockpiling weapons as you prepare your defenses.

Then, on the fifth and final day, the zombie onslaught begins! If your defenses, skills, and teamwork are up to the task, you might just live to tell the tale.

Best of all, you'll constantly be unlocking abilities to make your next run more successful and exciting than the last.

Team up with your friends and defend the neighborhood.

Go Bobcats!

The Ultimate Edition contains the complete Dead Island 2 base game, both blood-soaked story expansions – Haus and SoLA – and a plethora of stylish cosmetics and deadly weapons, including the brand-new Kingdom Come: Deliverance II weapon pack and:

• Memories of Banoi Pack
• Golden Weapons Pack
• Pulp Weapons Pack
• Red's Demise Pack
• All six Slayer's Premium Skin Pack

Dead Island 2 - Ultimate Edition

The Ultimate Edition contains the Dead Island 2 base game, plunging you into the heart of Hell-A, with intense zombie-slaying action, along with both epic story expansions: Haus and SoLA.

deadisland.com

 

[Tom]

The new update is out now - just in time for Halloween

Dead Island 2 New Game Plus is roughly what you would expect, letting you replay the main campaign (skipping the prologue) at a higher difficulty and with an already levelled up character. Helping you keep up with the increased challenge, you'll have three additional skill slots, an increased level cap, and this game mode will add a bunch of new skins, new weapons and some brand new enemies – the Revenants, which are darker, more powerful variants of the Apex Zombies that have some new behaviours and tweaked abilities.

The real showpiece of this update, though, is the Neighbourhood Watch horde mode, which shifts the focal point from rampaging through LA as a souped up Slayer, to defending your home base as a basic college student from VCLA – a blend of UCLA and USC. Just because they're unpowered, though, doesn't mean they don't have some zombie-fighting chops!

Dez, Rav and Bozzy all have specific natural attributes – they're a Chemist, Medic and Hunter, respectively, and you can have multiples of each character in a team – with passive Utility Talents alongside active Ability Talents, working similar to the curveballs from the main game, which can be a grenade-like attack or a throwable buff for your allies. They're abilities on a cooldown, so make sure to keep using them.

Working together builds up the Bond, which is what feeds your Signature Attacks. There are five or six of these per class, and can do things like unlock each character's signature weapon – Bozzy's one-hit-kill crossbow for example – and more.

Each character's skill tree is grown by completing missions in each day of the mode, with any XP then feeding into a class-specific Rank meter, which unlocks more Talents and Session Modifiers that can be used in future sessions.