It’s a bit tricky now to stand up to the question of “and if they asked you a year ago…” -or two, or three-, if Dead Island 2 was really going to succeed. It’s a weird joke because you don’t know at what point after X years of development one has all the legitimacy to give up hope.
After all, let’s remember that the first Dead Island was not the pinnacle of the medium either, neither visually nor playably, nor as an amalgamation of ideas, collected from here and there, with sufficient force and entity to create a chair. Dead Island it was a game that was just okay. A measuring stick, a minimum, that at this point in the film we did not even presuppose to Dead Island 2. And maybe for that reason, or what the heck, precisely for that reason, this sequel is such a big surprise.
Dead Island 2: a pleasant surprise that we have not seen coming
Except for some good ideas that we will discuss a little further on, no one here comes to reinvent any formula. With a stage divided into sections intended to give the sensation of being in an open world that are actually more or less large interconnected stages, the few hours that I have been able to play Dead Island 2 They have been just enough to see where the shots are going, but not even being able to smell those shots from the hands of firearms.
I must take advantage of this text to recognize, here and now, that I am genuinely hopeful for the good times that it could give me. Dead Island 2. Without going any further, the combat based on blows, combos and parries is great, and the addition of cards in the form of perks is appreciated to evolve the character you finally choose.
But its benefits do not stop there. Despite the fact that the story is still the typical zombie antics in which to burst heads in the most gore possible to push the plot forward, the basic weapons and their crafting, to shape a saber that burns or an ax that produces electric shocks, are fun enough to combine them with traps, placed there in the least subtle as possible or created by opening water pipes and throwing batteries, they are entertaining enough that some will enjoy it for that alone.
It is also welcome news that someone has finally put their batteries into creating a horde of zombies as varied as possible. It’s not that there are many styles of zombies, or at least I’ve seen few so far, but there is a formula that mixes faces, bodies, genders, clothes, types of injuries, amputations and, of course, those same styles that I mentioned before, to shape confrontations in which it is difficult to find zombie variants that are insultingly similar to each other.
With scan by flag
But despite the fact that all this can be considered good news, I admit that what has won me over is the exploration. Despite being heavy enough to have to scan room after room, and picking up object after object by pressing a button instead of pulling some automation like those seen in other recent games like Atomic Heart to pick up everything at once, the mere idea unlocking doors and discovering the interiors of mansions and buildings is a real joy.
With a ton of new weapons, perk cards, ambient narrative, and juicy secrets, I found this to be by far the best in the game. Let’s say that, in an adventure linear enough so that you always know where you have to go in any main mission, the number of optional elements and detours that you can take to peek out to see what is in that house, or where it leads this other hallway, always have enough surprises and gifts at the end of the path so that taking a detour implies ending that decision with a smile.
It is no less true that sometimes, after kicking yourself through a whole mansion, it is a little angry having to leave a closed door there because, for whatever reason, you have not been able to find the key or the solution to the puzzle that would cause its opening.
But what the hell, I know that it will happen to me dozens of times throughout the adventure and despite this I confirm without hesitation that Dead Island 2 It’s going to be one of those “I killed myself there” games, not being able to resist looking for shotgun shells and duct tape, rummaging through drawers and breaking glass to get into an apparently impenetrable room. Anything to continue exploring, discovering surprise areas and getting a new fire katana with which to dismember zombies like a burned hook. In short, the time has come to put back on the radar Dead Island 2And it makes me tremendously happy.
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