Dead Island 2 Interview: "A Love Letter To Old Hollywood B-Movies"
After a long wait, is finally set to release this April, and spoke with two of the game's developers — Art Director Adam Olsson and Narrative Designer Lydia Cockerham — to discuss the game's movie inspirations, its setting, and of course, its zombies.
In recent years, the zombie genre of games has seemingly favored darker, more horrifying tales as opposed to the silly and over-the-top fun seen in the likes of, and the series. That drought has now come to an end, as's preview of demonstrates just how unashamedly loud, bold, and gory the sequel can get, all heightened by the power of current-generation hardware. Here's what Olsson and Cockerham had to say on creating the new world:
Related: Dead Island 2 Devs Reveal Secrets Behind Its Gore System
Screen Rant: Why did you pick L.A for the setting rather than a fictional island like Banoi [from the original Dead Island]?
Adam, Art Director:
Screen Rant: Some of the ways players can attack zombies get pretty gruesome and gory. Caustic attacks can be particularly grim — were there any movies or other games that inspired these sillier, B-movie-esque methods of battle?
Adam:
Lydia, Narrative Designer:
Adam:
Screen Rant: The destruction a player can cause with simple things like forcing zombies into an electrified pool, or exploding something flammable near them, offers sometimes endless ways to create maximum havoc. Can you talk a little bit more about creating environments that offer this playground-level of destruction?
Adam:
It’s been a while since we had a silly zombie game in the AAA sphere! 2023 has so far been about post-apocalypse horror with things like show dominating the headlines and coming up. Is there still room for the sillier side of zombies in such
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