Dead Island 2 Review

ign.com:

Like an Orange County socialite, Dead Island 2’s great looks and seemingly ideal first impression belies a striking lack of imagination. On one hand, Dambuster Studios has delivered a charming and hilarious apocalyptic sequel to the 2011 original that’s littered with great one-liners and dismembered body parts in equal measure. But aside from its balls-to-the-wall silliness and considerable comedy chops, there just isn’t much to it that hasn’t been done better in a dozen other zombie-filled games since the original Dead Island came out more than a decade ago, including and especially Dying Light 1 and Dying Light 2 (which, notably, were made by Techland, the studio that created Dead Island). But even though it lacks originality, Dead Island 2 still competently executes on its over-the-top, LA-based zombie parody and injects some much-needed botox into a series that’s been languishing for far too long. Making Hollywood’s red carpets even redder by applying generous helpings of gore was laugh-out-loud funny and time generally well-spent.

This is a lighthearted first-person action game where committing unspeakable acts of violence against the zombie hordes of “Hell-A” is the most mundane thing about it. After choosing one of six virus-resistant playable characters aboard a failed plane evacuation, you’re thrown gore-first into the ridiculous streets of Southern California where absolutely no one seems to be taking the apocalypse seriously. Alone or with up to two co-op pals you’ll drop-kick and disembowel your way through a cattle call of the undead over the course of this 30-hour adventure, during which you’ll meet a bevy of larger-than-life quest-givers that include a drug-addled rockstar and a geriatric former movie star