![]() Storytelling woes are what they are, especially in action RPGs like this where the real good stuff is supposed to be in the game’s systems working together to dispense dopamine in front of me like an unfurling red carpet. It doesn’t help that my chosen character (Carla) was so aloof and wise-cracky in a way that disconnected her from what was happening in front of me, the player. Then when stuff finally pops off and the game demands to be taken seriously, it’s completely unearned. So much time is spent wading through jokes about content creators, burned-out musicians and actors that it feels like nothing you are doing is building up to anything. Part of the problem is a tug of war between the plot (driven by a hook that is stuck in foreshadowing for well over half the game) and a desire to capture a more goofy, party vibe for co-op players to enjoy as they bonk zombies and laugh at modern Hollywood culture. So much junk collecting.Īfter the opening, any intrigue about Dead Island 2 having something interesting to say about the current state of everything evaporated quickly. A jumbled mess of Grand Theft Auto-style clumsy satire, melodrama, and weirdly misaligned dialogue ensues. Of course someone on the plane is sick, and after you choose a character the plane goes down and a small band of survivors is stuck in an infested Los Angeles. They’re all lined up for forehead temperature scans, goofing off and treating the whole thing like a party. A military unit is facilitating a plane boarding for evacuation, which no passenger seems to be taking seriously. Here we go again, and again, and againĭead Island 2 opens in a way that almost seems to be invoking COVID. By the end, it fails to establish an identity. This game struggles to settle on a tone, narrative, or game direction. But as a work, or a story woven together by teams of creative humans, Dead Island 2 loses its practical form and starts to wiggle, deflate, and fly around making comical sputtering noises like a punctured balloon animal. If you look at the game like a power tool, all the features are here: Zombies, customizable weapons, co-op with several playable characters, unlockable skills, and buckets of gore. After playing it through to the end, I’m not sure Dead Island 2 knew what to expect from itself, either. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Dead Island 2. ![]()
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