THE DEAD TIMES

RATING:

ZOMBIE RATING:

DESCRIPTION:

15 years have passed since the tragic events of Dead Island, which saw a Zombie outbreak on the Banoi archipelago. Now, a new outbreak has occurred in Los Angeles, forcing the government and military to quarantine the area, sealing off the city and surrounding area in a desperate attempt to stop the undead plague from spreading. Evacuation planes leave constantly. The last flight takes off but all too soon, problems arise - the infected are onboard! The plane crashes and the majority of the crew and passengers are killed. You are one of the survivors, sparred a grizzly and immediate death, but you'll soon find that surviving the crash does not make you one of the "lucky" ones. Welcome, to HelL. A..

MY VERDICT:

While Dead Island 2 does not break any substantial new ground than its predecessor, or offer anything outstandingly new to the Zombie genre, it is a high-quality game that fans of Zombie-action will enjoy. Everything from the original Dead Island is there; the crazy weapon modification, looting of items, brutal hand-to-hand combat using a variety of improvised weapons such as golf clubs and sledgehammers, different types of Zombie and a range of characters to play as, each with their own skills. The sequel just adds more of the same and changes the setting from the tropical islands of Banoi to the Los Angeles region of California, fully utilising the varied environments that brings while capitalising on the over-the-top nature of Hollywood and celebrity lifestyle. The additional number of Zombie types is a very welcome change as there are now many more cool varieties to slay your way through; there's the default shamblers, runners who sprint, the usual array of heavies, exploding Zombies and bile spitting Zombies but also Zombies who have got barbed wire wrapped round their bodies after getting tangled in the stuff before ripping free, swarm Zombies where flies have setup nests inside their rotting cadavers and have become hostile after feeding on all the foul-smelling Zombie guts, Zombies who have reanimated wearing a firefighter's fire-retardant clothing, plus loads more I won't mention. I am also surprised at just how difficult the game is; even before you reach the high-levels where Zombies become stronger and take more to kill (or rekill), a single group of four or five marauders can take you down if you run in swinging, without any thought. Successful dodging is vital which makes combat against groups (and it is extremely rare to encounter lone Zombies) more fun than simple, mindless whacking - having all Zombies be dangerous in this way, them never becoming 'just an irritant' does the game credit and is something most other Zombie games get wrong. The only real downside to the game stems from the gameplay; mostly involving travelling to an area through Zombie-filled streets, repetitively hitting Zombies to bash in their brains, only to arrive at areas with more Zombies you need to dispatch. This can get repetitive, especially in the early stages before you have access to ranged weaponry and come up against the more deadly Zombie types, requiring you to plan combat a bit more carefully and prioritise targets, often switching weapons to bypass immunities. In the end-game, when you have mastered these tactics, the action can still be a bit "samey" and the side quests that are optional extras to the main story (save this character from the surrounding horde, and so on) really only result in slightly better weaponry, only prolonging the, more enjoyable, main experience - I strongly advise you not to try and finish them all.