Dead Island 2

 PlayStation 5
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 341 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 236 out of 341
  2. Mixed: 53 out of 341
  3. Negative: 52 out of 341
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  1. LoganSowers
    Apr 25, 2023
    10
    Pays respect to Dead Island 1 and Dead Island Riptide without overstepping. It improves on the first 2 games in every aspect imaginable, to the phenomenal graphics, realistic gore, melee and gunplay. I will gladly be replaying this game.
  2. marcolr91
    Apr 25, 2023
    8
    Such a shame is not an open world as the first one but so far I am having so much fun which is the most important thing regarding a videogame! The setting is amazing with such a lovely graphics. The gameplay is a little stiff and old style but still so satisfying! Nice job!
  3. Ryang23
    Apr 25, 2023
    5
    Honestly it's a lot lower quality then I expected. It definitely looks and feels like a decent PS4/Xb1 era game that is made by a mid tier developer.
  4. amg070892
    Apr 25, 2023
    0
  5. Dusterberg
    Apr 25, 2023
    10
    I've played just under 56 hours and it's just unbelievably awesome. The technology makes a solid impression and nothing stutters.
  6. PreVoLuTiioN
    Apr 25, 2023
    10
    Wer den ersten Teil mochte wird auch diesen Lieben.
    Das kämpfen macht sehr spaß und auch die Haupt und Nebenquest sind sehr amüsant.
    Kann das Game jeden Zombie Fan empfehlen.
  7. Hughniverse6868
    Apr 25, 2023
    8
    Dead island is a fun, addictive, and gorgeous experience. I've only played 15 hours but I can say there are very minimal glitches and the game runs at 120fps in 4K flawlessly I'd you have the proper equipment. I have the LG OLED C2 and Xbox series X. Only reasons I didn't give this game a 9 or a 10 is no open world. It's ok in some aspects but still missing that open world feeling that DIDead island is a fun, addictive, and gorgeous experience. I've only played 15 hours but I can say there are very minimal glitches and the game runs at 120fps in 4K flawlessly I'd you have the proper equipment. I have the LG OLED C2 and Xbox series X. Only reasons I didn't give this game a 9 or a 10 is no open world. It's ok in some aspects but still missing that open world feeling that DI and DIP had. Overall highly recommend this game. Especially for those who have not played the first two games.… Expand
  8. VinzentMfLee
    Apr 25, 2023
    10
    This game really hit the spot for me. The combat and the animations are very fluid and well made. The environments combined with the gorgeous graphics are some of (if not) the best I’ve seen in a game like that. Walking through the streets of LA is true eye candy! I also don’t mind the no-open-world aspect of the game since the zones are fairly big and offer a lot of explanation and stuffThis game really hit the spot for me. The combat and the animations are very fluid and well made. The environments combined with the gorgeous graphics are some of (if not) the best I’ve seen in a game like that. Walking through the streets of LA is true eye candy! I also don’t mind the no-open-world aspect of the game since the zones are fairly big and offer a lot of explanation and stuff to collect. My only complaints are the last few zones, which are less interesting to explore after you visited them the first time. Beside that the other zones are large and full of details. I really like the fluid mechanics too. For example, you can find canisters of water, gasoline or toxic poison which can be combined with status effects from your weapons like fire or electricity. Furthermore, let’s talk about the gore or so called FLESH-system. There is really not much to say because it’s literally groundbreaking. You can chop of flesh, muscles and bones accurately with the swing of your weapon. Eyes pop out if you hit the head from behind and jaws fall out of place with a precise hit to the face. Skin burns or melts down if you hit a zombie with toxic fluids. Absolutely crazy.
    If you like old school games (like dead island 1 or dying light) you will absolutely love this one. As a side note, I hate when people give a game 0/10 because they expected open-world even though the developers clearly said it’s not.    … Expand
  9. Choppahawk
    Apr 25, 2023
    8
    The game isn’t anything special, however that is certainly not a bad thing. The game has definitely delivered for me. The graphics are beautiful, the gore is brutally amazing, and combat is so much fun. Whilst I had concerns about the amount of talking coming from the character, I felt that it was produced well, it worked for me anyway. I used the character Jacob and his lines were quiteThe game isn’t anything special, however that is certainly not a bad thing. The game has definitely delivered for me. The graphics are beautiful, the gore is brutally amazing, and combat is so much fun. Whilst I had concerns about the amount of talking coming from the character, I felt that it was produced well, it worked for me anyway. I used the character Jacob and his lines were quite funny and went along with the story well. The only thing I would say is that some of the boss fights were a little underwhelming and the story isn’t crazy either but it hasn’t impacted my experience much at all. Would definitely recommend the game to those who loved the original, like dying light or are a zombie fan. This game is the almost perfect zombie slaying first person game that we have been patiently waiting for since 2014.… Expand
  10. tbytz
    Apr 25, 2023
    4
    Mediocre at best, the game offers nothing new in the zombie slaying space, while it is fun enough to play for a few hours with some buddies, there is far better out there already. Given the price point for this title I would say avoid. Great map, but very linear much like the story, enemies are fairly generic and the hack/slash mechanics and gore get boring quick, I think too much of theMediocre at best, the game offers nothing new in the zombie slaying space, while it is fun enough to play for a few hours with some buddies, there is far better out there already. Given the price point for this title I would say avoid. Great map, but very linear much like the story, enemies are fairly generic and the hack/slash mechanics and gore get boring quick, I think too much of the focus went on the gore aspect of the game and not enough focus on actually making the game fun. The story is average and predictable (To summarize the story - go here, go there, fight this, fight that, find this, find that), I wasn't expecting it to take me a month to complete but I hoped for more than what was on offer.… Expand
  11. Kazuma-Kiryu
    Apr 25, 2023
    4
    Generic zombie hack and slash, gets boring after 1st hour as you tediously go from point A to point B, boss fights are easy and tedious, not worth $70
  12. metacriticLOL
    Apr 24, 2023
    1
    We waited 10+ years for this? LMAO do not buy this generic unimaginative garbage
  13. linneaflawless
    Apr 24, 2023
    10
    Was expecting a mediocre game at best since the development been so troublesome. The gameplay is pretty solid with weighty solid hits and with great zombie gore effects, its more like the combat from the original Dead Island games but improved. The areas are large to explore and it still feels like open world but it's more concise. This is truly a gem especially considering its troubledWas expecting a mediocre game at best since the development been so troublesome. The gameplay is pretty solid with weighty solid hits and with great zombie gore effects, its more like the combat from the original Dead Island games but improved. The areas are large to explore and it still feels like open world but it's more concise. This is truly a gem especially considering its troubled development history.… Expand
  14. aGrover12
    Apr 24, 2023
    10
    I have been playing this game non-stop since release. I truly haven't had this much fun in quite some time, and I'm glad that it was released. My friends and I truly enjoy DI2, and I hope there will be another game in the series in the future.
  15. theprouler69
    Apr 24, 2023
    6
    I live for games that are just about having dumb fun, but the fact that it doesn't reset your inventory when you die in an encounter made me out of ammo and medkits, and in those times it was actually a struggle, other than that I have no complaints
  16. Purp1ebunny
    Apr 24, 2023
    8
    Dead Island 2 is just dumb fun. The writing is serviceable and even funny at times. The environment is fun to explore and look at, but my favorite thing is the melee combat. It's nothing special necessarily, but it's fun.
  17. TheMrCtulhu
    Apr 24, 2023
    9
    Отличная, залипная и красивая зомби бродилка-месилка. Без каких-либо пустых обещаний, ненужного пафоса и хайпа.
  18. el_ramon
    Apr 24, 2023
    9
    Do you like zombies? Do you like action?
    Do you line hack and slay games?

    If yes, instant buy it!

    If yes and you‘re not allowed to buy it, due to your age, don‘t write stupid 0 or 1 point user reviews on metacritic.

    If no, don‘t write stupid 0 or 1 point user reviews on metacritic.
  19. Niko007
    Apr 24, 2023
    7
    Dead island 2 is exactly what you expected it to be nothing more nothing less. Mindless zombie killing fun sadly it doesn't elevate itself beyond that but i guess it's a good thing
  20. llSBuNNYll
    Apr 24, 2023
    6
    I finished Dead Island 2 today and I'm giving it a 6. Would have been slightly higher if the price was lower.

    Let's start with the best thing with this game, the gore/flesh system. It's really amazing, I never played anything Even remotely close to this! Slash a zombie with a knife and it gets a cut exactly where you hit! Stab wounds, gun shot wounds, everything looks so good and real!    I finished Dead Island 2 today and I'm giving it a 6. Would have been slightly higher if the price was lower.

    Let's start with the best thing with this game, the gore/flesh system. It's really amazing, I never played anything Even remotely close to this! Slash a zombie with a knife and it gets a cut exactly where you hit! Stab wounds, gun shot wounds, everything looks so good and real! You can literally Chopin off pieces of flesh until theres only a bloody skeleton left.
    Second best thing is the city itself, "Hell-A" look stunning.
    This is not an open world game, it,s actually around 10 different "stages"" you have to go through, and it's not the best solution, but not the worst either. I would have preferred an open world. This solution work best if you ha e an amazing story, like for example God of War 2018.
    The combat is also OK,both the actual combat and the weapons+weapon mods are pretty much identical to Dying Light.
    The story in Dead Island 2 is horrible, and the characters are cringe at best.
    This is what it is, a brain dead zombie slasher, and that's it. It's a very expensive game, here in Norway aswell, it's 25% more expensive than other AAA games like God of War Ragnarok and Elden Ring.

    I regret buying this at full price and wish I would have waited till I could get it cheaper.
    But I've had a good time playing Dead Island 2    … Expand
  21. Tool_
    Apr 24, 2023
    8
    I wouldn’t say it’s worth a wait through my entire childhood but I would say it has some of the best gory combat I have ever layed my fingers on.
  22. Leszter
    Apr 24, 2023
    10
    Best Zombie slasher of the last 10 years! It has everything in it.. elemental synergy like you have never seen before.. Getting the card types time to time keeps leveling up interesting until the very end.
  23. OdinX1985
    Apr 24, 2023
    8
    It finally arrives! Dead Island 2 is gory, bone crushing, drop kicking theme park. In 2014 the teaser trailer dropped way before Dying Light to which that was released in 2016. Dead Island 2 is 16 years after the events of the first game. Dead Island 2 is a great game with gory slaughter against zombies and other monsters lurking around the streets of LA. However the game does suffer someIt finally arrives! Dead Island 2 is gory, bone crushing, drop kicking theme park. In 2014 the teaser trailer dropped way before Dying Light to which that was released in 2016. Dead Island 2 is 16 years after the events of the first game. Dead Island 2 is a great game with gory slaughter against zombies and other monsters lurking around the streets of LA. However the game does suffer some frustrating and technical problems. The pros: Mix and match skills that work well together, yes certain skill cards will grant you buffs into your weapons or drop kicking that gives that extra force to it. Weapons modification is well crafted and using your imagination run wild to make some bizarre combinations. Using environment like water on the floor throw electric weapons or battery whatever you have that has electricity. Pouring gasoline on the dead is a must and I tell you why. Once you kill the zombies, hordes of them will appear eating what you killed yes zombies eat other dead zombies burn them cause you might get a red skull zombie that is over your level point. Side characters and their quests is well worth doing and I had more fun fetch questing or favors it's actually pretty fun and rewarding. Like I said each slayer has their own personality and my time with Dani was so enjoyable due to her swearing and her Irish accent love it. Soundtrack has this retro 80's beat to it and first boss battle theme ost was funny. Now the cons: Okay, this is where the game needs to fix in patches or overhaul it.. keys and doors are locked behind progession. Back tracking to the very first house to unlock special doors for blueprints is so tedious. Each key to the blueprints is hidden or you have to battle hordes zombies then the boss zombie for the key. Not saying it's bad but wish there was an easier way to obtain the keys. Even smaller chests are locked behind some enemy who has the key. Unbalanced zombie types, now you can accidentally run into red skull enemies by opening a door an area that ur not suppose to be they are in the start of the first map and be warned these things will demolished you for entering so be cautious to where you open and have mercy on your soul. Each map is linear unlike the first game the map seems smaller in my opinion. You can't drive cars like you did in the first game to which it was a shame love road killing zombies. Technical issues.. the game crashed on me a few times during a side quest in Bel-Air and side quest failed to finish after completing it. Sometimes you can't pick up objects like car batteries in cars. You hit square and for whatever reason it doesn't respond, not all the time but it does happen a few times. Final thought: Okay, my 36 hours all content done, Dead Island 2 was a great experience for sure and glad it's out if they fix a few bugs and revamp some things I'll give it another go and tryout Amy next. For the graphics it's okay, it works and it's fine. For the price tag of 70 bucks um I honestly think 59.99 should've been the retail price for it but hey it is what it is. My score is an 8 for a game with so many developers working on it and never gave up on it my hats is to the development team. But in all the game is overall good and hopefully more content comes.… Expand
  24. Cyanic_gaming
    Apr 24, 2023
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I do not understand how this game is sitting in the 70s right now! Anyone who doesn’t like this game or gave it a bad review has such a bad taste in video games! Dead island 2 is a 8.5/10 easy im just giving it a 10 because I don’t understand the hate! This is by far one of the best zombie games ever made and if I’m being honest one of the best coop games in years! From the fun combat, to the beautiful visuals to the crazy gore system and impressive performance across the board with no bugs, no glitches, no issues, this game is just a product of surprise! You have interesting and fun systems like the Fury mode which turns you into a zombie, the guns feel amazing, when you slice away flesh or break bones you see it and thanks to the ps5 you even feel it! Sure the story can be iffy but this game isn’t meant for story! This game is meant to be played with friends for fun and meant to be such a zombie paradise! No one should knock this game hard for having a goofy story when the game is literally meant to be nothing but goofy bloody fun! I’ll even say this game blows dying mid 2 out of the water story and gameplay wise! Even the upgrade system is wild, it allows you to drag loot you love for how ever long you want, upgrading it and keeping it relevant no matter your rank, meaning you never have to give up loot you love! Being able to put attributes on your guns like electric ammo with more crit damage, faster reload and tons of other attributes is amazing and gives this game such a rich gun gameplay element both dyinglight 1/2 and dead island 1/riptide were missing! Even the areas in this game were designed perfectly and feel refreshing to explore and loot, a lot of ppl say they wish this was open world, man not me….I am glad this game is linear, it feels a lot more fun and a lot more on edge when you have these tight areas to face zombies in! I can’t just stress how much I love and enjoy this game! All in all this is one of the best games in the market in 2023 to just kick back and play with your friends, it feels like a modern Xbox 360 experience in the best way possible and while this review was probably more of me just rambling I hope you support these devs, pay the 70$ or **** atleast buy it on sale and just enjoy it as much as I am! Happy surviving zombie slayers … Expand
  25. HippyDaHer
    Apr 24, 2023
    9
    Dead Island 2 is a game filled with a lot although not a technical achievement in game development. It’s still a fun game with a bloody great gore mechanic. The fighting isn’t the best in the world but it does in fact, get the job done. The story is pretty average for a “lets kill zombies and have fun” game but, it is serviceable. There is an Alexa mode in the game that I tried but felt aDead Island 2 is a game filled with a lot although not a technical achievement in game development. It’s still a fun game with a bloody great gore mechanic. The fighting isn’t the best in the world but it does in fact, get the job done. The story is pretty average for a “lets kill zombies and have fun” game but, it is serviceable. There is an Alexa mode in the game that I tried but felt a little too gimmicky for my taste but it was pretty cool at first. Give this game a try especially if it’s on sell! I’ll give this pretty fun game a 9/10 because it’s pretty good in my book.… Expand
  26. NintendoIsEA
    Apr 24, 2023
    10
    Absolutely flawless, unlike Dying Light 2. Dying Light 2 was BORING as hell. Dead Island continues the cartoony action feel and delivers on a stunning yet goofy experience. The combat is punishing and can catch you off guard at any point. The world building is nearly perfect. Dambuster has always been top tier world builders.

    This is not meant to be a huge open world game filled with    Absolutely flawless, unlike Dying Light 2. Dying Light 2 was BORING as hell. Dead Island continues the cartoony action feel and delivers on a stunning yet goofy experience. The combat is punishing and can catch you off guard at any point. The world building is nearly perfect. Dambuster has always been top tier world builders.

    This is not meant to be a huge open world game filled with nonsense filler (like Dying Light 2) but more a linear game like Dead Island 1.

    The visuals are of the best we've seen in a game this year. The audio is incredible. The Presentation is flawless.

    The game is pretty much bug free. I have beaten it now 3 times on 3 different characters and have no once encountered a bug in any form. The Characters are all unique and full of personality, much like Dead Island 1. The replay ability is above average strictly due to the interesting and unique characters.

    The Flesh system brings the absolute best gore mechanics ever seen in a game. It's truly the most innovative gore system we've ever seen in a game. Dambuster absolutely deserves the recognition for this part regardless of how you feel about this game.

    Dambuster has proven themselves a viable studio for big games for years to come. I CAN'T WAIT FOR TIMESPLITTERS 4    … Expand
  27. jjwatson906
    Apr 24, 2023
    9
    It's a great game given you're here for killing zombies in fun and creative ways. I'm having a blast with it after having it for a weekend. It's certainly not going to blow your mind with its story or new gaming concepts, but if you're looking for a beautiful environment to live out your zombie apocalypse dreams then look no further.
  28. Dwunited
    Apr 24, 2023
    9
    This game is a great example that delayed games can become (mostly) flawless. I would like to thank the development team for their hard work it is really appreciated. It was worth waiting!
  29. Play5E
    Apr 24, 2023
    10
    El mejor juego de zombies que existe en este momento.
    Muy recomendable y divertido, novel de gráficos un 10. Eso sí la mejor versión es en playstation 5.
  30. Daniel0809
    Apr 24, 2023
    8
    Ive been playing all weekend and love walking around in L.A. like im really there and the graphics are stunning. The combat is very satisfying and playing as Ryan you bash the hell out of zombies. Sounds are also very nice to the ear, intro song drown is badass, but not much of a meaningful story, I didn't connect to any player but the voice acting was great! Addictive game and im happyIve been playing all weekend and love walking around in L.A. like im really there and the graphics are stunning. The combat is very satisfying and playing as Ryan you bash the hell out of zombies. Sounds are also very nice to the ear, intro song drown is badass, but not much of a meaningful story, I didn't connect to any player but the voice acting was great! Addictive game and im happy with it. Hopefully they release some DLC in the future. I have not tried the coop so I dont know.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

13
#13 Most Discussed PlayStation 5 Game of 2023

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 87 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 51 out of 87
  2. Mixed: 35 out of 87
  3. Negative: 1 out of 87
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jan 23, 2024
    80
    Many will argue that there aren't enough enemy types, or that the weapon upgrades that underpin it all seem as if they came out of a decades-old game. And they'd be right. This is a game that follows a simple template. But it does so in a confessed way, and in the end the authors didn't promise anything beyond mindless and fun zombie slaughter. [Issue#327]
  2. PLAY
    Sep 16, 2023
    50
    Neat zombie bashing mechanics are woefully under-served as it loses its way more with each hour, making the shiny hyper-violence yawnworthy by the end. [Issue#27, p.68]
  3. Pocket-lint
    Jun 23, 2023
    80
    We've had a pretty great time messing up some zombies in Hell-A. Dead Island 2 doesn't shoot for the stars, and therefore ends up neither overpromising nor under-delivering, so if you liked the first game you're pretty certain to have a fun time here.
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