Welcome to Hell-A! After more than a decade, the sequel to 2011's Dead Island is about to come out in April. What's in store for players seeking to spread blood and guts in the City of Angels? Find out in Game8's preview of Dead Island 2.

Dead Island 2 Release Date

Dead Island 2 Will Come Out in April 2023

Originally slated for release way back in 2015, Dead Island 2 is set to come out on April 21, 2023. The almost eight-year delay coincided with the changing of the game’s developers, with original developer Yager being replaced with Sumo Digital, and Sumo Digital being replaced with the current developer, Dambuster Studios.

Everything We Know About Dead Island 2

Dead Island 2 Trailer

Dead Island 2 Overview and Premise

Set after the Banoi zombie outbreak in Dead Island 1, Dead Island 2 takes place in Los Angeles, which is caught in the throes of a massive zombie outbreak. You are in the shoes of one of six Slayers, zombie-killing warriors who are in “Hell-A” for their own reasons, be it to save their loved ones or sate their bloodlust.

Developed by Dambuster Studios, the game promises intense melee action which will have you spill zombie blood and guts in the City of Angels. You will also be visiting famous Los Angeles destinations like the lush and upscale villas of Beverly Hills and the sprawling boardwalk of Venice Beach. All of this is wrapped in an open-world adventure you can take on solo, or with friends online.

Based on what we’ve seen so far from the trailers, there’s an array of brutal melee weapons that’s been expanded on from Dead Island 1. The variety of firearms has also been increased, as well as the infected and survivors you’ll encounter in Hell-A. But what caught our eye is Fury Mode, where you’ll use the strength of the infection in your veins to tear through hordes of zombies, as well as the so-called “FLESH” dismemberment system.

Dead Island 2 is shaping up to be an expansion of the craziness and brutality of the original 2011 game. But many other zombie games have already come out since then, so we’re wondering how exactly this game will stand out from the rest of the horde.

Dead Island 2 Editions, Platforms & Pre-Order Bonuses

Dead Island 2 is currently available for pre-order and comes in two main versions: Physical and Digital. These are then further divided into six separate editions; three for Physical, and the other three for Digital.

The Standard and ‘Day One’ Edition includes the base game and the ‘Memories of Banoi’ Pack, which includes two weapons (the Banoi Baseball Bat and Banoi War Club) as well as the ‘Personal Space’ skill card. They’re both priced at $69.99 for consoles, but the digital Standard Edition only costs $59.99 when you buy it for the PC.

Meanwhile, the digital Deluxe Edition features the perks of the Standard version, as well as the Golden Weapons Pack and Character Packs 1 and 2. You’ll notice that the PC version is still roughly $10 cheaper than the console version. For the physical versions, there’s the ‘Pulp Edition’ that costs the same as the Day One Edition, but comes with the ‘Pulp Weapons Pack’.

Finally, there’s the digital Gold Edition that includes the perks of the Deluxe Edition, the Pulp Weapons Pack, as well as an Expansion Pass. The Physical Hell-A edition meanwhile includes all the content of the digital Gold edition, but also a collector’s steelbook and physical items like a map of Venice Beach, pins, and tarot cards.

Who Are the Playable Characters in Dead Island 2?

As we mentioned earlier, you will play Dead Island 2 as one of six Slayers, who all have their reasons for being in the City of Angels during a gory zombie apocalypse. There’s the former London stockbroker-turned-stuntman Jacob, the macho exotic dancer Ryan, motorcycle stunt woman Carla, the grifting knife fighter Bruno, Irish rocker Dani, and the fleet-footed paralympian Amy.

Each character has their own set of Skill Cards, which gives them bonuses in Stamina, Health, and Damage whenever they’re faced with a particular situation or horde of zombies. All of them are capable of using both melee and ranged weapons, but also appear to have specializations like Bruno and knives, or Carla and bludgeoning weapons.

What we don’t know yet is whether or not each Slayer will have their own form of Fury Mode. The trailers have shown characters using the power of the infection to mow down their enemies, with Amy ripping her way through the undead with her bare hands. The other Slayers may have their own form of infection-powered attacks, so we’re keeping an eye out for that feature.

Will Dead Island 2 Have Co-Op?

The Dead Island 2 website boasts of a ‘Cinematic Co-Op Adventure’ of up to three players. This was supposed to be an 8 player co-op, being an upgrade of the four-player co-op in Dead Island 1 and Riptide. The reason for the apparent downgrade is unknown, but people online have speculated that this was done to balance the game and make it a tighter experience.

On top of this, Dead Island 2 will most likely not support crossplay, meaning that you’ll only be able to play with friends on the same platform as you. So, for now, we advise players to look at Dead Island 2 as more of a single-player experience than something truly multiplayer. For those who wanted more multiplayer, you might want to hang back and see if the developers will expand it in the future or not.

Games That Will Come Out Alongside Dead Island 2

Games Releasing in April 2023	How It Matches Up With Dead Island 2
Minecraft Legends	Dead Island 2 is much, much more brutal than Minecraft Legends. It may not be safe for kids, but it will satisfy those looking for a bit more glitz to their violence with close-and-personal FPS melee gameplay instead of the third-person real-time tactics.
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor	Again, Dead Island 2 has Star Wars Jedi: Survivor beat in terms of violence, and also appeals to fans who like playing in first-person melee combat sandboxes, not memorizing button combinations.
Honkai Star Rail	Non-Anime fans will definitely like Dead Island 2’s visuals a lot more, along with its fast-paced melee combat that’s NOT turn-based.

How Dead Island 2 Matches Up to Similar Games

Games Similar to Dead Island 2	How It Matches Up With Dead Island 2
Dead Island	Dead Island 2 is looking out to be an expansion on the formula the first Dead Island had more than a decade ago with an emphasis on melee combat. With “Fury Mode”, a bevy of new weapons and new infected types,
Dead Rising	Dead Island 2 seems to have taken a few cues from the Dead Rising series, such as the glorification and commodification of killing zombies for fun and profit. Those who liked Dead Rising might find themselves at home with Dead Island 2.
The Last of Us Part 1 Remake	Dead Island 2 certainly has a more light-hearted take on the zombie apocalypse compared to the TLoU Remake, so those who just want to turn their brains off and have fun could definitely give Dead Island 2 a whirl.

Dead Island 2 Trailers

E3 Announce Trailer (Released June 10, 2014)

This is the original trailer that came out way back in 2014 when Yager was still at the helm of developing Dead Island 2. Here we can already see what appears to be the Venice Beach boardwalk, which signals that even then the game was supposed to be set in Los Angeles.

Gamescom Reveal Trailer (Released August 24, 2022)

Released eight years since the first trailer came out, the Gamescom Reveal Trailer shows one of the playable Slayers (Jacob) going about his day in infection-ridden Los Angeles. Here, we already see that he seems to be infected himself, but is still able to deliver a solid beatdown to the infected that roam Hell-A’s streets.

Reveal Gameplay Trailer (Released August 24, 2022)

This trailer, released on the same day as the reveal trailer, showcases the various locales we’ll see in Hell-A, as well as how the game looks from the player’s perspective.

It features zombies being beheaded, skull-crushed, drop-kicked, and disemboweled with a variety of melee weapons and firearms. We also get to see a glimpse of the living people still in Los Angeles, who all seem to be just as crazy as the undead that roam the city streets.

There’s also the use of environmental features to kill zombies, such as lighting gas trucks on fire to burn them and using electrical transformers to shock them to death.

Welcome to HELL-A Trailer (Released December 7, 2022)

The City of Angels is front-and-center in this trailer, which features more destinations such as the LA Subway, malls, Rodeo Drive, and the city’s sewers.

But this is also the first time we get to see the infected Fury Mode the Slayers can get themselves into whenever they need to slice through hordes of zombies.

Pre-Order Reveal Trailer (Released December 7, 2022)

This trailer shows off the perks you can get for pre-ordering the game’s many editions, such as the ‘Memories of Banoi’ pack, the Golden Weapons Pack, and the Pulp Weapons Pack. We also get to see the physical items that come with the ‘Hell-A’ Edition, as well as the separately-sold figurine of zombie slayer, Amy.

Extended Gameplay Reveal Trailer (Released March 2, 2023)

This 14-minute gameplay showcase reveals several major things: the use of workbenches to craft and upgrade current weapons, different variants of infected, objects that draw zombies away from your location, and the Skill Cards unique to each Slayer.

We also see more of the “Fury Mode” mechanic, where the player taps into their infection to kill off zombies. There’s also scavenging for crafting materials, as well as encounters with ‘Apex’ or special infected.

Dead Island 2 System Requirements

On PC, Dead Island 2 is coming out exclusively on the Epic Games Store, which has yet to release information on the game’s minimum or recommended requirements. With no information so close to the release date, we recommend PC gamers wait a few days for any announcements before pulling the trigger and buying.

Dead Island 2 Product Information

Title	DEAD ISLAND 2
Release Date	April 21, 2023
Developer	Dambuster Studios
Supported Platforms	PC, PS4/PS5, Xbox One / Series X and S
Genre	First-Person Shooter, Role-Playing Game
Number of Players	1-3
ESRB Rating	Mature
Official Website	https://deadisland.com/

Michael Mendoza Ab..

Reviews video games by day, tries to write novels by night. He's a sucker for open-world games (Bethesda Fallout titles, Mount and Blade Bannerlord, Grand Theft Auto), CRPGs (Planescape: Torment, Disco Elysium), and First-Person Shooters (Call of Duty, Battlefield, and immersive sims like Bioshock..