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Dead Island 2 review: A brutal, blood-soaked zombie slayer of a PS5 video game

It's been 13 years since Dead Island and the makers are now finally back with a brutal new zombie slayer game packed with gore and undead battling action on the PS5 and Xbox Series X

[Dead Island 2]

Dead Island 2

Ah zombies, we love to see them carved up into bloody little bits dont we?

Whether its The Last Of Us, Walking Dead or indeed the original 2011 Dead Island video game, the living dead tend to end up in pieces.

And we tread that well-worn trope again in this sequel.

Its all gore, blood and mayhem as you battle your way through a post-apocalyptic, but rather lovely looking at points thanks to the next-gen tech, LA in an over-the-top storyline.

And it is great fun hacking, slashing and shooting various undead monsters to bits in this carnage-filled gaming epic.

You just have to turn your brain off and attack.

Dead Island 2 is a first-person action RPG thats packed with as much dark humour as it is body parts.

[It's action from the off in LA]

It's action from the off in LA

You start by taking on the role of one of six slayers who have survived a plane crash while trying to escape the zombie-filled city, which has been renamed Hell-A by the makers.

Theres Dani the Irish rocker with a foul mouth, Jacob the London stockbroker who left everything behind to follow his dream of being a Hollywood stuntman and Ryan the exotic dancer to name but a few.

Each is very different, packed full of unique personality and offers slightly different starting traits.

So, for example, some deal more damage from the off while others may heal better from attacks.

But once youre into the blood frenzy proper youll soon be upgrading whichever hero you pick into a beefier fighting machine anyways.

This game is all about killing and how you do it.

So you can use all kinds of weapons you discover along the way, such as when youre trawling through the houses of Bel Air or Venice beach.

There are machetes, hammers, knives, katana blades, wolverine bear claws, many many different guns - theyre all there for the finding which you can then take to batter the hordes of zombies around.

[You can join pals in slaying the undead]

You can join pals in slaying the undead

And it isnt just mindless hackery either, you can target certain body parts, so chop off the legs before then slicing away the head, that kind of thing.

Some of the deaths get real brutal, with blades popping straight through a monsters head, eyes firing out, jaws falling off.

Its all incredibly over-the-top, as it should be.

As you progress youll also be able to upgrade weapons too, experimenting with things like adding in electric shocks and fire to a base blade.

And theres environmental attacks too. So you can electrocute a whole pool of the undead by lobbing in a battery, for example.

Oh, and did we mention that your hero has also been bitten by a zombie, and seem immune?

That means the odd zombie fury rage session where you basically turn into one and get even more violent, hacking and slashing at the undead with your bare hands in a gore-fest

.

[You can use the environment to deal even more damage]

You can use the environment to deal even more damage

We had fun with Dead Island 2, its violent and gobby, full of fun and mayhem.

Its jammed with overused gaming cliches but knows exactly what it is - constant brutal carnage.

Youre there to slaughter away.

Thatll be enough for some gamers.

The co-op option, where you play alongside pals, means it has a longevity beyond the core story.

But it does get repetitive and will ultimately appeal most to those who simply want to endlessly kill as many meanies as they can.

Those seeking more may well tire of the game after a handful of hours.

VERDICT 4/5

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