Of course, you can further customize your character via the game’s skill card and gear systems. The skill card system essentially replaces the skill tree system from the previous game. Instead of choosing between sets of skills over time, you’ll instead build a small deck of interchangeable skill cards found throughout the game (think Back 4 Blood). Some cards seem to be much more powerful than others, but you’re often encouraged to mix and match complementary abilities to find the right set of cards. It’s a dynamic and enjoyable variation on the traditional “build” system, though there were times when I found myself wondering if it will feel a little more limited in the long run than a traditional skill tree system.

The game’s weapon customization system is a real gem, though. Not only are there tons of weapons in the game (everything from household objects to military hardware), but you can customize pretty much every weapon to some degree. It’s not quite a “make your own weapon” system, but it’s not far off either. Adding electricity to your metal claws at least makes them “feel” like new weapons. Besides, you’re meant to constantly experiment with not just new customization combos but environmental interactions and enemy weaknesses to find what can work best. Combined with the game’s FLESH system…well, it’s a lot of fun to see how what kind of havoc you can cause and how much of it you can generate.

Not everything is sunny in LA, though. Like its predecessor, Dead Island 2‘s combat and movement systems can sometimes feel clunky. The FLESH system helps keep the combat fresher than before, but until you get some better abilities and more exciting weapons, you may find yourself relying on a somewhat similar set of melee maneuvers. Because Dead Island 2 lacks something similar to Dying Light 2‘s parkour system, it can also sometimes feel like a bit of a slog to get from one objective to another. Things opened up a bit as I progressed (a trend I suspect the full version of the game will continue), but repetition did start to creep in. We’ll see if the final version of the game challenges you to be as creative as it sometimes allows you to be.

There’s also the potential issue of the game’s level design. Dead Island 2 uses “large spaces” rather than the original game’s open-world structure, which I’m theoretically fine with. The original game didn’t do a lot with its open-world design anyway. The problem is that the areas you get in this game (at least so far) are not only smaller but fairly similar. Is that just a commentary on the stagnant suburban design of the homes in the hills that this demo focused on? Perhaps, though a little more variety in key areas and the missions you can complete in them would have felt like a better match for the other areas of the game that offer so many creative options.

The game’s humor is another potential hurdle for many. Comedy is subjective, but Dead Island 2 features a ton of jokes. It’s unlikely that all of them will land for you, and those who just don’t mesh with the game’s sense of humor at all will likely be quickly worn down by it. It’s too early to tell if it’s going to reach Forspoken lows of comedy bludgeoning, but that’s certainly a possibility.

For all its potential downsides, though, Dead Island 2 often gave me more than I expected from it. It’s an utterly ridiculous zombie game that celebrates gory fun like so few other entries in that genre truly do. After all, the things that elevate movies like Return of the Living Dead after all these years aren’t just their standalone qualities but the ways they often feel like a breath of fresh air compared to everything else out there. While I wonder if Dead Island 2 will ultimately offer enough fresh content to justify its full price tag in the middle of a historically busy year for new releases, it certainly gave me something that I can’t seem to ever get enough of.

Danofgeek