Beginning in media res, the outbreak is already underway, covering the City of Angels in blood and bodies while the local authorities attempt to put a band-aid on an oozing, pustulous wound. Our story concerns a party of six survivors - each one the worst person you’ve ever met - who crawl from the wreckage of a failed evacuation flight, crash-landing in the heart of Los Angeles, or “Hell-A” as it is now known.

No, rather than attempting a full conceptive rebirth, Dead Island 2 is more a “Take Two” on what came before, with stronger efforts made to deliver the player experience perhaps expected of that release. This is a title where I once kicked an inflatable beach ball, which resulted in my character screaming, keeling over, and dying on the spot. That isn’t to say that this is a case of “If it ain’t broke…”, because Dead Island was fucking broke. The long-time-coming sequel essentially builds upon the general design and gameplay structure of its now-decade-old predecessor. It must be noted that, with Dead Island 2, Dambuster Studios is not attempting to reinvent the wheel. But can the talent of British developer Dambuster Studios resurrect this long-since-decayed release, or would it have been better left dead and buried?

Having been mired in development hell for almost a decade, and been the subject of cancellation rumors, internet jokes, and even a reference point for other games and studios, it seems a miracle that we finally have anything in our hands. And on April 21, 2023, Dead Island 2 will finally release, two console generations on from its initial announcement, and after passing through no less than three development studios.

That trailer debuted almost 10 years ago. Ultimately becoming one of the infected himself, the jogger is eventually wiped out by a speeding minivan, before an onscreen graphic finally reveals the trailer as a preview for Dead Island 2. The trailer featured a meat-headed jogger taking a casual dash down Venice Beach, blissfully unaware of the absolutely bombastic chaos that was exploding all around him, as hordes of flesh-eating creatures lay waste to the beautiful people of California. During the 2014 Sony E3 press conference, viewers were treated to a surprise cinematic trailer, one that has since gone down in history.

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