Beaten: Dead Island 2 (PS5)

 When Left 4 Dead hit it the fall of 2008, I enjoyed it but asked if someone would take this multiplayer, short level gameplay and make a standard single-player campaign type of game out of it, and in 2011 Techland delivered on that quite well with Dead Island. While a little rough around the edges in terms of glitchiness and framerate, it was a full and fun experience. They quickly followed up with Dead Island Riptide and promised a Dead Island 2 in 2015.

Eight years and two Dying Lights later, we finally got that sequel, and I was very much there for it after my recent and depressing playthrough of The Last of Us Part II. Dead Island 2 is a game that lets the player have shameless fun with the zombie apocalypse, and everything that made the game great two console generations ago is present in this new game, looking, loading, and playing better than ever.

This time it takes place not on an island, but in Los Angeles, which in an innovative bit of storytelling has not just suffered a zombie outbreak and quarantine, but a devastating earthquake as well.  Because it's the 2020s and everything is worse I guess. Streets are torn up, buildings partly collapsed, and wildfires rage in the hills by the big HOLLYWOOD sign.

The same wacky but light crafting is back, allowing the player to upgrade melee and ranged weapons with elemental damage types, like making a sword do caustic damage. There are skill levels to raise and lots of extra “curveball” perks like throwing stars and pipe bombs to get. These perks slowly recharge over time so it’s important to use them strategically, but once the perk is unlocked the player essentially has it available. One does not use up crafting resources for them.

The story is good too, with only the legendary Sam B. coming back, not as a playable character but as an NPC, which was fine. At the end of the campaign though, there are some serious loose ends in the story, signaling that the door is wide open for a pretty cool sequel. Which, hopefully, we won’t have to wait until 2036 to play.