Dead Island 2 Review

Strong Voice Acting & Characters, But A Rushed Main Story

And speaking of shoutouts, the vocal performances of all the Slayers and much of the main cast are incredibly well realized. Firm favorite Dani, the Irish-ass kicking mosher, is stuffed full of brilliant one-liners, asides and general observations, and while the script occasionally veered into "whacky" Joss Whedon-esque humor, it was far outweighed by colloquialisms and references that didn't smash the player on the nose with their obviousness. There's genuine emotion in this script and it's brought to life by a very talented central cast.

It's a shame the same can't be said for many of the side characters who sound like they took advice from Futurama's Calculon and only provided one take before walking out the door, but thanks to the brevity of their appearances it doesn't detract all too much.

What does stick in the craw a little more uncomfortably however is the main plot, which ambles through the expected "you're the chosen one + government can't be trusted + evil-doers trying to reset the world" schtick and does so at a pace that can sometimes feel rather confusing. For example, the introduction of the villains of the piece doesn't hit with the impact I feel the devs were aiming for, instead coming off as a "am I meant to know who you are?" moment that serves as little more than the plot trying to move itself along to the next act.

For a game that took this long to release, it's frustrating to feel at times like the narrative is rushed, especially when more time and attention has been given to the B-players of the world you inhabit. I had more fun and more satisfying moments completing the multitude of sidequests than I did closing out the main event, which to be clear isn't bad per se, it just gets lost in the mix from time to time.

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