When you think of zombie games that really had a huge impact on the gaming industry, Dead Island usually is near the top of that list. At the time, this game was so revolutionary for its open sandbox design. You could go around a zombie-ridden island and have your fill of combat. The game’s developer — Techland — really wanted to give gamers a lot of freedom with how they approached zombie encounters.
It has been nearly eight years since the original came out, and as you can imagine, fans have anxiously waited for a sequel. It seemed like it was coming down the pipe in 2017, but unfortunately, the game hit a bunch of snags. It’s now 2019 and still, we have no sequel to look forward to. That could be changing in the near future according to the CEO of Koch Media, Klemens Kundratitz.
He went on record saying that it will in fact come out. The developing studio just wants to spend plenty of time ironing out all of the details and making sure it lives up to the hype. Dead Island 2 has been through so much developmental turmoil. It’s now on its third studio, but it’s as they say: The third time’s the charm.
That’s what Kundratitz and Koch Media are hoping for. It seems to be a passion project for them, which certainly bodes well for the sequel. Anytime you have a developer that pours its heart and soul into a game, that generally leads to great results.
There are so many things the developers can do with this sequel. The first game had a pretty good melee system, but the sequel could expand upon it by introducing new abilities and skill trees. It could be like Dying Light, only even more in-depth. That would give players so much to enjoy with the combat, instead of just hacking at whatever gets in their way. However, that part can be fun in a zombie game. Dead Island 2 will just need to have the right balance of old and new elements.
It would also be nice to see a gripping story included. More games are moving in the cinematic direction, as it gives more meaning to the campaign mode. Lastly, a competent co-op mode is warranted. It could take the Dead Island series to new heights and keep it going strong for many years to come. For now, we’ll just be waiting patiently for an official confirmation of Dead Island 2.