Dead Island 2 Isn't Happening Right Now

[The Wooster]

Dead Island 2 Isn't Happening Right Now

Deep Silver has made it abundantly that Dead Island 2 is not currently in production.

Despite a few launch hiccups and more than a few bugs, Dead Island managed to sell over three million copies; largely thanks to some excellent melee combat, an addictive loot system and of course, one of the best game ads in recent years. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ialZcLaI17Y ] Many assumed that Deep Silver would begin work on a sequel (Dead Archipelago perhaps?) straight away, and that seemed to prove true when IGN Germany reported that Yager Development was hiring artists to work on the sequel following the completion of Spec Ops: The line. Deep Silver, however, is calling shenanigans.

"We are neither working with Yager on Dead Island 2 nor do we have any contractual agreement with Yager about any project at this point," said Deep Silver Development Director, Guido Eickmeyer.

 "Yager and Deep Silver do have a very close relationship, based on personal and professional connections between the parties," he continued. "There is a legitimate chance that we will - at some point - work together on a title - and I would not even exclude the possibility that this could be something within the Dead Island franchise. We have the greatest respect for this team, we absolutely love what we have seen so far from SpecOps - and we are constantly discussing potential opportunities. However, we have neither something in place or in discussion between the parties that would explain such a news, nor do we have Dead Island 2 in concept or production with external partners."

While it was a little rough around the edges, Dead Island oozed potential. Our own Susan Arendt gave it a respectable four out of five, [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/reviews/9114-Dead-Island-Review ]and even named it her third favorite game of 2011. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/9286-Susans-Five-Favorites-of-2011 ] I have no doubt Deep Silver will eventually return to the IP, it was too successful for them to ignore it, it's just a question of when.

Source: IGN [http://ca.ign.com/articles/2012/05/17/deep-silver-denies-dead-island-2-plans]

Permalink

 

[Sarge034]

Do people really want a Dead Island 2? Dead Island came in just behind Brink on my "bad game purchases of the year" list. And yes... I really have that list. -.-

 

[mooncalf]

I absolutely want to see a Dead Island 2, the first was good enough to tickle the imagination, to make you say "This is good! If only..."

I'm glad they're NOT making it yet since folks are a little tired of zombies at the moment. Even THE zombie game we all dream of might lose some of it's sparkle if it were to arrive too soon after so many different-but-the-same genre titles.

 

[Melondrupe]

Truly sad for a game that was a revelation that normal walking zombies could pose a threat. The idea of focusing on melee was a masterstroke that forced them beyond what you would expect of the common zombies from most games such Dead Rising, Left 4 Dead and other such games. The only flaw this game had was the skill tree, when a freeform choice of skills would've been better. (Given that none of the skills seemed particularly game breaking to have been acquired out of order) Also a game with a quick time event that felt so natural to gameplay is rare.

 

[Arakasi]

If there was a sequel, I would not buy it.
The first one was SHIT compared to what I was expecting.

I can honestly say I was suckered by the ad.

 

[Doclector]

I absolutely want to see a Dead Island 2, the first was good enough to tickle the imagination, to make you say "This is good! If only..."

I'm glad they're NOT making it yet since folks are a little tired of zombies at the moment. Even THE zombie game we all dream of might lose some of it's sparkle if it were to arrive too soon after so many different-but-the-same genre titles.

It's a little like mirrors edge, there were a good load of problems and little imperfections weighing it down, but it was generally pretty good, it's the exact sort of game you hope gets a sequal so it can do that bit better next time.

It was probably the best "zombie simulation" (that being a zombie game that is close to the max brooks rules, and gives you the kind of weapons you'd expect a civilian in most countries to be able to get) action game that we've had yet (although the walking dead is excellent, I realise a point and click game isn't what most people had in mind for the ultimate zombie game), all the concepts were there, all it needs is a plot that delivers on the promise of THAT trailer, and to be a more technically sound game as a whole.

 

[Korten12]

Aww... I see real potential in Dead Island, a lot of fun to explore with friends. Really hope they do get working on it soon.

 

[Gardenia]

If there was a sequel, I would not buy it.
The first one was SHIT compared to what I was expecting.

I can honestly say I was suckered by the ad.

Same here man. The graphics were lame, the controls were shit and the voice acting was atrocious. The only redeeming quality was the ad.

 

[Lillowh]

All I have to say, Dead Island, is: DayZ. You were outdone by a mod being developed by one person who is refusing to accept funding for it. Feels batman, doesn't it?

It was probably the best "zombie simulation" (that being a zombie game that is close to the max brooks rules, and gives you the kind of weapons you'd expect a civilian in most countries to be able to get) action game that we've had yet.

DayZ is a mod in alpha and has managed to garner more positive responses and even single handedly drive the sales of a not very popular game to #1 on steam. IN terms of a "Zombie Simulation," Dead Island is about as realistic as a Call of Duty Campaign. From it's mechanics like rebuilding vehicles, to food and water, blood, scavenging, other player survivors, navigation, and common weaponry to military grade ones from bases it beats dead island in every single possible way, excluding the use of melee weapons, which sucked in Dead island anyway due to the durability system being garbage.

 

[EvolutionKills]

Let's put it this way; I borrowed the game from a friend, and I still feel like I was ripped off.

The game is, mechanically, almost broken. The leveling up mechanics are terrible, gaining levels only makes you feel less empowered, not more so. I remember that the only way to kill the final boss, was to glitch the damn thing. I had to lock myself in a room, throw grenades at the door, and damage him through it. Otherwise he just steam-rolls your ass if you're solo. As does everything else.

The game is elegant and brilliant for the first 10 character levels on the first section of the island. After that, you're character gain in skills is quickly outclassed by the zombie's. Great so now you can do 5% more damage with slashing weapons, but now the zombies do twice as much damage, have 3 times as much health, and spawn in greater numbers. And to top it all off, the healing items never improve or increase, so you're damage to healing ability ratio plummets fast. The kick ability is great, until they start coming at you 3+ at a time and you realize that kicking one doesn't stop the other 2 from running through your kick attack and stun locking your ass to death.

Had there been no leveling mechanic, and they just slowly introduced the special infected and slowly ramped up the numbers and better equipment; the game could have avoided being a broken mess. They needed to have a solid foundation, instead they built a leveling-up system on top of a shaky foundation. So that the more you leveled up, the more you realized just how shoddy it's construction was. As is, it was just aggravatingly painful to play.


/end rant

 

[Melondrupe]

If there was a sequel, I would not buy it.
The first one was SHIT compared to what I was expecting.

I can honestly say I was suckered by the ad.

Same here man. The graphics were lame, the controls were shit and the voice acting was atrocious. The only redeeming quality was the ad.

Do tell or rather give some depth to how the controls were atrocious?


Also, do any of the people who were fooled by the ad not know what video games are? Do you think they are books, comics, tv series, movies or what? Does the concept of doing research strike anyone as odd? Especially of a trailer that showed nothing that could be called gameplay.

Here's a video from E3 2011, three months before the release of the game.

Spoiler

As far as being disappointed in the story and not knowing what to expect, these [http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/115/1150368p1.html] articles [http://ps3.ign.com/articles/115/1153519p1.html] from IGN from eight months before release demonstrates that a little research can spare you distress over having wasted your money.


In one of those articles it mentions the trailer for DC Online. I liked the trailer a lot, but what I wasn't inclined to do was preorder the game nor at some point in the future buy the game. (I think it's free-to-play now and yet I have no interest in playing it due to my disdain for its variety of gameplay)

 

[natster43]

Well whenever they do get to making it, they should work on making the next one more story driven, change the fucking scaling, and improve the gameplay a bit, also make guns useful ever. Either way I would probably buy it as long as it doesn't look terrible since I do like the first one a lot.

 

[WanderingFool]

Do people really want a Dead Island 2? Dead Island came in just behind Brink on my "bad game purchases of the year" list. And yes... I really have that list. -.-

Well, I enjoyed Brink, so I think its suffice to say that your list doesnt encompass the whole of gamers tastes... though I do actually agree some on Dead Island. There may have been some fun aspects, but the broken shit clouded the good...

 

[Korten12]

Well whenever they do get to making it, they should work on making the next one more story driven, change the fucking scaling, and improve the gameplay a bit, also make guns useful ever. Either way I would probably buy it as long as it doesn't look terrible since I do like the first one a lot.

Guns are useful, just more so against other humans then the zombies. Although I will admit that is odd.

 

[Melondrupe]

Let's put it this way; I borrowed the game from a friend, and I still feel like I was ripped off.

The game is, mechanically, almost broken. The leveling up mechanics are terrible, gaining levels only makes you feel less empowered, not more so. I remember that the only way to kill the final boss, was to glitch the damn thing. I had to lock myself in a room, throw grenades at the door, and damage him through it. Otherwise he just steam-rolls your ass if you're solo. As does everything else.

The game is elegant and brilliant for the first 10 character levels on the first section of the island. After that, you're character gain in skills is quickly outclassed by the zombie's. Great so now you can do 5% more damage with slashing weapons, but now the zombies do twice as much damage, have 3 times as much health, and spawn in greater numbers. And to top it all off, the healing items never improve or increase, so you're damage to healing ability ratio plummets fast. The kick ability is great, until they start coming at you 3+ at a time and you realize that kicking one doesn't stop the other 2 from running through your kick attack and stun locking your ass to death.

Had there been no leveling mechanic, and they just slowly introduced the special infected and slowly ramped up the numbers and better equipment; the game could have avoided being a broken mess. They needed to have a solid foundation, instead they built a leveling-up system on top of a shaky foundation. So that the more you leveled up, the more you realized just how shoddy it's construction was. As is, it was just aggravatingly painful to play.


/end rant

Quite frankly I think it just may be you. The final boss was easy enough to defeat. Heck, he was pretty much the only thing that could kill me. He was noting more than a running Thug combined with the attack patterns of a Butcher. (Those two individually posing little problem)

As far as enemies getting stronger as you level, yeah that's pretty much how enemies work when they scale with level. When it comes to dealing with multiple enemies, the general idea is to keep moving. Given the fact that different weapons have different forces and swing speeds, the idea that you should choose your attacks carefully isn't a strange idea that the game suddenly throws at you. If there are three right on you, of course you're only going to stop one with a kick. The other two will probably need to be standing in a straight line for the kicked one to stop them. (Never really tried to kicked one zombie into another)

Each character has a skill that boosts your health in some way. Sam B has a survival skill that gives him a constant healing ability, it's just not so high as to be broken. Xian Mei has a perk that increases the strength of healing items. Logan has a skill that increases maximum health as well as a skill that gives health regeneration when being drunk. Purna's fury ability gives health regeneration as well.

Not only that, there are three health pack types: light, medium and large. I never even bothered with buying large packs.

As far as your last paragraph is concerned, they did pretty much that. The Walker, Runner and Thug are three basic types you'll encounter throughout the game. For a good portion of the game, maybe about five hours, they'll be the only types. (This assuming one didn't just run straight through the main story) All the other types and humans show up rarely. I don't think you even encounter any more butchers outside of the jungle.

Well whenever they do get to making it, they should work on making the next one more story driven, change the fucking scaling, and improve the gameplay a bit, also make guns useful ever. Either way I would probably buy it as long as it doesn't look terrible since I do like the first one a lot.

Guns are useful, just more so against other humans then the zombies. Although I will admit that is odd.

Why so? Not everybody has to follow what Romero setup. Video games shouldn't have slavish devotion to what other forms of media do. Besides, although a human can be killed with one shot to the head from any gun, a shotgun will do the same to both the walker and runner types. (Just have to get up and personal)

 

[EvolutionKills]

Quite frankly I think it just may be you.

True enough, but that's the glorious thing about opinions. If you genuinely had fun with the game, and want to see a sequel; more power to you. I on the other hand would not shed a tear if the entire development team was engulfed by a black hole, because I'd consider slamming my dick in a oven door to be less painful of an experience than playing through Dead Island again.

 

[Melondrupe]

Quite frankly I think it just may be you.

True enough, but that's the glorious thing about opinions. If you genuinely had fun with the game, and want to see a sequel; more power to you. I on the other hand would not shed a tear if the entire development team was engulfed by a black hole, because I'd consider slamming my dick in a oven door to be less painful of an experience than playing through Dead Island again.

My first paragraph was pure and utter opinion.

Here's the thing, you've said some things that were blunt lies. All of that stuff you said about health for one. Saying that health items never increase or improve, implies that the items you have at the start were all that you would be finding. I didn't mention it before, food items such as candy bars and sodas are quite plentiful; they just aren't unlimited. Your phrasing of enemy introduction came off as if you were absolutely inundated by new enemies types and enemies in general. The only way that last part could be true is if you ran straight into the middle of a pack of zombies. My whole opinion of your playing ability being a reflection of your opinion of the game stems from things such as this.

Spoiler: Witcher 2

(If you do watch, might be better to go back to ten and then watch eleven)

 

[antidonkey]

Dead Island 2 would make me happy. I borrowed a friend's copy for the PS3 and beat it with all four characters. I enjoyed so much I'm probably going to snag a copy on PC because a local store has it for 20 bucks. While I understand many of the complaints folks have about the game, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would very much welcome a sequel. It's just a shame they aren't currently working on it.