There are all sorts of side quests of various different types that go on within those districts. You can travel between the districts as they unlock, according to the story progression. Some of them are really expansive, some of them are a little bit smaller - the one that you played today is one of the ones on the smaller side. Is this a good example of what to expect from Dead Island 2's open world?ĭavid Stenton: We've divided L.A. There was a lot of variety to the zombies we fought during our hands-on demo but each one was just as grotesque as the last.ĭuring our hands-on we played a mission that blended linear, story-driven gameplay with a small open section that allowed for a bit more freedom to explore and experiment. And we put so much effort into that first person fighting experience. And I think we've you know, this was genuinely fun to play. We really set our stall out to be the best first person melee combat game. So there's a bit of a clean slate, but it follows on in the timeline, and you might have spotted a character from the first game.ĭavid Stenton: We've genuinely focused on the areas that we feel passionate about.
James Worrall: It follows on, yeah, but we do a lot of brand new world building. Is there a connection narratively to the first Dead Island? Obviously we've been able to keep personnel and staff and talent, but in terms of techniques it's a fresh start. How much of Yager's original vision remains in the project?ĭavid Stenton: To be honest Dead Island 2 has almost been almost a complete fresh start - Homefront was on CryEngine and this is on UE4, we spent a lot of time on Dead Island to develop our gore tech and a lot of the tools are completely new with Dead Island. While there we also spoke to David Stenton and James Worral about their new and improved version of Dead Island 2. In a bid to prove once and for all that Dead Island 2 was still (un)alive and kicking, publisher Deep Silver invited us to London to go hands-on with a 20 minute demo of the game. Oh look, here's a video about 22 things you need to know about Dead Island 2 based on my hands-on with the 20 minute gameplay demo!