Zombie title Dead Island 2 is reportedly due to be re-revealed later this year. The sequel to Techland's Dead Island and Dead Island: Riptide was initially announced eight years ago at E3, but due to its rocky development, Dead Island 2 has long lay dormant.
When the first Dead Island launched, many fans were surprised by its tone and gameplay after the title's marketing, which featured a somber trailer more akin to a short film surrounding a family's last moments at the doomed, zombie-infested resort. The title itself was an open-world, first-person action RPG with a major emphasis on melee combat, as players could craft and modify their weapons to survive. Whereas Dead Island: Riptide took a similar marketing approach with a harrowing trailer featuring a couple accepting their fate as zombies descend upon their washed-up boat, the reveal trailer for Dead Island 2 was far livelier in both its visuals and music choices, with a jogger in a California-esque location gradually transforming to a zombie as carnage ensues around him and "The Bomb" by Pigeon John blasts over his earphones. A Dead Island 2 re-reveal has been expected for a while now, with Goat Simulator 3's recent reveal at Summer Game Fest playing with these expectations by parodying Dead Island 2's 2014 trailer almost beat-for-beat, only with more goats and fewer zombies.
According to industry insider Tom Henderson (via Dualshockers), this re-reveal could come by the end of this year. Henderson cites an anonymous source, who believes that a reveal at The Game Awards in December “would make a lot of sense” and further revealed some information surrounding the title itself. Henderson's source claims that Dead Island 2 would take place across several different locations, including Hollywood and San Francisco, which would match the visuals of its reveal trailer. They also claim that Dead Island 2 will have a big focus on cooperative gameplay - much like its predecessors, which allowed four-player co-op - and would introduce six new characters to the series, instead of following Dead Island and Dead Island: Riptide's protagonists, whose fates had been left unclear.
Dead Island 2's Deeply Troubled Development
Part of the reason many believe there's been little to no news surrounding Dead Island 2 has been its rocky development. Over the course of its development, the title has changed studios multiple times. Yager Development was originally set to helm Dead Island 2 once the series had been handed over from Techland - who went on to develop the parkour-heavy survival horror Dying Light - but was removed from the project in 2015 and replaced by Sumo Digital the following year. Ultimately, Sumo Digital would also be removed, with Deep Silver's Dambuster Studios taking over the project in 2019.
If Henderson's source turns out to be correct and Dead Island 2 does get a re-reveal, it is good news for fans who have long been awaiting the zombie RPG. With this new footage, it will be interesting to see how Dambuster's development has built upon or changed the title from the gameplay demos and leaked footage fans have been teased with over the past eight years, which had already garnered a positive response from fans.
Sources: Tom Henderson (via Dualshockers)