In Dead Island 2, as anticipated, the combat stands out as the most enjoyable aspect of the game. Although the story is decent, and the slayers exhibit considerable personality, it is the gratifying combat mechanics that will captivate co-op fans for a few dozen hours. While guns play a role and feel improved compared to the original game and Riptide, they lack the level of enjoyment provided by the numerous melee weapons found in Hell-A. The close-quarters combat in Dead Island 2 is so delightful that CoD Zombies might want to contemplate reevaluating its own melee weapons to better align with this fellow zombie title.

Dead Island 2 excels in every aspect of its melee combat. Players not only sense the distinction between bladed and blunt weapons but also witness the impact of the Dead Island 2 Item they wield as it severs limbs or leaves indentations on an undead foe's body. Applying a fire-related mod enables players to witness the zombie they strike becoming crisper while burning, and special finishing moves, ranging from a rake to a machete, contribute to a sense of invincibility.

Although Call of Duty Zombies has introduced more melee weapons recently, there's a uniform feel to all its weapons. Considering Dead Island 2 while developing Call of Duty 2024 could enhance the variety in melee weapons. Regardless, if you want to get more weapons, it is very necessary to prepare enough Dead Island 2 Cash!

Dead Island 2 Can Serve As A Source Of Inspiration For Improved Melee Combat In CoD Zombies

Enhancing Animation Details on Enemy Models Could Significantly Impact CoD Zombies.

The primary problem when using Call of Duty's melee weapons in Zombies is that they come across as mere cosmetic distinctions. Even though the Tonfa might be an overpowered weapon in Modern Warfare 3 Zombies, players will notice minimal differences when using a knife or dual swords. While flashy animations differentiate each melee weapon's attacks, achieving a sword kill seems indistinguishable from striking the enemy with a Sledgehammer. For Call of Duty Zombies to incorporate a range of melee weapons, they must impart a more distinct feel.

To achieve this swiftly, Zombies should exhibit varied reactions when struck with bladed or blunt weapons, mirroring the approach in Dead Island 2. If players use a knife to stab zombies, the result should include severed arms, heads, and legs at the point of impact on the body. Similarly, the ability to crush a zombie's head with a blunt weapon should offer a distinct sensation compared to a bladed one. While Dead Island 2's subtle details, such as blade marks on each zombie, may not be practical in a mode with giant hordes, enhancing the impact of each melee weapon is feasible. Features like the PS5's reactive triggers could also contribute to this by providing a unique feel to swings and impacts.

Enhancing the clarity of distinctions among weapons has the potential to deepen the melee combat experience in CoD Zombies.

Apart from making the impact of bladed and blunt weapons distinct in Call of Duty 2024 Zombies, Treyarch has the opportunity to diversify each melee weapon from a gameplay perspective. For example, each weapon could feature a heavy attack triggered by holding down the trigger. A small knife's charge attack could inflict significant damage on a single target, akin to a Mimic, but with the drawback of players being momentarily stuck in a melee animation. Similarly, a large staff could possess a charge attack hitting multiple zombies at once, causing less damage but covering a wider area in front of the player. Unlocking special abilities by Pack-a-Punching a melee weapon could introduce various benefits and downsides, encouraging players to experiment with each melee option.

Call of Duty Zombies has evolved significantly since the era of limited melee options like the Bowie Knife and Sickle, with Black Ops 3 introducing an array of close-quarters combat tools. Despite the regular addition of new melee weapons to Treyarch’s Zombies modes, they lack the distinctiveness seen in the series' firearms. Drawing inspiration from Dead Island 2, especially regarding how weapons impact Zombies and incorporating more noticeable stat differences, could establish melee combat as a defining feature in CoD 2024’s Zombies mode.

Approximately ten hours into my playthrough of Dead Island 2, I began questioning the significance of continuing. I anticipated the game to introduce new gameplay mechanics or narrative surprises to keep me engaged, or at least provide a reason to persist. After an additional ten hours, I was certain that if I wasn't playing for review purposes, I would have stopped long before reaching its conclusion. 

So is Dead Island 2 worth playing? The following is my truest feeling.

My primary issue with Dead Island 2 is its gameplay loop, more of a flat circle than a loop. Acquire weapons, kill zombies, break weapons, obtain more weapons—repeat. While this might seem like a dismissive critique, the problem with Dead Island 2 lies in the lack of anything beyond this loop to make engagement worthwhile. The game lacks an open world, instead featuring a map divided into 10 locations that you can eventually fast travel between. Once the main story and side quests are completed, the only remaining activity is traveling to these areas and battling infinitely respawning zombies until boredom sets in.

Is killing zombies enjoyable, at least? Yes, initially. At the beginning of the game, you have a few key skills and basic melee weapons. As you accumulate more Dead Island 2 Cash, you can purchase more weapons. This part of Dead Island 2 was the most enjoyable, experimenting with the "FLESH" system. Nearly every body part of a zombie can be hacked off in a visceral and dynamic fashion, allowing precise dismemberment. However, as the story progresses, this novelty wears off. While sending a zombie's jawbone flying remains entertaining, subsequent combat additions do little to spice up the action. Unlocked cards buff certain skills, and "Curveball" throwables can be obtained, but these upgrades lack substantial variety.

It's worth mentioning that Dead Island 2 lacks difficulty settings. While not every game needs adjustable difficulty, Dead Island 2 feels inconsistent and could have benefited from it—not necessarily because it's too hard, but due to its uneven difficulty curve. The first third of the campaign is challenging, but unlocking guns later makes the difficulty trivial.

Although you won't have enough ammo to clear entire areas without resupplying, guns allow you to dispatch basic zombies with a single shot and deal critical damage to bosses from a safe distance. This, combined with skill buffs and throwables, can make you nearly invincible. The game attempts to balance this by spawning more boss enemies, but it only pads the game with spongey health bars.

However, Dead Island 2's weakest element is its lackluster story. The short campaign revolves around flimsy narrative excuses to visit different sections of LA, introducing disposable characters that become irrelevant after transitioning to a new area. Most characters aim for cheeky humor, featuring washed-up actors and LA socialites. Unfortunately, the writing is not clever or witty enough to elevate these characters beyond basic concepts or to pass as satire.

Some side quests managed to provide a few laughs, but they were rare. Side quests generally offered more flavor than the main story, leaning into absurd characters for humor and avoiding mishandled seriousness present in the main narrative.

Regarding the content of story missions, the uninspired design choices are notable. Tasks involving finding batteries or fixing pressure sensors are embarrassingly repetitive, and the game's attempts to lampshade these puzzles only serve to annoy.

I played Dead Island 2 on two separate builds, and both generally ran smoothly. FPS drops occurred during certain set pieces, and some bugs were encountered, but nothing game-breaking. Despite technical performance, it's challenging to recommend Dead Island 2, as the combat fails to compensate for the game's numerous shortcomings, especially when the gameplay hardly evolves throughout its twenty-hour campaign.