Dead Island 2 is on the horizon, and it has been confirmed through the games ESRB rating that players can expect series staples like unconventional weapons and intense gore to feature prominently. It's been a long wait for Dead Island 2 - the game has been in development since 2012, and has changed hands between developers a couple of times before finally settling with one of Deep Silver's in-house teams, Dambuster Studios.
Initially slated for a 2015 release, Dead Island 2 seems to have been through its fair share of development woes. It was initially developed by Techland until the company decided to focus on Dying Light. Dead Island 2 then found itself in the hands of Yager Development until Deep Silver backed out of the partnership, with a key figure at Yager stating that the two companies visions for the game did not align. In 2016 Sumo Digital announced that it was developing Dead Island 2, until finally it was announced that Dambuster had taken over development in 2019. Unsurprisingly, many fans had long since given up any hope that the game would see the light of day at this point, at least until Dead Island 2 finally got a release date in August 2022.
Dead Island 2 has been rated M (Mature) by the ESRB for featuring blood and gore, intense violence, strong language, suggestive themes, and use of drugs. It's almost as if the developers took the list of things that might earn their game an M rating and treated it as a checklist. The rating summary provides more details as to why the game earned this rating, outlining the gameplay of Dead Island 2 and providing some examples - things like using unconventional weapons such as car batteries to kill zombies as well as massive blood spatter, dismemberment, and even providing some examples of obscenity-laden dialogue.
If reading through the ESRB rating summary gives any indication of what to expect from Dead Island 2, it's enough to get just about any fan of survival horror or zombie games excited about the game. Previous iterations in the Dead Island series established a reputation for uniquely grisly combat and unconventional, customizable weaponry. Baseball bats, swords, machetes, axes - all featuring a range of improvised upgrades for extra damage. While the setting of Dead Island 2 seems to contradict the name, it seems to have retained its identity through its gameplay.
It may have suffered repeated delays to the point that it has been difficult for the publisher to build or maintain hype for the title, but that hasn't stopped Dead Island 2 from reanimating into one of the most anticipated games of 2023. It may have finally escaped from development hell, but one can only hope Dead Island 2 doesn't find itself in a shallow grave of unmet expectations after such a long wait.
Dead Island 2 launches on April 28, 2023, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: ESRB
