Highlights
- Dead Island 2's combat mechanics are the most enjoyable aspect of the game, especially the melee options.
- The melee combat in Dead Island 2 feels satisfying and allows players to see the impact of their attacks on the zombies, making it more immersive.
- Call of Duty Zombies could benefit from implementing more varied and impactful melee weapons like Dead Island 2, making each weapon feel distinct to add depth to the gameplay. Alongside clearly visible damage on the undead enemies that differs for blunt and bladed weaponry, heavy attacks could be added.
As one would expect from a game like Dead Island 2, the most enjoyable aspect of the game is its combat. While the story is decent enough and the slayers have quite a bit of personality, it is the satisfying combat mechanics that will keep co-op fans engaged for a few dozen hours. While guns are a part of that, and they certainly feel better than they did in the original game and Riptide, they are not nearly as fun to use as the many melee weapons that can be found in Hell-A. In fact, the close quarters combat in Dead Island 2 is so enjoyable that CoD Zombies may want to consider reassessing its own melee weapons to better resemble its fellow zombie title.
Every aspect of Dead Island 2’s melee combat works well. Players do not only feel the difference between bladed and blunt weapons, but see the effect of the item they are using as they sever limbs or indent parts of an undead foe’s body. Putting on a fire-related mod will allow players to actually see the zombie they hit getting crisper while it’s burning, and special finishing moves for everything from a rake to a machete can make players feel unstoppable. While Call of Duty Zombies has added more melee weapons in recent years, all its weapons feel the same, so keeping Dead Island 2 in mind when making Call of Duty 2024 could help.
Call of Duty 2024 Can Easily Avoid Modern Warfare 3 Zombies' Battle Pass Controversy
Zombies content included within Modern Warfare 3's Season 1 battle pass has ruffled some feathers, something Call of Duty 2024 has to remember.
Dead Island 2 Can Inspire Better Melee Combat in CoD Zombies
More Animation Details on Enemy Models Could Go a Long Way in CoD Zombies
The biggest issue with using Call of Duty’s melee weapons in Zombies is that they feel like little more than cosmetic differences. While the Tonfa may be an overpowered weapon in Modern Warfare 3 Zombies, beyond that, players will feel little difference if they are using a knife or dual swords. A flashy animation makes each melee weapon’s attacks look different, yet landing a sword kill feels the exact same as hitting the enemy with a Sledgehammer. If Call of Duty Zombies is going to feature a variety of melee weapons, they need to feel more varied.
The quickest way to accomplish this is to have Zombies react differently when hit with a bladed or blunt weapon, just like in Dead Island 2. If players stab them with a knife, they should see arms, heads, and legs being severed wherever they hit the body. Similarly, being able to crush a zombie’s head with a blunt weapon would make it feel different from a bladed one. The small details Dead Island 2 has, like blade marks on each zombie, are not viable in a mode where players are fighting giant hordes, but making the impact of each melee weapon a bit more distinct is doable. Features like the PS5's reactive triggers could also help with this, as they can be used to make the swings and impacts feel unique.
To replicate the effect of Dead Island 2 ’s elemental weapon mods , CoD Zombies could give ammo mods unique melee animations. For instance, hitting Zombies with a Brain Rot melee weapon while its cooldown is active could make them melt, hitting them with Blast Furnace could cover their bodies in burns, and so on.
More Obvious Weapon Differences Can Make CoD Zombies’ Melee Combat Deeper
Beyond just making the impact of bladed and blunt weapons noticeably different in Call of Duty 2024 Zombies, Treyarch could make each melee weapon more different from a gameplay perspective. For instance, each weapon could have a heavy attack when players hold down the trigger, with a small knife's charge attack dealing serious damage to a single target like a Mimic but having the downside of players being stuck in a brief melee animation. Similarly, a large staff could have a charge attack that hits multiple zombies at once, dealing a smaller amount of damage in a wide area in front of the player. Pack-a-Punching a melee weapon could be acquired to unlock its special ability, and each could have different benefits and downsides that push players to try out every melee option.
Call of Duty Zombies has come a long way from the days of the Bowie Knife and Sickle being the only melee alternatives, as Black Ops 3 marked the beginning of more and more CQC tools being added. However, despite new melee weapons being added to Treyarch’s Zombies modes regularly, they do not feel different enough from each other like the series’ guns tend to do. Learning from Dead Island 2, both in terms of how the weapons impact Zombies and more noticeable stat differences for each one, could see melee combat being a defining feature of CoD 2024’s Zombies mode.
Dead Island 2
Dead Island 2 is scheduled to release in February 2023, almost ten years after it was originally announced. The game has switched development studios twice in that time; it was originally developed by German company Yager Development, then by British studio Sumo Digital, before another British company, Dambuster Studios, took over.
