Dead Island 2 will let players taunt zombies and swap weapons with voice commands through Alexa Game Control, and is actually the first game to use the technology.
After nearly a decade of waiting, Dead Island 2 was finally re-revealed during Gamescom Opening Night Live with a CG trailer and a gameplay trailer. Although most of the trailer was exactly what you'd expect to see from Dead Island, the final shot revealed the surprising fact that it'll also be compatible with Alexa Game Control, making it the first game to be compatible with the new technology.
Alexa Game Control is a new feature of Alexa that allows players to utilise some of Alexa's core functionalities while playing games. The listing for Alexa Game Control says that it lets players, "Use your voice to interact with NPCs, swap your weapons, and much more on your favorite PC and Xbox games. Play with any microphone or headset, no Alexa device required. And Alexa is still there to make sure you can stay in the game with smart home control, reminders, and even food ordering."
According to an Amazon developer blog post, Dead Island 2 will allow players to "use their voice to access in-game features like navigation (by saying “where is the nearest workbench,”) manipulate zombie hordes (by saying “hey zombie”) and much more". It's not clear if some of the more specific examples mentioned above like interacting with NPCs and swapping weapons will also feature in Dead Island 2, but it seems likely considering it'll be the first to use the feature.
Although Alexa Game Control is being touted as something brand new, Dead Island 2 won't be the first zombie game out there to include voice controls that allow you to distract zombies. That distinction actually goes out to Dead Rising 3, which let players use the Kinect to call out to zombies in order to draw their attention. Granted, it's likely going to be easier here since most people own an Alexa, but let's all give Dead Rising 3 its due.