Like a relentless zombie, Dead Island 2 is still moving forward in development six years after it was first revealed. The creation of the game has been problematic since then after it was shifted from one developer to another, but a recent post by THQ Nordic confirms what fans have wanted to hear in that it will be released “soon.”
Despite the long silence and many thinking the project was dead in the water, the term “soon” may actually not be too far off as listing for pre-orders are now available on the Microsoft Store. The timing of such an announcement comes only a week before the highly-anticipated E3 event, and the listing of the game for pre-order may have ruined what might have been meant as a massive surprise to everyone. Regardless, fans of zombie games will be happy to see the long-awaited sequel finally shown off.
When Dead Island 2 first premiered in 2014, the expected related date was only one year away. This was until unspecified problems began with its first developer, Yager, and subsequently saw a shift onto a second at Sumo Digital. The plan at that time was to release for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and there is no reason to assume that has changed. Now the pre-order on the Microsoft Store shows a price of $59.99 and a release date of December 31, 2019.
Dead Island 2 is going to have a bit of an uphill battle to win over fans. The first game was riddled with issues pertaining to enemy AI and combat often felt rough to the point where immersion was often difficult to attain. One would always be aware they were playing a game that needed a bit more work, as enemy units acted strangely. Since the game has been in development for so long, and no new information or gameplay has been revealed since 2014, we only have the original footage to go off of.
Still, both the trailer and gameplay do look quite fun, and it has been a good while since we have been given a light-hearted zombie apocalypse rooted in sand and surf.
In a little over a week it seems like we will have a far better idea of exactly what kind of game Dead Island 2 is going to be after the conclusion of E3. We all hope that the long, strange journey has been worth the effort on the part of THQ Nordic.