Dead Island 2 was introduced only a few years after the discharge of the primary Dead Island and a little bit over a yr after Dead Island Riptide – the forgettable and repetitive sequel that did, a minimum of, proceed the story of the primary sport’s survivors. Publisher Deep Silver launched some spinoffs after Riptide, like Escape Dead Island, Dead Island: Epidemic, and the 16-bit beat ‘em up Dead Island Retro Revenge, but a full-scale, numbered sequel hasn’t but occurred, regardless of being introduced almost a decade in the past.
The first iteration of Dead Island 2 was helmed by Spec Ops: The Line developer Yager, as Dead Island developer Techland had parted methods with the property and labored on Dying Light. Deep Silver then handed over growth of the sport to LittleBigPlanet 3 developer Sumo Digital in 2016, however then, in 2019, Deep Silver introduced that Homefront: The Revolution developer Dambuster Studios could be dealing with Dead Island 2. And that studio has been engaged on this sport since 2018. In my cowl story journey to Dambuster’s Nottingham, England studio, varied members on the workforce instructed me it began with a contemporary, clear slate for Dead Island 2. But curiously, Dead Island 2, due out in April, remains to be set in Los Angeles, California, the setting revealed within the sport’s first reveal trailer in 2014.
Despite seemingly having the chance to make Dead Island 2 exactly what it needed it to be in each means, Dambuster caught with LA, lovingly referred to in-game and by the studio as Hell-A. I requested sport director David Stenton about this choice and apparently, a unique setting was by no means actually on the desk.
“I don’t remember there being a lot of debate about doing anything other than LA,” Stenton tells me. “I think for us, we wanted to apply real focus to the game… to the combat and that also extends to the setting as well. LA is such a fantastic iconic location, we didn’t really feel like we needed to bring in any other areas.”
Stenton is probably going alluding to the sport’s authentic emblem when it was first revealed in 2014. The D in “Dead” options the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco’s iconic landmark. Dambuster tells me that Dead Island 2 will happen in Los Angeles solely, so don’t plan on making your method to San Francisco or every other California places in the principle marketing campaign.
“It just gives us so much opportunity… for the game that we wanted to make, so it wasn’t really a big debate,” Stenton says.
It’s essential to notice, nevertheless, that regardless of what the workforce says about sticking with LA, utilizing the identical location from the unique reveal – the placement followers have assumed Dead Island 2 takes place in for almost a decade – doesn’t harm the advertising of this sport. While the workforce feels assured LA is the place for its zombie sport, it may also simply have made the choice to stay with the placement followers have presumed as this sequel’s setting for therefore lengthy.
“We started with a clean slate, absolutely, with our own vision,” Stenton says. “We’re not looking too much at sort of what happened in the past or looking at too many other games out there. We’re just really focused on, ‘How do we want to make Dead Island 2 absolutely phenomenal?’ and bring it up to date and deliver a game that we think fans will really enjoy.”
For extra, learn our characteristic about why Dambuster Studios thinks Los Angeles makes for an awesome Dead Island expertise, even when town isn’t an precise island.
Do you assume Los Angeles will make for an awesome Dead Island setting? Let us know within the feedback beneath!
Discussion about this post