Thought Dying Light was the only FPS zombie title on the way? Think again. Sony closed out day one of this year's E3 with some pretty drastic news, and while developer Deep Silver' announcements may not have led things off, its reveal of Dead Island 2 did not go unnoticed.
Deep Silver Apologizes Over Dead Island: Riptide Zombie Bait Edition's Risque Torso
No matter how hard the survivors of Banoi tried, they couldn't stop the inevitable, and the zombie contagion has come home to roost. It's been a few months since things down under went straight to hell, and now, California is the latest beachside scene to fall to a zombie infestation. But while Banoi was straight out of a travel agency's nightmare, Dead Island 2 models its setting after the actual California.
Reads a press release, "Dead Island 2 features crazy, never-before-seen handcrafted weapons and over-the-top characters in taking players from the iconic Golden Gate to the celebrated beachfront boardwalk of southern California’s Venice Beach."
Dead Island: Riptide's Sam B's Releases New Music Video with Chamillionaire
"Several months after the events on Banoi," the release continues, "the United States military has put the Golden State under full quarantine. Now a restricted zone, California has become a bloody paradise for those who refuse to leave their homes and an action-packed playground for renegades who seek adventure, glory and a fresh start. Combining the classic Dead Island elements of immersive close combat, action and role-playing."
Trailers for previous Dead Island games had a tendency of hitting you right in the heartstrings. Consider the trailer for the first game, capturing a family's idyllic vacation gone awry. The non-linear trailer was quick to go viral, prompting Lionsgate to quickly scoop up movie rights on the strength of the trailer alone.
For Riptide, the team went the same route, showing a beached couple sacrifice itself in a fiery inferno, mouthing a final hushed "I love you" before blowing sky high, decimating a group of hungry zombies wanting nothing more than to make a meal out of the young couple. But for the full fledged sequel, developer Deep Silver went in the other direction, trading in the beached lovers and family under siege for an infected jogger, who happens to be utterly, and hopelessly unaware of beachside society's collapse around him. See for yourself below.
What a schmuck...
Still, they're not all hopeless. Players can team up to seven other survivors in a multiplayer mode to cooperate or compete with each other.
The zombies of Dead Island 2 tear up L.A. (and God willing, the rest of the state) on Xbox One, PS4, and PC in Spring of 2015.