DEAD ISLAND 2: HELL-A IS BLOODY, LOUD, AND SUNNY

7.5 of 10 bananas. Hell-A, a crowbar, and one of the best zombie gore systems ever built.

By the Alpha. PS5 Day 1 Edition disc listing. Updated Oct 2026.

Honest note: This verdict is not from a fresh hands-on playtest. I built it from launch coverage, critic consensus, patch history, and known play. If I put real hours in on stream, I will update the score and say so.

Platforms: Dead Island 2 is on PC through Steam, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series, with online co-op for up to three players. The button is the Steam PC version, which Steam listed at 4.99 dollars on sale at my Oct 27 2026 check. Sale prices end, so look at the price before you pay.

Sit with me a moment. I kicked a zombie off a Bel-Air balcony, set his friend on fire with a jerry can, and shocked the rest in a swimming pool. Then I laughed out loud. Dead Island 2 is not scary, not deep, and not trying to be. It is a gore playground in the sun, and the gore is incredible.

What It Wants To Be

Dambuster Studios' 2023 first-person zombie brawler, released after a famously long development. Los Angeles, now called Hell-A, is under quarantine, and you pick one of six Slayers, each with their own perks. You fight with melee weapons, mods, and later guns, across Beverly Hills, Venice Beach, Hollywood, and more. The Haus and SoLA expansions add more ground.

What Works

The FLESH system is the star. Zombies come apart layer by layer, skin, muscle, and bone, depending on what you hit them with. Weapon mods add fire, shock, and caustic damage, and the levels are a toolbox of water, fuel, and live wires. The tone is pulp comedy with a sunny LA look. Skill cards let you swap builds anytime. Co-op with friends doubles the fun.

What Breaks

Listen well. It is a chain of hub zones, not an open world. Quests are basic fetch and kill errands. The story is thin and the characters are loud. Combat gets repetitive in the back half, and weapons wear out fast. It runs roughly ten to twenty hours and shows its age as a game that spent years in development.

Who Should Play

Play if you want a goofy gore playground with friends. Skip if you want real horror, a deep story, or a big open world. For a meaner zombie hunt, read my Dying Light: The Beast verdict.

Related: Dying Light: The Beast, Days Gone, Dead Space.

Store note: the troop still needs a fair Amazon listing for this one. At my Oct 27 2026 check, the PS5 Day 1 Edition disc was 61.67 dollars from a third-party seller, more than the game is worth today, so the button now goes to Steam instead. This is a plain link, not an affiliate link.