Dead Island 2will see the return of a weapon durability mechanic, allowing players to use their gear for a limited amount of time before it breaks. After a long period of what many would term development hell,Dead Island 2was re-revealed this year with two new trailers. Initially showed off in 2014, the sequel to 2011’sDead Islandat first seemed like a promising title, but years of radio silence and a tumultuous development cycle followed, with multiple studios joining and then leaving the project.
With Dambuster Studios, the developer behindHomefront: The Revolutionworking onDead Island 2, it seems the game is finally gearing up for its release. Even before the launch date was officially unveiled at Gamescom 2022, fans already had an idea of when the game was coming out thanks to anAmazon leak ofDead Island 2. With the upcoming zombie action title set to drop on July 02, 2025, Dambuster has been showing off more of what fans can expect from the highly anticipated sequel.
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It seems that there will be some changes in the gameplay ofDead Island 2compared to the first game, but there will also be plenty of similarities as well. The crafting and Rage mechanics fromDead Islandwill be returning, alongside the more controversial feature of weapon durability. In an interview with VG247,Dead Island 2Design Director Adam Duckett said weapons degrading over time is an integral part of gameplay. “We want players to explore the full arsenal of weapons,” said Duckett.
It is worth noting that only melee weapons will degrade over time, so any player who wants to focus on theguns inDead Island 2won’t have to worry about a revolver falling apart in their hands. However, the issue those players will have is in finding enough ammo to fight the zombie hordes around them. Art Director Adam Olson also spoke about the weapon degradation systems in the game, stating that it helps to keepDead Island 2somewhat “grounded in reality.”
According to both Olson and Duckett, it seems that weapon degradation allows for a sense of reality so that other parts ofDead Island 2can be pushed to be completely over the top. Weapon durability mechanics aren’t exclusive toDead Islandand plenty of other games involve gear slowly being worn down after consistent use.Breath of the Wildonly allowed the Master Sword to be free of degrading over time, andDying Light 2also included weapon durability, but through a certain item players could rid themselves of having to worry about their gear breaking.
Dead Island 2launches on June 23, 2025, for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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