I beloved the primary Dead Island recreation again within the day, however returning to play it once more earlier than the DI2 launch date, I discovered myself uninterested in the to-ing and fro-ing of the missions and lengthy drives the place you’re simply operating down zombies. Dead Island 2 doesn’t have the automobiles, and touring is, to an extent, sooner, however even then a variety of the marketing campaign nonetheless feels prefer it could possibly be streamlined. This is the place the Dead Island 2 Haus DLC shines.
Haus may be began pretty early on within the zombie recreation, and accomplished mid-way by way of, however I like to recommend ready till the tip for causes we’ll get to later. Whenever you choose up the DLC inside your Dead Island 2 story although, you might be instantly transported to a shocking fashionable home overlooking Malibu Beach. In full distinction to the maybe too expansive base recreation, this home, consider it or not, is the place you spend the whole thing of the DLC. Thanks to its mysterious inhabitants, there’s a bit greater than meets the attention.
The inside of the primary room is horny and splendid – Dambuster actually hasn’t dialed again on the fantastic thing about the Dead Island sequel. A gilded statue and opulent inside hints that you just’re in the home of a wealthy LA cult – a cult that may type the comedic core of the entire DLC. While the Dead Island 2 base recreation takes a mocking have a look at the stereotypical residents of LA, Haus broaches the subject of wealthy secret societies the place the 1% rise up to god is aware of what behind closed doorways. In Haus, they’ve been engaged on the reply to immortality, as you discover out whenever you casually choose a speaking head up off the ground and place it again on its physique.
I’ll go away you to discover every thing Haus has to supply, however belief me, it’s a lot. It may be DLC, and it would, in a way, happen in ‘one’ location, however Dambuster strikes us from one dynamite set piece to a different. Boss battles, problem rooms, a whole lot of zombies. A beautiful, atmospheric forest culminating in a terrific boss battle in a sort-of ’50s-style diner which I’ll allow you to expertise your self.
All of this takes place in maybe 4-5 hours max, although, which I’ve learn others say isn’t sufficient. I disagree. It’s a DLC, in any case, and prices simply $12. A fancy, fascinating, and interesting story nonetheless takes place on this time and – the best bit – doesn’t drag on or ever really feel boring. Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty DLC has been hailed because the best growth this yr by many, and, whereas implausible, it’s fairly large. Of course, this is nice worth for cash, however even as we speak there’s nonetheless one thing to be mentioned for a brief, participating, linear recreation. I can full it, have my enjoyable, and be on to the subsequent – I’m in my thirties, don’t have a lot free time, and my still-to-play backlog will get longer by the day. That mentioned, there are new mechanics, a brand new weapon, new blueprints, and new talent playing cards to find, so there’s nothing stopping you taking all of those again to the bottom recreation if you need extra.
I additionally discovered the boss battles to be far superior in Haus than the bottom recreation in that they really felt simpler. Again, this won’t sound like a superb factor, however I bought extremely pissed off with the bottom recreation’s remaining boss to the purpose that it was not pleasurable. I by no means bought to that time with the bosses in Haus, however I nonetheless felt challenged. There are not any new zombie varieties, however all of your favorites from the bottom recreation are again (in new, fashionable outfits) and also you’re usually overwhelmed by hordes of a number of zombie variants.
I’ve nonetheless not even broached absolutely the best bit about Haus: how the story completely and seamlessly hyperlinks to the bottom recreation. Throughout the gameplay, you’re repeatedly advised that you just’re right here for a cause, that they, the cult, know who you might be. Eventually, you even uncover that the very first minutes of the bottom recreation are linked to this growth. Whether this story was crafted alongside or after Dambuster wrote the bottom recreation you possibly can by no means inform, because it appears like this cult has all the time been behind the scenes of the story you’ve already performed out. Without desirous to spoil something, the one grievance is that flashbacks that happen upon completion of the DLC are associated to the tip of the bottom recreation, which is why I’d strongly advocate solely triggering Haus whenever you’ve completed the Dead Island 2 marketing campaign – you’ll recognize the reference a lot extra.
From the concise story, stunning areas, and seamless integration with the bottom story, the Dead Island 2 Haus DLC is every thing I would like from a recreation add-on. One of two confirmed Dead Island 2 DLCs, Haus is to be joined by Sola subsequent yr, and the growth go for each may be bought for a similar value as Phantom Liberty – to which we did give a stable rating in our Phantom Liberty evaluate. If Sola, a satirical critique of elite music festivals, is something like Haus although, it’s positively value a play. If you’ve nonetheless not performed the bottom recreation but, check out our Dead Island 2 evaluate to see if it’s for you.
