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Don’t get me wrong, there are hundreds more sophisticated and impactful videogames out there, but few games released over the last few years hold a softer spot in my heart than Dead Island 2. Maybe it was the painfully long wait for the sequel to finally emerge, but I think it’s one of the best zombie games of recent times thanks to its varied semi-open world areas, in-depth weapon customization, and incredibly detailed gore. Well, it’s about to get even better when its imminent Patch 6 arrives, and Dambuster Studio has just revealed what to expect from one of its biggest additions – New Game Plus.
Yes, after many months of waiting, Dead Island 2 is finally getting a New Game Plus mode that lets you experience its story all over again but with all your earned gear and skills. There’s also the added bonus of extra skill card slots being opened up so that you can create even more devastating character builds in the co-op game. While most new game plus experiences simply scale up the enemy difficulty a bit and send you on your way, there is at least a bit more undead flesh on the bones in Dead Island 2’s interpretation.
“As with most NG+ modes, you can start the game again with your favourite slayer, equipped with all the skills, abilities and weapons you built up during your first run,” a new blog post from Dambuster reads. “But New Game Plus isn’t taking any prisoners. It’s ready to mix up enemy encounters and make damn sure that even skilled DI2 vets face a serious challenge.”
As well as giving regular rank and file zombies increased health and damage output, New Game Plus players can expect to see more of Dead Island 2’s Apex Zombies almost immediately out the gate. In the regular campaign mode, you’ll only really find them in the later stages, but for this punishing NG+ mode you’ll need to face them very early on.
That’s daunting in of itself, but Dambuster is introducing an entirely new zombie type to really test the hardiest of slayers. These are called Revenants, and while you won’t have to slay them all and encounter them at every stage of the story, you can track them down if you’re thirsting for even more challenges. In exchange for taking them down, some great rewards and loot will drop too.
“These killer new takes on your favourite Apex Zombies don’t just have a dark new look, but new behaviours and tweaked capabilities that make them deliberately hard to slay,” the blog post says.
Dambuster has also warned that excessive grinding to over-level yourself won’t be a viable strategy to get yourself through New Game Plus either. “New Game Plus is designed to more closely scale the zombie threat against your slayer’s current level, and every big boss zombie is guaranteed to be a higher level.”
New Game Plus arrives in Dead Island 2 with Patch 6, which will be released on Tuesday October 22.
New Game Plus isn’t the only major addition coming to Dead Island 2 with this update either. Neighborhood Watch is a new strategic horde mode that sees you fend off a central base from waves of zombies and formulate a plan for an all-out assault in the final ‘day’ of the action. It sounds brilliant.
If, like me, you’ve already blasted through Dead Island 2 and you’re looking for something new, here are some of the best zombie games around. If you haven’t played it yet, remember that it’s one of the best Game Pass games on Microsoft’s subscription service, so if you’re already subbed, there’s no harm in jumping in and trying it.
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