Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
UK EditionUK US EditionUS CA EditionCanada AU EditionAustralia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Indie Spotlight
      • Future Games Show
      • Golden Joystick Awards
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Big Screen Spotlight
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
  • Newsletters
    • Quizzes
    • About Us
    • How to pitch to us
    • How we score
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Total Film
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Don't miss these
Vision Quench
Survival Games Palworld publisher vows to "keep leveraging" the success of the survival game to "help cool people make cool games," like this fantasy looter-shooter made by a small team
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
Puzzle Games Best local multiplayer Switch games to play in 2025
A creature from Palworld and a robot from Ultrakill appear against a backdrop of red
Survival Games Palworld's collaboration with ultraviolent retro FPS Ultrakill was spurred on by the survival game's weapon designer, who is a huge fan, so Pocketpair "asked nicely"
Where Winds Meet
Action RPGs How to play Where Winds Meet multiplayer with friends
Frank West fighting a zombie with a teddy bear in Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster
Action Games After almost 10 years, a Dead Rising sequel is reportedly happening with Capcom bringing back time limits and trapping Frank West in a zombie-infested Hollywood
A distant flare illuminates the sky in Arc Raiders
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders review: "The most memorable multiplayer experiences I've had all year – this shooter is tense but wonderfully approachable"
State of Decay 3 screenshot showing a survivor on top of a car, aiming their gun at nearby zombies
Survival Games State of Decay 3: Everything we know so far
Dying Light: The Beast
Action Games The 10 best zombie games that will munch your brain
Fortnite
Fortnite Fortnite channels its inner Helldivers 2, adds ragdoll-like tumbling, which is either very funny or incredibly embarrassing depending on who you ask
Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Endgame mode fighting zombies while VTOL aircraft flies in
Call of Duty Black Ops 7's Endgame can't decide if it wants to be Destiny 2 or Call of Duty, and it's a muddy addition that makes me miss simpler co-op campaigns
inZOI Island Getaway
Simulation Games inZOI is getting multiplayer, and the Sims 4 competitor's director says it's all thanks to South Korea's president: "He suggested I make inZOI a multiplayer game"
Arc Raiders
Third Person Shooters "I have to kill them before they kill me": In just one week, Arc Raiders has ruined my ability to trust, and the killer robots aren't even the problem
Left 4 Dead
Games Left 4 Dead co-creator is directing a mysterious co-op shooter for JJ Abrams' production company, and Sony's going to publish it: "We hope to deliver a bold, innovative experience"
Arc Raiders
Third Person Shooters Arc Raiders was going to be a cross "between Shadow of the Colossus, Left 4 Dead, and PUBG" according to dev, who says Embark initially had no idea "what kind of game loop we were supposed to have"
Dying Light 2 Stay Human
Games 10 games like Dying Light 2 to play once you're done with Techland's latest
Trending
  • Best Games of 2025
  • The Future of Total War
  • Fallout Season 2
  • Gift Guides
  • New Games for 2025
  1. Games
  2. Survival Horror
  3. Dead Island 2

Dead Island 2 co-op lets you share the head-stomping

Features
By Justin Towell published 13 August 2014

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Let's get together, murder some zombies...

Let's get together, murder some zombies...

Dead Island 2 is in pre-alpha form (which means still in early development), but already playable in 4-player co-op. That means four players all stamping on zombie heads, turning single zombies into two half-zombies and basically making lots of very dead things even deader, all at the same time. Its a massacre.

Its hard not to draw parallels with Left 4 Dead when youre playing 4-player zombie-smashing co-op, but the action here is different. Its more about the gore than the survival and success is therefore less reliant on teamwork, at least in the 12-minute demo I played. You can run off and do your own thing most of the time, though it certainly helps to stick together.

Two of the missions in the 12-minute-long Gamescom demo require you to upgrade weapons with elemental powers. Heading to the gas station thats on fire at the end of the road allows you to fill up on gasoline direct from the pump, in order to give your weapon a firey slant. Likewise, the electrical store can turn your shots into electrocuting attacks. Lots of fun.

Only problem with draining gasoline in full view of everyone is that it attracts the attention of special zombies. Runner zombies have only recently transformed so they still have decent muscles and are much more mobile. And thugs are hulking great beasts, reminiscent of L4Ds Tanks. Then theres the Suicider, a huge enemy full of explosive pus, which you can kick back into a crowd and watch the whole thing go up. Boom.

There will be more zombie types in the finished game, but also more humans too. Ex-military men and escaped prisoners will be present in the game world to fight. Whether youll be able to slice the humans in half like you can the zombies remains to be seen. But itll be fun finding out. Well, maybe not for you, Germany.

And the best part? The finished article will actually feature 8-player action, split into two teams, allowing you to work together or even play PvP in special events (triggered by helicopter arrivals). With areas like the Santa Monica pier, Venice beach, the LA river and San Franciso to explore (and cover with gore), your bloodlust should be sated for a good while when the game releases on PS4, Xbox One and PC in 2015.

Page 1 of 5
Page 1 of 5
"Give us a kiss"

"Give us a kiss"

Page 2 of 5
Page 2 of 5
"Seriously, just one kiss"

"Seriously, just one kiss"

Page 3 of 5
Page 3 of 5
This guy just wants a cuddle

This guy just wants a cuddle

Page 4 of 5
Page 4 of 5
"Got any jump leads? My car won't start. Because of all the blood. Plus, I'm dead. So I can't drive."

"Got any jump leads? My car won't start. Because of all the blood. Plus, I'm dead. So I can't drive."

Page 5 of 5
Page 5 of 5
CATEGORIES
PlayStation PS4 Xbox Xbox One Platforms
Justin Towell
Justin Towell
Social Links Navigation

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.

Read more
Vampire Survivors
Vampire Survivors is finally getting online co-op as the beloved roguelike turns 4, with another surprise coming soon
 
 
Dead Island teaser art of hitchhiking main character
Deep Silver, you cannot just tease Dead Island 3 in a tiny Steam post on a random afternoon
 
 
Dying Light: the beast screenshot of a mutated infected's claw and arm spraying blood, with an orange On The Radar overlay
I've been playing horror games for 25 years, but Dying Light: The Beast's gore just out-grossed it all by getting uncomfortably realistic
 
 
Dying Light 2 Stay Human
10 games like Dying Light 2 to play once you're done with Techland's latest
 
 
REPO
REPO's monster update just got a lot more monstrous as devs reveal new "tumble-grab" feature that coincidentally lets you "twerk enemies to death" and just might "break our game"
 
 
Dying Light: The Beast
The 10 best zombie games that will munch your brain
 
 
Latest in Survival Horror
Key art for Sleep Awake showing Katja using an eye serum with stark red lighting
Sleep Awake review: "An all-timer horror premise is let down by tired stealth that I feel like I'm sleepwalking through"
 
 
Key art for Routine showing an astronaut looking at a CAT scanner with a shadowy robot figure behind them, and the moon behind them both
Routine review: "This imperfect but wonderfully atmospheric moon-based horror leaves a strong impression"
 
 
Silent Hill f
Silent Hill f owes its popularity to fan art, theories, memes, and more, say leads: "Games that do get talked about even months after release are the ones that are fun to theorize about"
 
 
Resident Evil Survival Unit clock puzzle
How to solve the Resident Evil Survival Unit clock puzzle
 
 
Resident Evil Survival Unit codes
Resident Evil Survival Unit codes (December 2025) and how to redeem them
 
 
Resident Evil Requiem
Capcom says Resident Evil Requiem's "stalker" enemy will only be "a small part of the game," improving the worst thing about my favorite game franchise
 
 
Latest in Features
Big Preview Total War hub image featuring Warhammer 3 characters
Explore the future of Total War in the GamesRadar+ Big Preview
 
 
Dust Bunny
Bryan Fuller's Dust Bunny is a weird and wonderful tale with one important lesson: "Believe children"
 
 
Hand using the Nintendo Switch 2 Joy-Con controller in its mouse setting
Here's how to use mouse controls on Metroid Prime 4, and how to make them even better
 
 
Matt Mercer smiling and Brennan Lee Mulligan talking, with a white line dividing them
I've watched 1000+ hours of D&D podcasts, here's what Critical Role 4 should learn from Dimension 20 and new DM Brennan Lee Mulligan
 
 
Art from Octopath Traveler 0 showing Alexia walking down some steps and examining statues
Octopath Traveler 0 fulfils a wish I've had since the first JRPG in the series, but it also loses something that made its predecessors special
 
 
A beautiful Mediterranean coastal fortress as depicted in concept art for Total War: Medieval 3
"Medieval 3 is, in some sense, our Half-Life 3" – Total War: Medieval 3 is finally in the works, and Creative Assembly is leaning on immersion to make it worth the 19-year wait
 
 
  1. Art from Octopath Traveler 0 showing the hero being haunted by the images of those who burned his hometown, with ghostly images of the three surrounding an image of a town on fire behind him as he walks forward
    1
    Octopath Traveler 0 review: "The strongest entry in this retro-styled JRPG series yet, I love the greater focus on tactical battles"
  2. 2
    Sleep Awake review: "An all-timer horror premise is let down by tired stealth that I feel like I'm sleepwalking through"
  3. 3
    Metroid Prime 4: Beyond review: "The series' atmosphere has never been better, while being dragged down by a boring overworld and clunky psychic powers"
  4. 4
    Routine review: "This imperfect but wonderfully atmospheric moon-based horror leaves a strong impression"
  5. 5
    Marvel Cosmic Invasion review: "Excellent '90s-tinged superhero brawling across a punchy campaign falls just short of arcade bliss"
  1. Freddy Fazbear in Five Nights at Freddy's 2
    1
    Five Nights at Freddy's 2 review: "We have waited two years for a Five Nights at Freddy's 1.5"
  2. 2
    Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery review: "Brings Knives Out back to its roots for a sequel that's almost on a par with the original"
  3. 3
    Wicked: For Good review: "Builds to an incredibly cathartic conclusion, but isn't quite as captivating as Part 1"
  4. 4
    The Running Man review: "Some fun action and Glen Powell's star power aren't enough to energize this disappointing Stephen King adaptation"
  5. 5
    Predator: Badlands review: "Die-hard fans may be disappointed, but as a blockbuster action-adventure, Badlands kills it"
  1. Noah Schnapp as Will Byers and Jamie Campbell Bower as Vecna in Stranger Things season 5
    1
    Stranger Things season 5 volume 1 review: “Can the Duffer brothers stick the landing? It’s sure looking like they will”
  2. 2
    Pluribus season 1 review: "Easily one of the year's best dramas"
  3. 3
    The Witcher season 4 review: "The Henry Cavill-less fourth season is the best yet"
  4. 4
    IT: Welcome to Derry review: "A supremely confident step back into the history of Stephen King's cursed town and killer clown"
  5. 5
    Splinter Cell: Deathwatch review: "A pale imitation of the long-dormant stealth franchise"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...