So, here’s some food for thought: seeing as how the sequel to Dead Island , Dead Island 2 , is being developed by the studio behind Spec Ops: The Line , Yager Development, could next year’s addition to the series be buttering you up to smack you down with emotional whiplash?
When Dead Island 2 was announced at this year’s E3 in Los Angeles, a cinematic trailer showed off the game as being a lot more light-hearted and vibrant compared to the gloomy and heart-panging cinematic for the first Dead Island game; I’ve heard that some people consider this change in presentation to be more of an honest representation of what Dead Island 2 will be like.
For those who played Yager’s Spec Ops: The Line , you may remember that the game does have a bit of a revelation when entering the final act of its story, one which made me go, “ …oh. Well…fudge. ”
Inasmuch as that particular revelation was a turning point in the character development of the three squad members that featured in the game (especially the squad leader), perhaps, for the sake of speculation, the same may sneak its way into Dead Island 2 as well.
Not something like, “ what you did was terrible, and now you’ll go to hell! ” but perhaps something more like, “ oh. I really do not like what I just did there. ”
Psychologically, it could work: bring the player up to a high and then smack them down to a low; which particularly works–as I’ve experienced–when a serious point is intended to be driven across.
So, how would such a thing be implemented into Dead Island 2 ? Well, it’s the zombie apocalypse, and the fact that its an “apocalypse” opens up roads for an emotional rollercoaster. Having said that, the seriousness could also be balanced along with the game’s touted light-heartedness, possibly like how Full Metal Alchemist handles its humor and seriousness.
Say, for example, because of its seemingly fun nature, all the characters to feature Dead Island 2 are bashing, shooting and slicing their way through the zombie horde, and fun times are being had, when towards the middle or the end of the game it’s instigated that you’ll have to kill off one of the characters you’ve grown to be attached to as the game went on, or a situation arises when you’ll have to make a choice of what to do in a given moment that could have noticeable repercussions, etc., etc.
It’s all well and truly possible that Dead Island 2 might not even have an emotional trap at all. It could be just what its E3 trailer implies it to be: a vibrant adventure wherein a group of survivals go out into zombie horde to wreck some shiz, whilst possible picking up some survival essentials along the way.
Still; I couldn’t help but make the connection when I sat down to think about it after E3 had ended. Do I make this speculation–or rather an exploration of a thought–with any expectation? Not really; Yager’s under no obligation to make Dead Island 2 slap you on the wrist and tell you, “ yeah, what you did just there wasn’t very good at all. ”
However, having said that, it wouldn’t be that surprising–at least to me–if the studio does end up implementing something like that into the game. Then again, the studio is also co-developing Dreadnaught , which doesn’t look like there’ll be an emotional rollercoaster at all, so Dead Island 2 doesn’t have to have any sort of rollercoaster at all–unless it’s a fun one.
What do you think? Would you want to experience an emotional whiplash when playing Dead Island 2 ? Let us know in the comments below. The game is currently slated to release in Spring, 2015 for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.