"Dine with the Dead" is the clever slogan that invites burgerphiles to dine out at the Big Daddy's Burger Bar in my home burb of Newtown (well, close anyway) in Sydney, where the restaurant has teamed up with the Dead Island 2 folks to present a couple of menu items inspired by the game.

Starting from today, fans of Dead Island 2 can experience a taste of HELL-A and Dine with the Dead at Big Daddy’s Burger Bar Newtown, Sydney, and feast on a specially curated menu designed for the hungriest of zombie slayers to sink their teeth into.

Big Daddy’s Burger Bar, has been re-imagined to reflect the iconic Burger ‘66 diner featured in Dead Island 2, with a dedicated menu inspired by the game's slayers, Jacob, Amy, Dani, Bruno, Ryan and Carla, as well as returning, fan favourite HELL-A local, Sam B.

Diners can select from hellishly good, blood curdling options such as the signature Burger ‘66 burger, Amy’s California Chill, Carla’s Charred Chicken Burger, Bruno’s Chilli Dawg, Dani’s Rockabilly Grande, and Nachos Ryan’s Way. To give the burgers extra bite, Big Daddy’s Burger Bar has created two special sauces, Sam B’s Louisiana Style Hot Sauce and Fury Mode Hot Sauce. Amy’s California Chill will help cool things down thanks to the devilishly delicious vanilla bean ice-cream, peanut butter, chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup, whipped cream and a cherry on top.

Liz Alexander, Senior Marketing & PR Manager at PLAION Australia commented on the takeover: "Dead Island 2 is set in a hellish, yet vibrant, gore-drenched vision of LA - or ‘HELL-A’ as we call it! It offers plenty of exciting quests, a crazy cast of characters and a thrilling pulp story, and this takeover of Big Daddy’s Burger Bar celebrates all of these elements.”

Liz continued: “HELL-A can be a ravenous place and this specially curated gore-geous, Dead Island 2 menu is the perfect way to sink your teeth into it. We look forward to welcoming all zombies and slayers alike to hack and slash their way into the Dine with the Dead menu ahead of the official launch of the game on April 21st.”

On the Dead Island 2 takeover, Big Daddy’s Burger Bar Area Manager, Eddie Sidhom said: “At Big Daddy’s we like to do things differently and in a way that only adds to our diners' experience. We are big gaming fans, so to be able to activate Dead Island 2 in our stores is a real coup for our regulars.”

Eddie continued: “Our chef has immersed himself in the world of zombie horror of Dead Island 2 in order to create a menu offering to die for and worthy of any zombie-slayer!”

For those unable to make it to Newtown, the Dine with the Dead menu is also available to order for home delivery from Big Daddy’s website.

The Dead Island 2 Big Daddy’s Burger Bar partnership will see the Dine with the Dead activation and menu live in store at the Newtown restaurant from 14th – 23rd April, 2023.

Having not tried this menu yet, despite being local and today being the 14th, I can't comment on what you'll get, but we do love seeing things like this. And hey, burgers are awesome, so if you're also local or close by, give it a go.

We'll have more on the game soon, so stay tuned.

Fully Locational Evisceration System for Humanoids, or FLESH, is behind Dead Island 2’s over-the-top and impressively gory combat. We sit down with Dambuster Studio to talk about how it all works.

A snippet.

Even though it's gory to talk about it in detail, I like how the style is more comical than outright disturbing or gritty. It’s a fine line between off-putting and cartoonish, and it’s cool that this is more of the latter.

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That was very intentional. When we started on the project, there were a lot of serious zombie games where the tone was bleak. Here, the game's set in LA, and Dead Island has a history of sunshine and splatter. We really wanted to move away from that serious tone seen elsewhere and make it pulpier. And with the gore at the level that it is, if it was entirely serious, it could have been quite disturbing. And some of the things you'll notice about the FLESH system is that we deliberately push it to that level where you have to laugh.

Eyeballs popping out on stalks. I've looked into it, and in reality, that would never happen; eyeballs don't hang out on dangly things. That's the kind of thing where when you see that, you're like, that's so ridiculous that I have to laugh. It’s the same with a jaw kind of dangling off. It's all there to push it to a level where it stops being disturbing and starts being funny.

Our Full Dead Island 2 Inside FLESH Interview

After spending considerable time with Dead Island 2, it’s safe to say that the combat is shaping up to be some of the most fun gore-filled action you’re likely to see in 2023.

A snippet.

Dead Island 2’s zombies are not only varied in their outfits and physical size but with little clues as to what they might have been doing before the world went post-apocalyptic. Exploring an LA hotel with signs of a wedding is fun in battling staff and formally-attired guests. Of course, you’ll want to make short work of their shambling and running (Dead Island 2 features both kinds), and how each hit registers is next level. In a nod to the B-Movie vibe of the game’s HELL-A setting, Dambuster dubs the underlying system FLESH, and it’s not hard to see why.

Armed with a high-damage golf club rewarded after completing an early side-quest, this resulted in a finishing move that knocked a zombie onto its knees. A well-placed whack on the top of its head made its eyeballs fall and dangle from its eye sockets. Finding a simple garden rake and upgrading it at a crafting table for improved damage led to several swipes that ultimately removed its face. It went flying, leaving behind muscle and bone.

And it’s not just a string of scripted and violent death animations - the system is procedural to the point where cuts and chunks represent the damage and overall “health” of a zombie. From skin to flesh, fat, and bone, it’s all here and reacts to where you hit or cut.

Our Full Dead Island 2 Hands-On Preview

Ahead of its April 21 release on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, today comes a big ol' slice of Dead Island 2 extended gameplay. With the post-apocalyptic zombie brawler set in sunny Los Angeles (or HELL-A, as its called here), the gameplay highlights the posh streets of Beverly Hills and Bel-Air overrun with the undead.

And the melee-based combat is gory, to say the least, with an impressive dismemberment system that lets you feel the impact of each weapon hit. The gameplay also showcases the cames skill-tree system, which uses cards for abilities, various passive boosts, and the dynamic weapon system.

Check it out.

Explore HELL-A – Dead Island 2 takes players across the most iconic locations of the City of Angels, now stained with horror, in an exciting pulp journey from the verdant suburbia of Beverly Hills to the quirky promenade of Venice Beach.

Brutal Melee Sandbox – Combat delivers the most intense, visceral and gory first person experience possible, with plenty of weapons and brutally tactical options to chew your way through the zombie horde. Whether you’re slicing, smashing, burning or ripping, we want you to truly feel it.

Be the Ultimate Zombie Slayer – There are six characters to choose from, each with their own unique personality and dialogues. You can fully customize the abilities of each Slayer, with our brand-new skill system allowing you to re-spec instantly and try out the craziest builds.

Zombie Infestation – Ready to experience the most advanced dismemberment system in games? Our LA is crawling with zombies that look and react realistically. These mutated wretches are the reanimated, rotten heart of Dead Island 2 with dozens of distinct zombie types, each with their own mutations, attacks and hundreds of visual LA-themed variants. Our monsters are relentless, challenging, and true Los Angelinos. Will you be able to survive?

A Cinematic Co-op Adventure – As a proper RPG experience, Dead Island 2 offers plenty of exciting quests, a crazy cast of characters, and a thrilling pulp story, to truly immerse you in its twisted universe. Re-playability is guaranteed. Add an over-the-top co-op mode for up to three players, and you’ll stay in LA for a very long (and gory) trip.

The impressive-looking Dead Island 2 is now on track for a Friday, April 21 2023 release - a week earlier than the previously announced April 28, 2023 launch. Deep Silver and developer Dambuster Studios note that the game has gone gold, which sounds like those extra few months of polish are ahead of schedule.

When you consider just how long it's been since Dead Island 2 was announced, this is pretty surprising. We previewed the game last year, where we wrote, "Dead Island 2’s melee-driven combat is built on a procedural system that results in weapon contact feeling weighty, chunky, and impactful in all the right ways. And for that, we can’t wait to play more."

A deadly virus is spreading across Los Angeles, turning its inhabitants into ravenous zombies. The city is in quarantine and the military have retreated. Bitten, infected, but more than just immune, you learn to harness the tainted powers running through your veins. Only you, and the handful of other swaggering assholes who happen to be resistant to the pathogen, hold the future of Los Angeles (and humanity), in the balance. You were born to this.

As you uncover the truth behind the outbreak you’ll uncover the truth of who – or what – you are. Survive, evolve, save the world – just another day in LA!

Explore HELL-A – Dead Island 2 takes players across the most iconic locations of the City of Angels, now stained with horror, in an exciting pulp journey from the verdant suburbia of Beverly Hills to the quirky promenade of Venice Beach.

Brutal Melee Sandbox – Combat delivers the most intense, visceral and gory first person experience possible, with plenty of weapons and brutally tactical options to chew your way through the zombie horde. Whether you’re slicing, smashing, burning or ripping, we want you to truly feel it.

Be the Ultimate Zombie Slayer – There are six characters to choose from, each with their own unique personality and dialogues. You can fully customize the abilities of each Slayer, with our brand-new skill system allowing you to re-spec instantly and try out the craziest builds.

Zombie Infestation – Ready to experience the most advanced dismemberment system in games? Our LA is crawling with zombies that look and react realistically. These mutated wretches are the reanimated, rotten heart of Dead Island 2 with dozens of distinct zombie types, each with their own mutations, attacks and hundreds of visual LA-themed variants. Our monsters are relentless, challenging, and true Los Angelinos. Will you be able to survive?

A Cinematic Co-op Adventure – As a proper RPG experience, Dead Island 2 offers plenty of exciting quests, a crazy cast of characters, and a thrilling pulp story, to truly immerse you in its twisted universe. Re-playability is guaranteed. Add an over-the-top co-op mode for up to three players, and you’ll stay in LA for a very long (and gory) trip.

Dead Island 2 is coming to PC (via the Epic Games Store), PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One.

Dead Island 2 getting delayed might seem like news that could be posted on any given day over the past couple of years, but as per our recent hands-on with the game, it is in the final stages of production. And shaping up to be something very cool. As per the announcement, the new date is April 28, 2023 - with the extra time being put toward that final stage of polishing.

"The irony of delaying Dead Island 2 is not lost on us," writes the announcement. "The delay is just 12 short weeks and development is on the final straight now. We're going to take the time we need to make sure we can launch a game we're proud to launch."

The delay is just 12 short weeks and development is on the final straight now. The new release date for Dead Island 2 will be April 28th 2023.#DeadIsland #SeeYouInHELLA pic.twitter.com/Vf1NARTECo

— Dead Island (@deadislandgame) November 17, 2022

And with that a new trailer and look at gameplay is coming as part of a Dead Island 2 showcase on December 6.

Not only is it a surprise that Dead Island 2 is in the final stages of development - but in a state where we could play a polished and impressive 30-minute chunk. And then have a candid chat with the game director and creative director over at Deep Silver Dambuster Studios to talk about the game’s history and groundbreaking melee combat.

Where you can melt zombies!

“One of the most fun things to do in the game is to melt zombies because that shows the potential of it. We've modeled the clothes and the skin, and then it melts through to the organs beneath that where there are individually modeled and simulated gallbladders and intestines and that kind of thing. Right down to the skeleton. Performance obviously has been a challenge, making sure that we can get all of this stuff running at 4K 60 frames-per-second on gen nine [Xbox Series X|S and PS5].”

“Balancing performance with the fidelity that we wanted and the level of procedurality. If that's a word. And with this being an action RPG, balancing that arcade instant visual feedback with the RPG side. Where there are stats and data and rolls and randomisations. Hopefully, we've struck a really good execution of all of that.”

Head Here For Our Full Dead Island 2 Interview

Ahead of its Gamescom reveal we had the chance to go hands-on with Dead Island 2, the long-in-development sequel that is as surprisingly polished as it is ground-breaking. And it's out February 3, 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

Here's the impressive gameplay trailer.



And a snippet from our preview.

The demo started us off with quite the arsenal. Equipping a large two-handed mallet, charging up a heavy attack, targetting a zombie’s head, and then watching as it made contact, crushed its neck, and then slammed the undead attacker into the ground in one single motion was one of those take-a-step-back moments. Gruesome, disturbing, but satisfying in a way that very few games manage to pull off. The best part was it wasn’t a scripted animation because trying to do the exact same thing to the next zombie ended up with a shoulder getting mangled because the impact angle was off. Equally gruesome, and over-the-top.

Our Full Dead Island 2 Hands-On Preview