After its successful 2023 release, Dead Island 2 is back with the highly anticipated Ultimate Edition, set to release on October 22, 2024. Publisher PLAION and developer Dambuster Studios have crafted this edition to provide fans with the most comprehensive Dead Island 2 experience yet, adding a host of new features, content, and enhancements. Alongside the Ultimate Edition comes Patch 6, introducing the brand-new Neighborhood Watch game mode that offers a cooperative horde-mode challenge, unlike anything the series has seen before. Here’s what to expect.
What’s Inside the Ultimate Edition?
The Ultimate Edition of Dead Island 2 includes the complete base game, plus both story expansions—Haus and SoLA. These expansions dive deeper into the blood-soaked chaos of Los Angeles, offering players new missions, environments, and narrative arcs to explore. Players who enjoyed the base game’s mix of humour, horror, and brutal combat will find plenty more to sink their teeth into with these expansions.
Alongside the expanded story content, the Ultimate Edition also bundles several weapon and cosmetic packs, giving players access to a variety of lethal tools and stylish skins. These include:
- Memories of Banoi Pack – A nod to the original Dead Island, featuring fan-favorite weapons from the first game.
- Golden Weapons Pack – A collection of dazzling, high-powered golden weapons.
- Pulp Weapons Pack – Weapons that channel the over-the-top spirit of classic pulp fiction.
- Red’s Demise Pack – Offering brutal weapons that ensure zombies won’t stand a chance.
- All Six Slayer’s Premium Skin Packs – Premium skins for each of the game’s six unique slayers, allowing players to deck out their characters in eye-catching outfits.
Additionally, players will gain access to the Kingdom Come: Deliverance II weapon pack, featuring new medieval-inspired weapons that bring a unique twist to the otherwise modern setting of Dead Island 2.
Patch 6: Neighborhood Watch Game Mode
One of the most exciting additions is the Neighborhood Watch game mode, which debuts with Patch 6 and is available to all Dead Island 2 players. Developed in collaboration with Fishlabs, this new cooperative horde mode introduces players to a trio of college survivors—the Bobcats—who must defend their frat house in the Venice Canals from waves of flesh-hungry zombies.
In Neighborhood Watch, players will need to work together to fend off increasingly difficult hordes of undead while utilizing new weapons, skills, and, for the first time in the series, traps. This feature allows for new strategic possibilities, as players can deploy environmental traps to outwit the zombies, adding a fresh layer of complexity to the chaotic combat. The introduction of horde mode gives players a chance to test their combat skills in a more focused, wave-based experience, which should appeal to co-op enthusiasts and solo players alike.
New Game Plus and Additional Features
For those who’ve already completed the main story, the Ultimate Edition also introduces New Game Plus. Players can now re-enter the apocalyptic streets of Los Angeles (or “HELL-A”) with their favorite characters and weapons, facing new challenges and higher-level enemies. New Game Plus also increases the level cap and adds an additional skill slot, giving experienced players more flexibility to build their characters into unstoppable zombie-slaying machines.
This mode enhances replayability by offering new rewards and incentives, ensuring that even the most seasoned slayers have fresh content to enjoy as they revisit their favourite areas and encounters in the game.
Final Thoughts
Dead Island 2: Ultimate Edition delivers the complete Dead Island experience with a wealth of additional content and enhancements that breathe new life into the game. Whether you’re new to the series or a returning player, the inclusion of the Haus and SoLA expansions, weapon packs, and cosmetic skins ensures there’s plenty to explore.
Meanwhile, Patch 6’s Neighborhood Watch game mode offers a new cooperative experience, making this the perfect time to gather your friends and dive back into Hell-A. With traps, new skills, and a horde-mode twist, Neighborhood Watch is shaping up to be one of the most engaging additions to the franchise yet. The introduction of New Game Plus further enhances the game’s longevity, giving players even more reasons to jump back in and test their skills against the undead hordes.
If you’ve been waiting for the perfect opportunity to experience everything Dead Island 2 has to offer, the Ultimate Edition, launching on October 22, 2024, is the ultimate way to do it.
