After almost a decade, Dead Island 2 finally came out, with a co-op campaign that lets up to three players take on post-“zompocalypse” Los Angeles. If you’re up for an extremely gory run through the newly renamed “Hell-A,” how much time should you dedicate to the process? Let’s find out how long it takes to beat Dead Island 2.
Miracle Mile: How Long Does It Take to Beat Dead Island 2?
Dead Island 2 is designed as a sort of violent sandbox. Its 10 maps are all riddled with secrets, collectibles, caches, and opportunities to kill zombies. If you’re of a mind to explore, there’s a lot here for you to find.
If you aren’t, there’s nothing keeping you from running straight through DI2’s critical path. While there are definitely a few story missions that feel like time-killers, DI2 never does the open-world thing where it tells you to go putz around for a while until the next plot objective pops up. You can run straight through the entire story if you want. In that case, you can expect to beat Dead Island 2 in 10-to-15 hours. It’ll go a little faster if you pick Amy, but do not get hit.
That being said, DI2’s general power curve seems to be designed on the assumption that you’ll stop occasionally to take on a few sidequests.
As you progress through the story, you’ll gradually encounter more types of zombies, including the more dangerous mutations that Dead Island 2 calls Apex Infected. These include Crushers, Slobbers, Bursters, and Butchers, any one of which is a genuine threat to you at any level.
The first time you run into a particular Apex Infected, it’s added to the general Hell-A encounter table and can show up anywhere in the city. Your map will show places where an Apex Infected is nearly guaranteed to appear, but once you’ve fought one, it can spawn almost anywhere at any time. As such, the further you are in DI2’s story, the more dangerous Hell-A gets. In the late game, even Bel-Air can be lethal due to the non-zero risk that a Butcher will suddenly crawl up your nose.
To even the odds, you’ll need to work on your equipment, which makes up the bulk of your firepower, and much of the best gear in Dead Island 2, such as unique weapons and “Curveballs,” comes from sidequests.
On my first run through DI2, I was struggling until I went back to Bel-Air around level 14 and took on the “Creature Comforts” sidequest. Its reward, a unique rifle, was hit for hit the most dangerous weapon I’d found yet. As long as I had ammunition, no zombie head or knee was safe, which gave me the breathing room to work on the rest of my arsenal.
With that in mind, the minimum-frustration run through DI2 adds another 5 to 7 hours to the run. I was being particularly completionist on my first clear of the game, so I clocked in at 30 hours when I finished the final story quest of Dead Island 2.
If you’re an achievement hunter, DI2’s trophies / achievements are very forgiving. You don’t have to get anywhere near 100% completion in DI2 to get 100% of its trophy list. The one stumbling block is that it does require you to play the co-op mode for a short time, but otherwise, this is a cinch.
In summary: if you run straight down the critical path of Dead Island 2, expect it to take 10-to-15 hours to beat, depending on which Slayer you pick and your luck with weapon drops. If you want to make it a little easier on yourself, take another 5-to-7 hours to clean up sidequests and collect some extra gear, or bring two friends along for the ride.
