I cherished the primary Lifeless Island recreation again within the day, however returning to play it once more earlier than the DI2 launch date, I discovered myself uninterested in the to-ing and fro-ing of the missions and lengthy drives the place you’re simply working down zombies. Lifeless Island 2 doesn’t have the vehicles, and touring is, to an extent, quicker, however even then numerous the marketing campaign nonetheless feels prefer it may very well be streamlined. That is the place the Lifeless Island 2 Haus DLC shines.
Haus may be began pretty early on within the zombie recreation, and accomplished mid-way via, however I like to recommend ready till the top for causes we’ll get to later. Everytime you choose up the DLC inside your Lifeless Island 2 story although, you’re instantly transported to a shocking fashionable home overlooking Malibu Seaside. In full distinction to the maybe too expansive base recreation, this home, consider it or not, is the place you spend the whole lot of the DLC. Because of its mysterious inhabitants, there’s a bit greater than meets the attention.
The inside of the primary room is horny and splendid – Dambuster actually hasn’t dialed again on the great thing about the Lifeless Island sequel. A gilded statue and opulent inside hints that you simply’re in the home of a wealthy LA cult – a cult that can type the comedic core of the entire DLC. Whereas the Lifeless Island 2 base recreation takes a mocking have a look at the stereotypical residents of LA, Haus broaches the subject of wealthy secret societies the place the 1% stand up to god is aware of what behind closed doorways. In Haus, they’ve been engaged on the reply to immortality, as you discover out if you casually choose a speaking head up off the ground and place it again on its physique.
I’ll depart you to discover all the pieces Haus has to supply, however belief me, it’s quite a bit. It may be DLC, and it’d, in a way, happen in ‘one’ location, however Dambuster strikes us from one dynamite set piece to a different. Boss battles, problem rooms, tons of of zombies. A stunning, atmospheric forest culminating in a terrific boss battle in a sort-of ’50s-style diner which I’ll allow you to expertise your self.
All of this takes place in maybe 4-5 hours max, although, which I’ve learn others say isn’t sufficient. I disagree. It’s a DLC, in spite of everything, and prices simply $12. A posh, attention-grabbing, and interesting story nonetheless takes place on this time and – the perfect bit – doesn’t drag on or ever really feel boring. Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty DLC has been hailed as the perfect growth this 12 months by many, and, whereas incredible, it’s fairly massive. In fact, that is nice worth for cash, however even immediately there’s nonetheless one thing to be stated for a brief, participating, linear recreation. I can full it, have my enjoyable, and be on to the following – I’m in my thirties, don’t have a lot free time, and my still-to-play backlog will get longer by the day. That stated, there are new mechanics, a brand new weapon, new blueprints, and new talent playing cards to find, so there’s nothing stopping you taking all of those again to the bottom recreation if you’d like extra.
I additionally discovered the boss battles to be far superior in Haus than the bottom recreation in that they really felt simpler. Once more, this won’t sound like a very good factor, however I acquired extremely annoyed with the bottom recreation’s last boss to the purpose that it was now not pleasant. I by no means acquired to that time with the bosses in Haus, however I nonetheless felt challenged. There are not any new zombie varieties, however all of your favorites from the bottom recreation are again (in new, trendy outfits) and also you’re usually overwhelmed by hordes of a number of zombie variants.
I’ve nonetheless not even broached the best possible bit about Haus: how the story completely and seamlessly hyperlinks to the bottom recreation. All through the gameplay, you’re repeatedly informed that you simply’re right here for a cause, that they, the cult, know who you’re. Ultimately, you even uncover that the very first minutes of the bottom recreation are linked to this growth. Whether or not this story was crafted alongside or after Dambuster wrote the bottom recreation you could possibly by no means inform, because it seems like this cult has at all times been behind the scenes of the story you’ve already performed out. With out eager to spoil something, the one criticism is that flashbacks that happen upon completion of the DLC are associated to the top of the bottom recreation, which is why I’d strongly advocate solely triggering Haus if you’ve completed the Lifeless Island 2 marketing campaign – you’ll respect the reference a lot extra.
From the concise story, stunning areas, and seamless integration with the bottom story, the Lifeless Island 2 Haus DLC is all the pieces I need from a recreation add-on. Certainly one of two confirmed Lifeless Island 2 DLCs, Haus is to be joined by Sola subsequent 12 months, and the growth cross for each may be bought for a similar worth as Phantom Liberty – to which we did give a stable rating in our Phantom Liberty evaluation. If Sola, a satirical critique of elite music festivals, is something like Haus although, it’s undoubtedly price a play. Should you’ve nonetheless not performed the bottom recreation but, check out our Lifeless Island 2 evaluation to see if it’s for you.
