Weapon durability is returning in Dead Island 2, with game director David Stenton discussing how Dambuster Studios sought to use this sometimes controversial feature. Generally speaking, the issues with weapon durability in video games comes down to losing favorites or having powerful, epic weapons break when they otherwise really shouldn't. But weapon durability in Dead Island 2 doesn't limit players, it gives them more freedom, per Stenton's recent remarks.
Dead Island 2 has been a long time coming, with its first teaser dating all the way back to 2014. Since then, it has changed a few hands and undergone some changes, with the game recently getting a "re-reveal" and having a new release date for April. The developer has shown some gameplay, detailed special abilities, and more, and while the jury is obviously still out, it does seem to be a promising successor, even in its weapon durability system.
In a recent interview with Game Informer, Stent called the weapon durability system an instrument to encourage more player options in terms of Dead Island 2's gameplay. The game is very lax with its weapon durability, as explained by Stenton, who states that the game is "not trying to be a survivor simulator or a survival horror game." Instead, this system is designed to encourage players to return to a workbench and consider their options. They could, for example, repair the weapon, pay to level match the weapon, buy a new pre-modded weapon at a vendor, or apply a new mod and some ingredients to another weapon. Stenton summarized Dead Island 2's weapon durability system by stating that "it's about giving the player options and encouraging them to go back to a workbench and try something new."
Game Informer's Wesley LeBlanc added that, after playing Dead Island 2 for roughly 8 hours, he never thought too hard about weapon durability. Even when losing his favorite weapons during this time, he said that he encountered hundreds more so a "new favorite is likely not too far" when playing the game. Dead Island 2 is still some months out, so public opinion obviously remains in the air, but these do seem like good moves by the developer and good first impressions so far.
In the coming weeks ahead of launch, fans can expect to continue learning more about Dead Island 2's characters, combat, story, and more. And in a few short months, they'll be delving into Hell-A too.
Dead Island 2 launches on April 28 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Game Informer