Dead Island 2 Ditches That Tired Skill Tree for a Based Skill Deck

Play your own way.

Dead Island 2 was delayed back in October, and the next entry in the over-the-top zombie co-op series is now slated to launch on 27th April. As we draw ever closer to that appointed date, we learn more about the long-in-the-grave title, like the fact that we will be able to utilise zombie powers, apparently.

Another fun factoid regards the game's skill system, which does away with the obligatory and tired skill tree action games insist we dutifully work our through to get to the good stuff. It sounds like Dead Island 2 will take a different tact, however.

In a Q&A session with Game Informer (transcribed by NME), creative director of Dambuster Studios, James Worrall, describes the skill deck system as a "collection of slots that represent all kinds of different abilities, and you swap the cards in and out, on the fly, however and whenever you want. You can take some real risks with your loadout. It sometimes pays off, it sometimes goes horribly wrong."

Apparently, these skills can be changed literally on the fly; that is to say, skills can be swapped out in mid-air if you want to, allowing the player to chop and change as the situation demands.

What do you think of Dead Island 2's more open-ended approach to skills? Does this sound like a more interesting approach to progression, or do you prefer a more traditional approach to character progression?
 

Read the full article on pushsquare.com