Dead Island 2 Developers Explain The FLESH System

For so many fans of the franchise, Dead Island’s sequel felt like a title continuously stuck in development hell. We didn’t know if we would ever get this game. However, fortunately, after several years of waiting and even the title exchanging hangs of development teams, its release is finally nearing. Now the marketing has ramped up, and with it comes a series of new details about what we can expect with this upcoming title. One of those new details we’re discovering is the FLESH system.

Zombie games are all about fighting off the undead. They are filled with gore and weapons to gun down the enemy or bash their heads with a blunt object. With Dead Island, there was a lot of focus on melee weapons. Players were getting more up close and personal with the undead. That’s something we’re going to continue with this upcoming sequel installment. But what is different this time around is the FLESH system. It’s a new system that was incorporated into the game fairly early in its development at Dambuster Studios. Recently, Game Informer spoke with a senior render programmer and technical art director on this FLESH system.

The duo revealed that the game needed gore and visually pleasing combat. After all, you’re fighting a horde of undead, so you wouldn’t want the combat to start feeling old. So the FLESH system was built to allow players to slice or bash through different areas of a body. Essentially, this system is procedural and incorporated into all the zombies. As players melee through a zombie, they are ripping through skin, fat, muscle, and organs. This system saved the developers quite a bit of time as it meant they didn’t need to model different wounds for zombies.

A significant component of this system is the weapons. Depending on the weapon you use will result in a more realistic wound. For instance, it’s said that a blade will allow players to see more slice wounds across the body and tearing of the flesh. Meanwhile, more blunt weapons will create a different look for a wound. It will be interesting to see just how varied this FLESH system turns out to be when players are able to get their hands on the game. Currently, Dead Island 2 is set to launch on April 28, 2023. When the game releases, it will be available for the PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S platforms.