I cherished the primary Useless Island sport 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. Useless Island 2 doesn’t have the vehicles, and touring is, to an extent, quicker, however even then a number of the marketing campaign nonetheless feels prefer it might be streamlined. That is the place the Useless Island 2 Haus DLC shines.
Haus may be began pretty early on within the zombie sport, and accomplished mid-way by, however I like to recommend ready till the top for causes we’ll get to later. Everytime you decide up the DLC inside your Useless Island 2 story although, you might be instantly transported to a shocking trendy home overlooking Malibu Seashore. In full distinction to the maybe too expansive base sport, this home, imagine it or not, is the place you spend the whole lot of the DLC. Due to its mysterious inhabitants, there’s a bit greater than meets the attention.
The inside of the primary room is attractive and splendid – Dambuster definitely hasn’t dialed again on the great thing about the Useless Island sequel. A gilded statue and opulent inside hints that you just’re in the home of a wealthy LA cult – a cult that can kind the comedic core of the entire DLC. Whereas the Useless Island 2 base sport takes a mocking have a look at the stereotypical residents of LA, Haus broaches the subject of wealthy secret societies the place the 1% rise 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 decide a speaking head up off the ground and place it again on its physique.
I’ll go away you to discover every thing Haus has to supply, however belief me, it’s a lot. It is perhaps 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, a whole bunch of zombies. A beautiful, 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 fancy, attention-grabbing, and fascinating story nonetheless takes place on this time and – the very best bit – doesn’t drag on or ever really feel boring. Cyberpunk 2077’s Phantom Liberty DLC has been hailed as the very best growth this yr by many, and, whereas unbelievable, it’s fairly large. After all, that is nice worth for cash, however even right this moment there’s nonetheless one thing to be mentioned for a brief, partaking, linear sport. I can full it, have my enjoyable, and be on to the subsequent – 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 mentioned, 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 sport if you would like extra.
I additionally discovered the boss battles to be far superior in Haus than the bottom sport in that they really felt simpler. Once more, this may not sound like factor, however I received extremely annoyed with the bottom sport’s remaining boss to the purpose that it was not satisfying. I by no means received to that time with the bosses in Haus, however I nonetheless felt challenged. There aren’t any new zombie sorts, however all of your favorites from the bottom sport are again (in new, trendy outfits) and also you’re typically 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 sport. All through the gameplay, you’re repeatedly advised that you just’re right here for a purpose, that they, the cult, know who you might be. Ultimately, you even uncover that the very first minutes of the bottom sport are linked to this growth. Whether or not this story was crafted alongside or after Dambuster wrote the bottom sport you may by no means inform, because it appears 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 grievance is that flashbacks that happen upon completion of the DLC are associated to the top of the bottom sport, which is why I’d strongly suggest solely triggering Haus if you’ve completed the Useless Island 2 marketing campaign – you’ll admire the reference a lot extra.
From the concise story, stunning areas, and seamless integration with the bottom story, the Useless Island 2 Haus DLC is every thing I need from a sport add-on. Considered one of two confirmed Useless Island 2 DLCs, Haus is to be joined by Sola subsequent yr, and the growth move for each may be bought for a similar worth as Phantom Liberty – to which we did give a strong rating in our Phantom Liberty overview. If Sola, a satirical critique of elite music festivals, is something like Haus although, it’s positively price a play. If you happen to’ve nonetheless not performed the bottom sport but, check out our Useless Island 2 overview to see if it’s for you.