Dead Island 2: Haus

Anyone who enjoyed Dead Island 2 will probably enjoy Haus as well. It has the same engaging humor and social satire, the same gory action, and even more visually impressive levels. What it doesn’t have are a lot of new ideas. It’s a pretty short romp, too. Haus is definitely, for better or worse, more of the same. I’m ok with that.

Whilst adding a new style and shock to Dead Island 2, Haus offers a paltry run time and not much else. It’s a perfect morsel if players own the deluxe version, but some might feel robbed with such a short DLC.

Dead Island 2: Haus stands out for maintaining the game's basic structure and presenting a new, uncompromising story. With a short duration and little beyond the basics, it lacks enough content to justify a return to the game.

Dead Island 2: Haus stands out for maintaining the game's basic structure and presenting a new, uncompromising story. With a short duration and little beyond the basics, it lacks enough content to justify a return to the game.

Dead Island 2's first of two expansions delivers some flashes of enjoyment, but it feels a bit too repetitive, in spite of how brief it is.

Good- Brutalizing zombies is still fun; Stunning visuals and art design; Impressive environments. Bad- Quickly gets repetitive; Uninspired mission design. Thoughts- When all is said and done though, is Haus good enough to warrant a trip back to Dead Island 2’s HELL-A? Well, that depends on what you’re looking for. If you just want an excuse to smash zombie brains again, then sure. Dead Island 2’s crunching combat is more than capable of providing short bursts of goofy, gory fun, and that continues to be the case here, even if it does feel like it’s wearing a bit thin by the time the expansion comes to a close, especially combined with the uninspiring mission objectives. On the other hand, if you were hoping that Dead Island 2’s first expansion would be a major chunk of content that would bring interesting new ideas to the table, you’ll likely be disappointed by what’s on offer here. Hopefully, the second of the game’s two expansions – SOLA Festival, which is due out in Q2 of 2024 – will be a meatier and more ambitious one, because Haus ultimately doesn’t do enough to justify a return to this zombie-filled world.