Haus is the name of the first Dead Island 2 expansion, pitting players against a latex-obsessed cult having some hardships acknowledging what it truly is. This is a story quest of literally two halves, merrily ramping up the blood and gore to very exciting standards during the first part, but devolving into a somewhat disappointing aftermath that ironically feels like it was designed by some sort of artificial intelligence.

True Head Cases

Finishing the main campaign isn’t mandatory to try Haus, as you can access it via an invitation card in Emma’s mansion in Bel Air. The invitation places you in the vicinity of a gorgeous and quaint villa in Malibu, a clear-cut case of small on the outside, big on the inside. Actually, it’s not that small by any standard, but as you step through the doors, you are in for a massive world of techno-cult depravities and unhealthy doses of latex-clad monstrosities, ranging between the dead and the deader.

You first encounters are bound to make your head spin as you try to find a proper one and attach it to its inert body. The first act of the Haus expansion follows an approach that isn’t entirely original, as you face a few trials meant to unlock the greater goal. The first couple of hours are nonetheless thrilling, striking a fine line between action and puzzles, more so than the actual story campaign. Action still wins by a great margin, but it’s interesting to have our perception and cognitive skills tested as well.

The one thing that comes to mind – apart from the headless personas – is the bucolic and fairly small area where the first trial occurs. Signs warning to avoid stepping on the grass are to be taken literally, as hordes of zombies suddenly sprout from the ground until we step back onto the defined path. Exploring the area will require such risks, however, as the goals aren’t entirely linear and force you to rummage every inch of the houses, looking for the trigger that advances the story.

This is, in fact, one of the best things about Haus and Dead Island 2 – the detail that goes into each house is staggering, furniture and items abound and lend a feel of a realistic place that was abandoned in a rush. The architecture design is accomplished, and the physics system worthy of praise, with all the clutter reacting in credible ways, and the same is valid for the limb system.

But that much could be said of the original game, and Haus is what this review is about. After finishing the first three trials, you venture into the Deeper, a true maze of bottomless pits and techno lighting that would make any nightclub cower in shame. It would be dreamlike if it wasn’t nightmarish, almost a blast to the senses that mixes reality and dreamscapes, and finding your bearings around this place is but one of the challenges.

Finding the second head is another challenge, this time starting in a forest. With a few paths and enough darkness to make it confusing during the first strolls, the showdown takes place in a diner so putrid that it would make many horror stories look like children lullabies. On our way we stumbled upon a game-breaking bug, as these brains didn’t want to be turned into a pulp by our crossbow shots, until a while later and after a game reload it finally worked as it should have from the start.

The dinner battle is by far the highlight of the Haus expansion, with the player serving as a severed talking head delivery service for the second and last time. It’s trippy, very much zombie apocalypse nasty as one would expect it to be, and apart from another set piece soon after, the remaining content ends up being fairly mild.

Cultist Simulator

As if running out of creativity and steam, the final stretch of Haus is a somewhat repetitive and redundant succession of button pushing, brain shooting, and zombie mashing. Visually far from the excitement of the previous moments, it’s a bit of a letdown when we were expecting precisely the opposite. Haus hits some high notes but when it should deliver the final blow, it stumbles upon derivative and tired work.

This story quest should take you about three hours to complete, and it brings three new weapons – K-rossbow, Hog Roaster, and Dead Islands – and eight new skill cards. Only the first weapon will be easily attainable, the others requiring some exploration to discover where they stand.

Inventive during its first half, delivering a solid serving of horror and humor combined, Haus unfortunately fails to maintain the pace when it should have upped the ante. It’s still worth a teleportation trip to Malibu even if only to experience the grim and enigmatic Deeper and the events surrounding this cult supported by a trio of talking heads.

Score: 7/10

Pros:

• Ramps up on the gore and the trippy… not to mention the latex
• Some engaging puzzle moments

Cons:

• One serious bug involving brains had us stomped for a moment
• Latter half of the story lacks creativity

Dead Island 2 Haus review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and scoring policy right here.