Dead Island 2’s Gamescom 2022 appearance treated viewers to a new trailer and a release date for the game, but we also learned of an interesting feature that’ll let people interact with zombies directly through a different means other than smacking them. By using Amazon’s newly announced “Alexa Game Control,” players will be able to speak to zombies to elicit a reaction from them at times. Aside from that function, the voice control capabilities can also be used by players to get help navigating towards objectives or resources.
Deep Silver confirmed during the Gamescom announcements that Dead Island 2 would incorporate this technology into the game. A couple of examples for how this’ll be used were shared with Amazon saying that players can say things like “hey zombie” to “manipulate zombie hoards.” We’d imagine the zombies probably won’t have much to say back to you, but perhaps players can find that tool useful when it comes to luring zombies towards or away from something. Other voice commands include telling the game to swap to your best weapon which might be helpful in the heat of combat as well as asking the question of “where is the nearest workbench” which should guide you accordingly to make some quick upgrades.
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If you’re thinking all of this sounds neat but that you don’t have an Alexa-enabled device, you’re in luck: these voice controls apparently work by speaking directly into the headset you’re already using with no extra devices need.
“We are excited to debut Alexa Game Control in Dead Island 2,” said Steve Bernstein, director of Alexa Games. “Gamers will enjoy a more immersive gaming experience by using their voice to goad zombies, ask for help, activate special abilities during combat, and more, without having to say ‘Alexa,’ use an Echo device, or purchase any special hardware.”
If you don’t have to say “Alexa” to activate the voice controls, that naturally may cause some to wonder what all Amazon’s Alexa Game Control tech captures and what it filters out. We’d assume it’ll hear everything you’re saying, but it’s also likely that there will be an opt-out option for those who don’t want to use this at all.
Dead Island 2 will release on February 3, 2022, so expect to see more previews of features like this one and others ahead of that release date.
