Dead Island has always been one of those joyfully dumb series that’s just really fun to play but maybe takes itself too seriously. This year at E3, Deep Silver showcased the next entry in the zombie franchise, aptly titled Dead Island 2, a game that no longer tries to be dark and moody just for the hell of it and instead embraces its wild goofiness. The result is a zombie game for the newer crop of consoles that looks especially enticing.

Dead Island 2, which is being handled by Yager Development, takes place in California, within a lovely yet heinous beach area that a Deep Silver rep was glad to refer to as a “zombie playground” during a closed-door press showcase. Rather than fearing for your life, the game wants you to “embrace the zombie apocalypse.” Judging from what I saw of the game as Deep Silver made these statements, it almost seems like Dead Island 2 is meant to be in line with titles such as the most recent Far Cry and Saints Row games: crazy, awesome, ridiculous, and exhilarating.

Creative weapons have long been a staple of the Dead Island games, and this sequel apparently won’t be a slouch, either. You can craft everything from deadly blunt (and spiky) clubs to motorized weapons that use up fuel and produce a lot of noise but still give you a solid edge over the undead. It’s worth noting that this time around, you can craft on the go, so you won’t need to worry about getting to a crafting bench to use up those valuable resources you come across on your death-filled adventure.

In addition to all of the customized melee combat, there’s also plenty of gunplay in Dead Island 2. While it’s always more enjoyable being able to club a zombie to death — or re-death — there’s plenty of room to shoot everything up. Of course, the game also lets you dual wield weapons, which is a welcome mechanic that’s all kinds of rad. Feel like going into battle with the undead holding both a machete and a machine gun? By all means, go nuts!

As is often the case in the zombie apocalypse, sometimes fellow survivors are a deadlier threat than the zombies themselves. You’ll be engaging in intense fire fights against human characters throughout Dead Island 2, and this time, the game allows you to wage war on your fellow people in different ways. The E3 demo showcased lighting zombies on fire and causing them to run into hostile characters. This was all after opening up a gated area and unleashing them onto your enemies, creating havoc and getting your rivals’ attention away from you.

Environments are highly destructible, adding yet another layer of bliss to the game. You can crush zombies (and humans) by blowing up cars, walls, and other landmarks. Deep Silver isn’t messing around when it says Dead Island 2 will be one big playground. The tools for destructive entertainment are in place, and it’s obvious that this time around, the game wants you to really have a blast playing.

Multiplayer is approached differently in Dead Island 2 than in previous installments. Rather than the traditional format of having players join you, the game allows you to stay connected if you so choose. This means that you’ll be coexisting with others within the confines of an online world, allowing players to help each other out, compete against one another, or simply coexist in the same world. Up to eight players can cooperate, expanding your group of survivors considerably.

Due to the fact that Dead Island 2 is exclusive to the newer consoles and PC, the game can now deliver truly impressive technical feats. Deep Silver notified press in attendance that the demo was of an earlier build, but even then, it looked quite stunning. Rays of sunlight bounced off the beach environments, while interiors offered a level of detail never before seen in the series. Add to that the much larger group of zombies that can now crowd the screen at any given time, and it’s obvious that this is Dead Island for the new generation of consoles.

I’ve never been more excited to play an installment in this series than I am now. The game looks great, and now that it’s embracing its silliness, we hopefully won’t have to worry about annoyingly moody themes and characters. This next chapter in the Dead Island series could be exactly what fans have been hoping for when it arrives on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC in spring 2015. Oh, and this is also the first game to motion capture a cat, which is a nice touch, because dogs are so 2013.

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