The Dead Island 2 map sizes all come in different shapes and sizes. Unlike most other games, players will need to be aware that the game is not a large, open-world as most games tend to be. Instead, you’re best off thinking of the game as if it is Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, a Metroid or a Souls game, or some other game where there are quite a few levels, with different pathways connecting you to different levels.

You’ll go back and forth between levels as you progress the story, with most of the levels changing as you campaign through the main story. The result is that most of the Dead Island 2 map sizes are not too large in nature, but tend to be dense in those moments, with further exploration available as you level up more and more. Read on if you want to understand how the maps work in more detail.

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Here’s a closer understanding of how the Dead Island 2 maps and map sizes work in game, offering an understanding of how the game works. Image via PLAION

Dead Island 2 Map Size Explained¶

As alluded to, there are a total of ten maps in Dead Island 2. With the maps are as follows (in alphabetical order):

• Bel-Air
• Beverly Hills
• Brentwood Sewer
• Halperin Hotel
• Hollywood Boulevard
• Monarch Studios
• Ocean Avenue
• The Metro
• The Pier
• Venice Beach

Typically, you’ll find that a map can take around ten minutes to run from one end of the map to another properly, presuming story progression, hostiles, or something else does not block you. Once you’re actually trying to find things, you can easily spend an hour or two hunting down journals, keys, blueprints, side quests, or whatever else you’re after. So, think of smaller, more compact maps with dense buildings and things to explore and find in each map. The reason for this is the game is designed with linear exploration in mind. The main story will typically tell you where you need to go, and will unlock side quests and other game features as you get to certain narrative points.

If you wander off like in an open-world game, you’ll find the maps are bigger, but, gateways to other maps will not work or are blocked off, or some of the side-content explorations have skull-level zombies. This means that these zombies are at least 3 levels above you, and will more than likely one-shot you if you fight them. So, avoid exploring unless the game naturally leads you to a side quest, or until you’ve more or less finished the main storyline. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time in those cases.

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As you can see, the Beverly Hills map is relatively small, with just a few mansions.

Let’s take this map of Beverly Hills in Dead Island 2 as an example. As you can see, this map is just a few mansions, with one or two points of interest around. The map is relatively small, with skull enemies all over the non main-story areas. So, you can be done with this level in around 20 minutes the first time you enter this place, but come back later and do the rest as side content much later on.

Essentially, what you’re dealing with here is that the Dead Island 2 map sizes are somewhat large, but, because of how the game is designed, you’ll only be dealing with portions of each map at a time, especially the early levels. You will unlock fast travel between Dead Island 2 maps, meaning that you can eventually start treating the game with a little more free roam in mind, but that only happens at the end of the 13th main story mission. Hopefully, that helps you understand the scope and size of the Dead Island 2 maps, and what you’re getting yourself into.