Pretty much the same as the first Dead Island. The only differences being one new playable character, and the difficulty has been greatly reduced. It's now very doable all the way through with one player.
What I like about these games, beside the undead of course, are the huge open areas to explore, and the fact that exploration is rewarded with hidden goodies, quests and survivors to rescue, the survival element of having to scrounge for food and items to sell for medkits or upgrade weapons, and the ever present threat of the horde. Those things are still there.
But what I didn't like about the original is also still there. The fact that pickups, containers and ammo quickly and constantly respawn. This for me detracts from the survival element and immersion (who keeps going around filling all these bags every five minutes anyway-), and even when set to single player you respawn when you die (with a cash penalty) instead of having to reload a checkpoint. But at least your health doesn't auto regenerate.
So if you liked the first one you will like this. If you didn't like the first one this game won't impress you either as it's more of the same.