Dying Light 2: Stay Human

Zombie games are a dime a dozen nowadays. Everywhere you go, they’re there. Shuffling, groaning, and getting by on the merit they’re simply a zombie game. Could this change? Can we have a thought-provoking and dynamic zombie game where the focus may lie with something other than zombies? Techland, are an ambitious studio, one that impressed us back in 2018 with the reveal of their latest game, showcasing a mature attitude to zombie games, and providing a compelling dynamic over the shuffling undead; human tragedy. Can Techland bring on its promise of delivering the most compelling, engaging, and brilliant game about the undead?


What is Dying Light 2?






This is Techland’s highly anticipated sequel to their smash hit 2015 game. First revealed in 2018, Dying Light 2 offered a new look at humanity struggling through a god-forsaken apocalyptic scenario, all the while having to deal with the same old, typical human s**t that we’ve been doing for the last Millennia. Stay Human is pretty much summing up the intended experience while giving a small hint towards the core theme of this sequel and somewhat the main gameplay mechanic.

Taking play a couple of decades of the catastrophic events that took place in Harran, the world has finally fallen. In the opening monologue, greed was the catalyst for the end of days, as the virus proved too profitable for those who wanted power. Soon enough, things got out of hand and the undead, or creatures of the night in many respects, were rampant across the Earth and within a few short years, the fight was lost. Humanity had fallen and retreated into safety. Many years have passed and now we follow the story of a lone traveler named Aiden, looking for his beloved sister in a world torn apart by greed and zombies.

Aiden will stop at nothing to find his sister, Mia, even if it means siding with the devil, betraying those in need, and running for his life from hordes of the undead. Highly skilled as a free runner, Aiden is able to traverse the world in ways not many people are able to. Running along rooftops climbs like a pro (while not to begin with), and using all manner of resources and tools to gain an impressive advantage over his enemies.

Run, scavenge, climb and hide, Aiden will have to do so much in order to save his sister. 



Story and setting


Dying Light 2 takes things away from the quarantine zone of the Middle Eastern city of Harran to the European city of Villedor. Replacing the sun-soaked slums, skyscrapers, and crystal clean oceans with Metros, historic European towns, and lush, beautiful woodlands. It has been 20 years since the arrival of the virus, and now the planet has slowly reclaimed much of what was once humanity’s home. The shell that remains of civilisation gone, has slowly been reclaimed by nature.

Players will take on the role of Aiden, a lone runner who’s looking for his long-lost sister. He’s traveling across Europe, searching for her in every outpost, town, and shelter, but has been unsuccessful. Aiden’s search brings him to the city of Villedor, after hearing that someone else from his past, a doctor by the name of Waltz. Someone who tortured both Aiden and his sister Mia when they were children and disappeared after a fire tore apart their home.

Aiden’s search for Mia has led him to Villedor, which is experiencing its own crisis, as a power struggle is taking place, between the rebels and those looking to maintain law and balance at a cost. Everyone is looking out for themselves, trying to survive and get by, and Aiden finds himself right in the middle having to pick sides in a war between the factions that remain. Worse still, the virus is still rampant, with thousands of undead waiting in the shadows by day and by night, coming out for the hunt.



Changing places





The one thing which really set Dying Light apart from so many other zombie games was its setting, with the city of Harran being visually stunning and a compelling environment to explore. The confident design of the city managed to have enthralling to run through, be chased, or simply explore for resources. It had plenty of souls, atmosphere, and enough of an edge to set it apart from many other games.

Dying Light 2 feels a little safer in many ways, yet still holds much of the same values in free run gameplay and exploration. The city of Villedor is simple, yet engaging, with plenty of density, yet enough open space to make you run through with a nice steady flow. The general setting is a little unoriginal, compared to the likes of Harran, but the Villedor is a beautifully built game world that beams with history and charm, with its European architecture, war-torn streets, modern high-rises, and undead infested underground.




An undead nightmare


While the world is very much dead, there are so many alive and thriving, plus the undead of course. The city of Villedor is home to many still, many of who are on opposite sides of the fence. There are the local rebels, free-loving and open, but dangerous and unstable. While there are the Peace-Keepers, authoritarian and ruthless, yet stable, protective, and willing to help those in desperate need.

Along with these factors are bandits, the undead, and people much worse than both of them combined. Aiden is a man stuck in the middle of an intense situation and one that will reach peak hostility soon enough. However, he must use his resources to find his sister.

Upon arriving in the city, Aiden is attacked, infected, and on death’s door. But is saved by one man who becomes his mentor for the venture. Soon enough, Aiden has a lead on his sister’s whereabouts but becomes caught up in the war between all the factors. The most interesting component to Dying Light 2’s narrative, is the amount of choice to shape the future for yourself and the city.

As the game progresses, you’ll unlock new regions and key locations that can be reclaimed and given to either faction. This choice is entirely up to you and will affect your relationship with key characters. But all of this goes a long way to find your sister and Dr. Waltz, with who Aiden will settle a painful score.

As far as the general plot goes, it’s nothing trial blazing. But the interesting dynamics between characters, the evolving relationships and major changes depending on your actions do give this rather typical plot some bite. Aiden’s mission is a noble one and something you can truly back him upon. What is a downside is Aiden himself. He just feels so typically average, compared to the much more charming supporting cast, including that of Rosario Dawson, who plays her character Lawson exceptionally well.

The general beats are what you would expect, aside from a few key moments which really stood out and the multiple endings on offer. At the time of writing this review, the original endings were explained simply through text on a blank background, which was hugely underwhelming. But Techland as of the 8th of March has included some imagery to go with this, adding context overall. While it's not perfect, I will say it's better than what it was on launch.



Gameplay






Techland did a great job with the original game, and Dying Light 2 only expanded on the good aspects to make them great!

The core gameplay loop is running, scavenging, hiding, and fighting. Plus, much more running. With his parkour skills, Aiden can reach the places most people cannot. Players will be able to traverse the environment, by running along rooftops, shuffling along ledges, making great leaps from gigantic heights, and sprinting through the undead hordes.

Aiden's venture through Villedor will allow him to expand his skillset for traversing the urban jungle, by exploring and free running, he will earn XP, which can be used to obtain new attributes, such as sliding, vaulting and so much more. He will also gain new gear, such as a paraglider, allowing Aiden to float over massive areas of land, gain access to even harder-to-reach places or simply flee from a bandit or zombie attack. A rather enjoyable and useful bit of gear, along with the grappling hook which comes very late in the game. These items and the parkour skills make Dying Light 2 a blast to travel around. The open-world genuinely feels free to explore and a lot of fun doing so.

However, in order to upgrade your key skill and learn new ones, Aiden will need to find Injectors, allowing him to upgrade tokens which he can spend on learning new skills and attributes for parkour or combat.

Swinging from skyscrapers, flying, and simply running for your life is tremendous fun. Especially since Techland has done an impossible job of making first-person parkour smooth and easy to grasp.

Aside from the running, of course, there is combat, which integrates parkour and destructible weapons. Another few systems have been brought over from the original game but reworked and tweaked to fit the grander scale of the game. Aiden can use a variety of weapons, from table legs, heavy tools to custom-made arms which infuse everything from pipes to saw blades and much more. Better still, many of these weapons can be upgraded with various effects, such as poison and fire to give extra damage to the undead and bandits. But the parkour is what really stands out, as Aiden can maneuver over his enemies, and deliver devastating counter-attacks even gaining an advantage over a small group of enemies.

Just don’t expect any firearms here, and really, I didn’t miss them.


A thriving undead world





Dying Light 2’s dense and thriving world has a lot to offer, with plenty of makeshift rooftop homes, and farms, along with hundreds of open buildings littered with supplies and tools. The various outposts abandoned convoys and safe Havens all mount up to make Villedor a captivating environment to explore.

The framework is very, if not near enough like that of Far Cry and other Ubisoft open-world games. Dying Light 2 does its best to add some new layers to its world though and succeeds greatly in some areas. For instance, there are massively dangerous underground locations and key buildings, such as quarantined hospitals and hotspots, where the dead slumber during the day. But these places, have those key resources needed to upgrade your skills and become more powerful. The best course of action is to wait till night when most of the undead are on the streets and venture into their homes, praying that the remaining numbers won’t cause too much trouble.

It's a highly risky yet rewarding chance and one that’s so nerve-wracking and thrilling, that it gave me the shakes just thinking about venturing into the lion’s den.

Running through the city during the day is a bewildering experience, with the beautiful vegetation and overgrowth of the city being something quite mesmerizing to see, yet the shuffling undead, big, and small waiting for their next meal is rather unsettling. But at night, the game changes, and making one wrong move can lead to a chase that will leave Aiden and you are breathless.

The chases in the original Dying Light were immense, and truly terrifying, even in the late game. Here, the early stages of chases seem to last much less time, and the ramping elevation of enemies after you seems much less than in 2015. But, when you hit the maximum level of a chase, then all hell breaks loose and that same feeling of dread and panic does come back in full force. It would have been good to see a new dynamic with these chases and maybe escalate them quicker, but overall they're really fun.


The other thing which can majorly hinder the venture is the very limited stamina within the first few hours of the game. Aiden can barely climb a ladder before succumbing to breathlessness, and this guy is meant to be a professional/career free-runner, yet has trouble climbing a few ledges in a  row? Dying Light 2 also makes a difficult choice at the beginning, whether players should invest in stamina or health.

Each has its own perks, such as stamina progression unlocks new parkour moves, while health unlocks new combat moves and other attributes, allowing you to make new weapons and gear. So the first few hours, along with the long tutorial section, can be rather tedious.


Stay in the light


One new feature which has been introduced to escalate the tension is the infection meter. As Aiden has been infected with the virus, he must ensure he is not in the dark for too long. Players will be able to keep it at bay with the help of natural/UV light, meaning Aiden will stay human, providing he keeps in the sunlight. This meter does go up, even when in buildings, so the threat of undead in these key locations is one thing, but having to make sure you don’t turn just excels the intensity.

This is a rather simple mechanic, but truly an effective one.




What Dying Light 2 does well





Techland has done what is considered impossible to many. By taking what worked in the original and enhancing it further, with much substance and grace. The parkour is truly excellent, a thrilling and smooth experience when dashing, climbing, swinging, and gliding through the city. The vast exploration at hand, the density of the city, the many hubs, discoveries, and secrets to find, all combine into a brilliant and captivating world.

The level of progression was vast, with plenty of skills, attributes, and lethal tactics to learn making your progression feel worthy and rewarding. The new fighting moves are absolutely enjoyable, some of which are utterly broken, yet a lot of fun to pull off. Once the stamina moves aside, the parkour really shines.

The dynamic of siding with a faction, altering your path to the main objective, and unlocking the benefits of each faction felt truly gratifying. I sided with the Peacekeepers in the end and found their traps and weapons to be immensely fun to use. While the difficult decisions ahead had plenty of gravitas.

While the night chases felt a little underwhelming compared to 2015’s Dying Light, the introduction of the infection meter, and the return and enhancement of the undead hotspots really excelled in producing tension and an ungodly amount of stress yet felt massively rewarding to pull off such daring heists.

Plus, Dying Light 2 has one of the most fun co-op features I can remember. Exploring the city, free running, and fighting with friends was insanely fun at a times, and Dying Light 2 begs to be played with friends. 




What Dying Light 2 could have done better


While Techland has done an immense job with the gameplay and Free running mechanics, there are a couple of things that fall short for Dying Light 2. The first is the rather uninspired and generic story, even though I will give credit that the writer did try to add some emotional depth. But it lacks a great leading character with Aiden, along with plot beats that felt the same and generally nothing compelling about the zombie dynamic. I would have been thrilled to see something weird and entirely different done with the zombies, taking bolder steps with the genre like George A Romero’s Day of the Dead back in 1985.

The endings were disappointing in how they were executed and the general setting, while nice and visually pleasing enough, didn’t amount to the vibrant and unique environment of Harran in my opinion.

The tedious first few hours and the low stamina really make this a chore, to begin with, holding back a lot of the enjoyment, until you level up quite a bit. The tutorial just felt too long, and again I understand it’s setting up everything that flows in the story, but the pacing was too slow. And the low stamina aspect in the early game can be frustrating if you want to just explore and do something simple like capture regions.  



Overall?

Despite some problems in the early game and general story, Dying Light 2 Stay Human is an absolute blast nonetheless. The entertaining free running, the frantic nature to survive at night, the exploration and progression after the early game made this a compelling and amazing adventure at times. The undead is good fodder and using your skills and gear to evade or take them on never got old. The story did have some interesting beats, and generally, much of the supporting cast was great. Dying Light 2 Stay Human, may not set the world on fire, but it represents what Techland does well and shows us that zombie games can be mature, engaging, and dynamic, with hopes of the genre becoming fresh once again.


 ++ Fun and immense parkour gameplay
+ Excellent world design with plenty to do
+ Combat and progression are rewarding and fun
+ Compelling decision making at key points 

- Story could have been stronger
- Very slow first few hours
- The zombie dynamic could have been more interesting

A Steam review copy of Dying Light 2: Stay Human was provided by the publisher for the purpose of this review.