Dying Light 2 – Stay Human
The future is what you make it
The world is literally what you make it in Techland’s followup to the hugely successful Dying Light on PS4. Freedom is at the heart of the sequel, and it goes further than how you choose to scale The City’s skyscrapers. There are various factions controlling the different districts of The City, and your actions and choices will affect how the world changes. People you rescue populate safe zones and offer help, for example.
The factions are part of Techland’s ‘modern dark ages’ vision; you’re able to shape the new world developing on top of the pre-zombie civilisation’s foundations. This means aligning with either the Peacekeepers, Survivors, or Renegades – or none of the above, if you prefer. Helping the Survivors will open up to parkour routes around The City, while building a good relationship with the Peacekeepers will enable you to craft more weapons and develop
protagonist Aiden Caldwell’s combat moves. “If you have no allies, you die very quickly,” clarifies lead game designer Tymon Smektała.
But the growth of the world is what’s really interesting. Techland is leaning heavily into the RPG side of this parkour zombie adventure’s makeup, and the level of control we’ll have is intriguing.
DISEASE CONTROL
The sequel uses PS5’s powerful tech to deliver a unique experience. Speaking to PLAY last issue, the team revealed the new-gen version of the game makes use of the DualSense to enable us to feel each melee weapon, bow, and homemade gun in our hands. Ray tracing brings extra depth to the world, while 3D audio heightens the horror the original game hinted at.
The sequel, set 15 years after the original game, features new Infected
(the game’s zombie-like creatures) that feel more threatening on PS5. Lurking in the dark, the sound of the Infected all around us, and UV light illuminating the creatures, it definitely delivers the frights we’ve been promised. Out in the daylight Aiden can leap, run, and slide about the world in Mirror’s Edge fashion, lending this horror a unique pace. While sunlight acted as a safety net of sorts in the first game, as it makes Infected slower and less aggressive, the sequel features an evolution system that can see some creatures empowered by the sun.
This is an ambitious sequel that aims to be a more rounded RPG than the original. Freedom was important in the first game but it was largely a freedom of movement. Now it’s a freedom of self-expression.
“DUALSENSE ENABLES US TO FEEL EACH MELEE WEAPON, BOW, AND GUN IN OUR HANDS.”