DYING LIGHT 2: STAY HUMAN
The Pilgrim’s Progress
RELEASED OUT NOW! Reviewed on Playstation 5
Also on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S,
PC, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch Publisher Techland
An intelligent zombie game? Almost. Think of this post-apocalyptic brain-muncher as the 28 Days Later of videogames; its undead chase you at pace, screeching as they do so. When it clicks, there really is nothing as terrifying. Apart from perhaps the bugs, some of which remain even after patching…
Yet there’s plenty here to love if you have a forgiving nature.
Protagonist Aiden Caldwell is a Pilgrim, a kind of zombieland Deliveroo driver, one without a car. Instead he parkours up walls and over roofs; he paraglides across the large map and enjoys a real sense of freedom. Exploration in Dying Light 2’s city of Villedor is a joy, and Techland makes a point of placing the interesting stuff on the highest buildings.
The usual hidden loot chests, collectibles and secrets abound, as do a vast number of well-crafted side quests. While many can descend into fetch-quests that feel rather dated, there are some gems hidden away in Villedor’s dark side streets and rooftop camps. Choices you make affect the world. Setting up power stations and revamping windmills will bring settlements to areas. You can decide which city faction gets the advantage, and in return new parkour routes are opened or weapon caches unlocked. Your decisions can affect the story and how characters perceive Aiden, and this can affect the future of Villedor. It sounds more progressive than it is, though; choices are binary, and we’ve been doing this since Fallout 3.
It’s the zombie AI that really makes the difference, as it did in the original Dying Light. By day the game’s undead are shambling meat sacks, but at night they turn into keen, savage hunters. There’s a palpable tension to exploring the game’s open world after dark, just as there’s a strain between the bugs and the parkour fun, the progressive world design and the old choice-led ideas. It’s a balancing act not everyone will want to try.
The voice cast includes Rosario Dawson as Lawan; the Zombieland actress has form when it comes to double-tapping.