In 2015, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment released Dying Light, an open-world, zombie survival game. Despite being released at a point when gamers were feeling zombie fatigue, Techland’s Dying Light stood out from the rest of the competition. Thanks to its Parkour gameplay, fun crafting, and a dynamic day and night cycle, the game was well received by critics and fans alike.
Now, Techland is preparing to bring us back to that chaotic zombie-slaying experience with Dying Light 2. Announced at E3 2018, Dying Light 2 looks to retain its fun parkour mechanics that made the original game stand out. For the sequel, the development team is adding a slew of new features, such as dialogue trees and player choice effecting the environments, which looks to bring even more depth to the series.
Dying Light 2 Story
Who will you side with?: Players will interact with many different factions throughout the game’s world.
Dying Light 2 takes place 15 years after the events of the first game. The zombie outbreak has laid waste to the planet. Civilization has crumbled, leaving nature to slowly retake their land from the once bustling city life. Survivors have formed new societies, one where the penalty for stealing food is death, and will need the player’s help to keep their group functioning in a decrepit city.
The main character’s story depends largely on the choices you make in the game. Want to bring fresh water to survivors? Then negotiate with (or kill) the people that’s hoarding the water supply. Or, you can side with the group that’s hoarding the water supply and gain access to new resources and trades. According to the developers, Dying Light 2 will offer multiple choices that weaves into a variety of paths to make each player’s story their own. Moments will arise during missions where the player will need to make a choice, and each choice could have drastic changes to the game’s environment.
Dying Light 2 Release Date
While no specific release date has been announced, Dying Light 2 is expected to drop sometime in 2019. The game was first announced at E3 2018, where developers showed viewers an announcement trailer showcasing the sequel’s environments and gameplay mechanics. Techland also had a gameplay trailer revealed which displayed the game’s choice-driven story and showed how much the game’s environments change based on your character’s decisions.
Dying Light 2 Gameplay
Gameplay in Dying Light 2 will be to the previous game in the series. Parkour will be your character’s main mode of transportation, appearing much more refined this time around. Combat will involve a combination of crafted melee weapons, guns, and a few unarmed moves, such as dropkicking your enemies off the roof of a building.
The day and night cycle from the previous installment will make a return in Dying Light 2. In the original game, this mechanic drastically changed how players would traverse through the zombie-plagued streets. During the day, you’d feel unstoppable: swiftly maneuvering your way through hordes of undead, mowing them down with upgraded weapons, and climbing to higher ground to avoid them. By nightfall, however, the game plan drastically changes. At night you’re completely powerless: Aggressive, almost invincible enemies make an appearance, and can easily chase you down. These baddies can eliminate you in just a few hits, leaving players to run and hide towards the nearest safe house.
The sequel retains this mechanic, but zombies appear to be mostly night owls. This leaves the living to be the biggest threat while the sun is out. Zombies will stay out of the sunlight during the day, hibernating indoors, and will come out at night. This leaves the survivors of the outbreak to roam the streets during the day, some of which will be hostile towards the player.
The biggest feature announced for Dying Light 2, is the addition of player-choice affecting the game’s environment and story. This new feature was showcased in the gameplay trailer at E3. Player’s will embark on a variety of missions given to them throughout the game. These missions will eventually lead to moments where the player will have to make a choice. Depending on the choice they make, the environment around them could change. Factions could gain more influence and control more territory, areas could be permanently altered, and more items could be available to the player.
Cause and effect: Your actions will have advantages, but will come with consequences – so choose wisely.
The gameplay trailer showcases how player’s choices will affect the game. In the trailer, the player is given a task by the peacekeepers, one of many factions in Dying Light 2’s open world. For the mission, the peacekeepers want the player to negotiate with two survivors who’ve been hoarding the water supply. If the player successfully negotiates (or kills them) then the Peacekeepers will have access to water, leading their faction to grow and develop. Or, players can side with the survivors, who wish to trade water with a black market, allowing access to more resource and trade opportunities.
Every decision made will have its benefits – but they also come at a price. As seen in the gameplay trailer, should the player help the Peacekeepers, then their influence in the game will increase. This will make the streets safer – but only for their kind. Conversely, if the player sides with the group that plans on trading water to the black market, then they’ll have access to more equipment – but will attract dangerous foes to their area. The game offers a system where each choice has its advantages, but will have consequences as well.
Dying Light 2 Trailers
The announcement trailer for Dying Light 2:
The gameplay trailer for Dying Light 2, which showcases the game’s player-choice mechanic which shapes the environment and story:
Dying Light 2 Developer
Dying Light 2 will be developed by Techland, who worked on the Dead Island franchise, as well as the original Dying Light. Tymon Smektala will serve as lead game designer and Chris Avellone, who worked on games such as Fallout 2, Star Trek: Fleet Academy, and Divinity: original Sin II, will serve as narrative designer and writer.
Dying Light 2 News
Most of Dying Light 2’s news came from this year’s E3, and the biggest feature the developers showcased for the game was the inclusion of player-choice affecting gameplay. Chris Avellone, who’s known for writing stories for role playing games, was added to the development team to help give the game a non-linear narrative. Techland is hoping to deliver a game with branching paths to make each playthrough of Dying Light 2 a unique experience.
Dying Light 2 Price
As of now, there is no price listing for Dying Light 2, but it is expected to arrive sometime in 2019 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
