The landscape of zombie video games is one that stretches for miles, featuring dozens upon dozens of titles all trying their hand at something new within the genre. So many fail to really separate themselves from the slow-moving horde, but every once in a while, an overachiever shambles to the front of the pack.
In 2015, it was Techland’s Dying Light, an open-world survival horror game that put fast-paced exploration on the same level as the horrifying thrills of an undead infestation. Seven years later, Techland returned again to revisit the rotting world and expand upon the universe it created with Kyle Crane’s harrowing adventure in the fictional region of Harran.
Dying Light 2 attempts to recapture the awe players felt when they first jumped into the fast-paced zombie horror title, and while it succeeds in some areas to enhance the experience presented in 2015, the sequel also disappoints in some big ways. Either way, you could try it out for yourself by getting some Steam Wallet Codes from OffGamers here!
Storyline
Picking up years after the events of Dying Light, the sequel throws players into the midst of a second outbreak caused by the meddling of man. When the Global Relief Effort continues research on The Harran Virus that caused the initial outbreak, it inadvertently causes “the Fall,” a global event that wipes out much of the world’s population.
Fifteen years after the Fall, Aiden Caldwell lives as a Pilgrim, travelling between the remaining settlements and on a perpetual quest to find his lost sister. His search leads him to Villedor, a European city ripe for some zombie-killing, free-running fun.
Dying Light 2 sets up what could be an engaging story with a ton of heart, but what you just read is pretty much all you’ll need to know. The core entertainment isn’t what unfolds as you progress but the things you do in between the little bits of narrative. And by that, we mean laying waste to zombies, running from volatiles, and testing out the very limits of parkour.
Gameplay & Weapons
Techland knew that it couldn’t simply rehash the gameplay of Dying Light, but the team was also wise to keep things familiar. Aiden brings some uniqueness to the table with a grappling hook and glider that help with traversal and some unconventional zombie-killing options.
They’re not major improvements over the parkour of the original, but it’s enough to make the experience feel fresh and keep things forward-moving. For more dynamic and fluid parkour, Techland created more than 3,000 parkour animations, and the extra work certainly shows.
But parkour and scaling the diverse environment is only half the game. There’s a sea of zombies needing a swift baseball bat to the head. Thankfully, Aiden isn’t short on ways to maim, decapitate, devastate, and destroy each of the undead fiends strolling through Villedor. Like in Dying Light, Aiden can craft weapons and imbue them with elemental attributes. It’s one thing to stab a zombie with a knife. It’s another for that blade to also set the undead on fire so there’s nothing left of its rotting corpse.
As much fun as it is to unload a little anger on the game’s variety of enemies, human and undead alike, they aren’t quite as fleshy as they were in Harran. These zombies have a beat of heft to them, which takes away some of the oomph of every strike. Of course, this is expected of the more powerful volatiles, demolishers, chargers, and other special zombie types. For the common enemy, though, a well-placed hit should like there’s a little weight behind it.
When melee weapons aren’t available, Aiden turns to some good ‘ole fashion punching, kicking, head stomping, grappling, and more. He starts his adventure with a basic flurry of punches, but a branching skill tree allows players to decide what devastating attacks (or parkour boosts) they want to add to Aiden’s repertoire. It’s fairly basic and doesn’t offer anything too game-changing, but it’s hard to complain about having more ways to eradicate the undead. Especially when Aiden’s expanded moveset doesn’t take away from any other aspect of the game.
Flaws
Early trailers promised that player decisions would have a significant impact on the world around them. Depending on the faction they backed, Villedor would change and morph around player choice. With a few playthroughs (or save reloads), you can see how certain choices change Aiden’s journey.
Some decisions lock out entire areas for a spell or change dialogue options, but they’re far from being as impactful as marketing led us to believe. Maybe the most disappointing aspect of this mechanic is that there are multiple endings based on the decisions made, and not one of them is worth striving for. They’re all underwhelming, largely because the story and characters never rise above pedestrian.
Some may believe that smacking around zombies is enough to sell a game, but Dying Light 2 cheapens what Techland delivered in its predecessor. The original was a more cohesive attempt at a well-rounded game, whereas Dying Light 2 seemed too focused on trying to rehash the success of Dying Light that it failed to bring anything new to the table.
And whatever enhancements were made are overshadowed by a buggy experience and a story that, hours after finishing, is completely forgettable. Techland clearly wanted to gut-punch players with an impactful and emotional romp through a zombie-laden land, but the team just barely forced out a competent game that relies on the joys of freerunning across a remarkably improved environment and bashing in zombie skulls just a little too much.
Dying Light 2 may not be the sequel we wanted for the original, but despite its flaws, it does still prove itself a worthwhile zombie-slaying experience.
- Developer: Techland
- Publisher: Techland
- Platforms: Xbox Series X and Series S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows
This review is based on the PC version of the game.
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