Dying Light 2 Stay Human

Dying Light 2 Stay Human‘s biggest triumph is that its open world feels both dangerous and highly exciting.

As a fan of Dying Light and, by extension, Dead Island, Dying Light 2 checks the boxes of what we’ve come to expect of a game spawned from the popularity of The Walking Dead franchise. In 2022, zombies don’t feel as potent as they once were but that doesn’t mean a game can’t make captivating use of the undead.

For a player like me who has yet to denounce the genre of maps littered with icons, Dying Light established itself as a force to be reckoned with for its unique parkour traversal and the undying support developer Techland provided for years. I expected nothing less from a sequel and was thrilled that it delivered. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s a good amount of jank in Dying 2 Stay Human in the launch period that will likely be ironed out in the weeks and months to come. However, that doesn’t fix a main campaign that is merely okay, instead being buffered by the frequent and enjoyable side missions that players will constantly come across.

Though past knowledge of the first game isn’t required, Dying Light 2 picks up years later as humanity has learned to adapt to the zombie virus. Now, a majority of humans have the virus but it can be kept at bay by constant exposure to UV light. While narratively interesting, the ramifications for gameplay contributed to one of my favorite aspects of Dying Light 2.

Being an infected, protagonist Aiden must remain in the light or risk succumbing to what the game considers a fail state. Players need to be aware of the game’s day night cycle when they opt to explore the world or complete story missions. During the day, there’s constant sunlight meaning that exploration is easier. There are less zombies to contend with but human opponents are more prevalent. At night, the streets are flooded with zombies and more powerful variants are likely to be roaming about. Worse yet, players always need to be mindful of their UV exposure, as a meter ticks down the longer Aiden stays in the dark.

Around the open world, players can find safe havens with UV lights in them to recover and will naturally come across sources elsewhere. But this day/night cycle doesn’t apply to underground locations and dungeons cut off from the light. So do you risk diving into risky, dark locations for loot while being concerned with zombies and hunters? The risk/reward created in Dying Light 2 creates stakes that few open worlds do. While players have the options to constantly be out and doing things, they have to be constantly mindful of what dangers the environment creates.

Aiden is a passable protagonist but one who I never felt entirely attached to. Driven to find the whereabouts of his sister, Dying Light 2 takes Aiden into Villedor, a city with a nebulous European setting. Aiden is a Pilgrim, a person who braves the dangers of the world to travel between settlements. Following a lead to Villedor, Aiden becomes embroiled in the growing drama of the city and a potential civil war between two factions.

Dying Light 2‘s main narrative felt relatively by-the-books and a great excuse to send players off into various corners of the world. Of course, being the protagonist, Aiden eventually becomes the potential solution for the woes of every other character. Players have the ability to shape parts of the narrative based on choices made and what faction is sided with during a particular missions.

But don’t think that the repercussions of these choices will feel deeply impactful in Dying Light 2. Honestly, most players may make their decisions based on the specific rewards given by one faction over another. In the story, there’s little grey area in Villedor’s conflict and the “bad guys” are fairly obvious in terms of motivations and how they are affecting others. Instead, I found more enjoyment from the one-off side quests and mission-givers that Dying Light 2 had on offer. When a main narrative is not appropriately captivating, open world games need to have worthwhile side content to feel relevant and provide excuses to dive into their breadth.

Dying Light 2 further incentivizes players to explore its world through its thrilling parkour movement system. Expanding from the first game, players are able to run up walls, bounce off zombies’ heads, paraglide, and use a grappling hook to move around. Not only does the parkour system feel fluid, it has a good amount of weight to it so that Aiden feels like a real person with maxed out agility stats.

Few things are better in games like these than great movement. It’s one of the reasons why Assassin’s Creed has continued to be one of my favorite series. In Dying Light 2, players slowly unlock more complex skills that are meant to keep Aiden constantly in motion. The grappling hook is a great mechanic that can eventually attach to any surface, meaning that diverse navigation can eventually be mastered. Knowing that the sun is about to set, players will feel that tense rush as they hop across rooftops and swing from grapple points to the nearest safe haven before their UV meter starts to tick down. Expect creative players to make some incredibly compelling videos of Dying Light 2‘s movement systems and how the open world is designed with freedom in mind.

Using melee weapons and a limited number of ranged weapons in Dying Light 2 has a heft to it that makes contact with flesh satisfying. Crafting and discovering weapons with varying effect is rewarding but keep in mind that you will often be picking up so much stuff, that weapons won’t stay relevant for long. For those who are inclined to keep everything, Dying Light 2 might be a bit tortuous but manageable.

While combat isn’t stellar by any means, it’s made all the better by a friendly co-op system that allows up to four players to join forces. Smartly, Techland dials up difficulty based on the number of players, makes loot drops unique for each player, and preserves XP gain and progress regardless of who is hosting.

I would be remiss not to mention that during the launch period, Dying Light 2 is not running as good as it will in the future. Performance issues are frequent, especially when playing online with others. Expect slowdown, pop-in, and general bugginess that comes from open-world games that haven’t had a generous amount of polish. Though the experience was never broken for me, knowing how long this game has been in the cooker, I expected a bit more.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human is everything I expected of a sequel where players parkour around a broken, infected world. It evolves movement mechanics to a degree where locomotion through the map can be insanely fluid. While its main narrative and melee combat don’t feel as transformative, the fluctuating risks of playing in the day and the night are just the spin a world this size needs to stay captivating. In the months to come Dying Light 2 Stay Human will hopefully be polished and added to, becoming the best possible version of itself.