PLATFORM: PC, PS4/5, XBOX SERIES (REVIEWED) | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
In a scenario that by now is familiar to every single one of us, 2015’s Dying Light saw humanity grind to a halt after a deadly virus infected most of the world’s population, turning them into mindless murderous zombies. Thankfully, the Global Relief Effort develops a vaccine and society is given chance to rebuild itself, but the story doesn’t end there. In Dying Light 2, it’s revealed that experiments on the virus continued in secret, and when a sample escapes from the lab, the world faces a second pandemic that’s even more lethal than the first. Stepping into the shoes of Aiden Caldwell, a Pilgrim who survives by carrying messages and supplies between the last known human settlements, it’s your job to help track down his long-lost sister and somehow avoid certain death in a grim and unforgiving world where it seems that nobody is ever truly safe.
Dying Light took the best elements of developer Techland’s previous zombie-slaying games (Dead Island and its sequel, Riptide) and added some very well-received parkour mechanics that made traversing its expansive environments an absolute pleasure while also giving the game a unique identity. Dying Light 2 refines things even further, retaining the addictive melee-focused combat of the original but now giving players even more options for free-running their way across the fictional city of Villedor.
The landscape is littered with railings, ledges, monkeybars and more, making it easier and more fun than ever before to run across rooftops and leap between buildings, and the wealth of side quests, points of interest, faction settlements, bandit camps and challenges ensure that you’re never short of something to do or somewhere to go. One slight downside is that it takes a while for Aiden to feel as adept and powerful as you want him to be, which makes it feel like the game takes longer than it should do to really build any momentum. Depending on how quickly you power through the story missions (or how much time you spend on side quests and other stuff), it might be a fair few hours before you start getting access to the more desirable upgrades that really make a difference to how you play the game. It’s well worth persevering though, as Dying Light 2 really comes into its own when you’ve got a few extra tools and abilities to play with.
The infected hordes that roam the streets are mostly on the lethargic side while the sun’s out, shambling around fairly slowly and generally not putting up too much of a fight. It’s a whole other story at night though, with more powerful variants coming out of their lairs to stalk the city in search of human flesh adding a huge amount of tension to your journey, along with the extra difficulties related to navigating the environment with only a handful of streetlights and your trusty torch to light the way. Should you choose to venture out under the cover of darkness, special “night activities” will reward your bravery with all manner of elusive gear and crafting items, but you’ll need to make sure you’re fully prepared before leaving your safe house…
Dying Light 2 doesn’t reinvent the wheel and indeed really plays things quite safe, being pretty much exactly what you’d expect a sequel to Dying Light to be like. Its story, unfortunately, isn’t likely to win any awards and you can kind of see how things are going to pan out within the first couple of hours, and those with a penchant for firearms and ranged weapons might be disappointed by the near-complete focus on melee combat. But at the same time, Villedor is an excellent playground that’s perfectly set up for Dying Light 2‘s super-addictive brand of free-running mayhem, and it gives you so many enjoyable distractions that it’s easy enough to overlook any shortcomings in other areas. It does take a while to get going, but stick with it and you’ll be rewarded with a tremendously fun adventure.
