Dying Light 2: Stay Human has been on our radar for a few years now and, after a couple of delays, we know we’ll finally see it released on February 4.
There was a time when Dying Light 2’s eventual release was completely up in the air. Developer Techland first announced the title at E3 2018 and it’s been subject to several delays over the years, but we’ll finally get our hands on it in just a few weeks.
Having played it for ourselves, we say that the wait was worth it. In our full review, we’ve given Dying Light 2 four stars out of five, calling it “without a doubt one of the most ambitious zombie games ever made.” It’s the game to go to if you’re looking for satisfying combat and parkour mechanics alongside deep RPG mechanics. Oh, and zombies, of course. Lots of zombies.
Want to know more? Here’s everything you need to know about Dying Light 2: Stay Human.
Dying Light 2: cut to the chase
- What is it? The sequel to survival horror Dying Light
- When can I play it? February 4, 2022
- What can I play it on? PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC and a cloud version via Nintendo Switch
Dying Light 2 release date
Dying Light 2 will release on February 4, 2022 for PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and PS5. It will also be available on Nintendo Switch through cloud streaming, however, the Switch release has been delayed, with a press release from Techland stating that the developer “aims to deliver the game to the Nintendo Switch family within six months from the original date” (so hopefully no later than August 2022).
This certainly isn’t the first delay for Dying Light 2. The sequel was first announced at E3 2018, with an initial release date set for sometime in early 2020. However, in January 2020, Techland announced that the game was delayed – with no new release window given.
While Techland remained tight-lipped about Dying Light 2 details for over a year after the delay, we finally got confirmation of the sequel’s new release date during the Dying 2 Know live stream on May 27: December 7, 2021.
However, in September 2021, the developer announced that Dying Light 2 had been delayed once again, this time to February 2022. Pawel Marchewka, Techland CEO, says that “the team is steadily progressing with the production and the game is nearing the finish line. The game is complete and we are currently playtesting it”.
“It is by far the biggest and the most ambitious project we’ve ever done. Unfortunately, we’ve realized for us to bring the game to the level we envision, we need more time to polish and optimize it.”
Dying Light 2 trailers
3 modes on PS5 and Xbox Series X
New trailers from Techland cover the three graphics modes that PS5 and Xbox Series X players will be able to choose from when the game launches. The first, Quality Mode, has ray-tracing active. Resolution mode will run the game at 4K and, finally, Performance Mode will prioritize frame rate to have the game run at 60 fps.
The trailer below gives a look at each of the modes in action on PlayStation with a separate trailer for Xbox.
Official Gameplay Trailer
Techland has posted an official gameplay trailer for Dying Light 2 in the run-up to its release. Get a look at the world you’ll be exploring and the characters you’ll encounter in the three-minute video below:
Dying2Know recap
Missed Techland’s Dying2Know video series? Fortunately, the developer has put together this handy video that recaps on the biggest announcement from the series. Across the Dying2Know series we’ve seen how the game looks across console generations, gotten glimpses of its four-player co-op, seen some of its terrifying monsters and more. You can catch up with all the announcements and see some gameplay for yourself in the re-cap below.
Cinematic trailer
Techland released a cinematic trailer for Dying Light 2 in December 2021 that’s an impressive showcase for the game ahead of its launch. Watch it for yourself below:
Introducing Lawan
Techland has confirmed that actress Rosario Dawson is part of the cast of Dying Light 2, playing the character of Lawan. Dawson introduces her character in the trailer below, giving a little insight into what we can expect.
Gamescom 2021 Xbox Stream trailer
The Gamescom 2021 Xbox Stream kicked off with a brand new trailer for Dying Light 2, and it was a substantial one at that. Focusing on the setting of Villedor, the trailer gave us a more better glimpse at the world of Dying Light 2, and it’s a good sight more colorful than the original game.
Dying Light 2 looks to maintain the original game’s unbroken first-person narrative, but we can already tell characters are much more emotive here, which should hopefully lead to an all-around more believable story.
The sense of scale is greatly expanded here, too. One-shot features the player character using a zip line hundreds of feet above ground level, with several buildings littering the near and far distance.
Human enemies look to be a much greater threat in the sequel, too, many of which have formed their own gangs. For some reason, we imagine the zombies will be the least of our worries this time around.
We also see traversal items such as a parachute and grappling hook weave into combat moves, which should mean that your options in how to approach fights will be greatly expanded in Dying Light 2.
The trailer closes with lead game designer Tymon Smektala and animation director Dawid Lubryka detailing some final points, such as the need for thousands of new animations to help the gameplay run much smoother than before.
PC Gaming Show E3 2021 trailer
A trailer for Dying Light 2 was shown during the PC Gaming Show at E3 2021. Over the course of four minutes, the trailer gives some insight into the game’s protagonist Aiden and his quest to find his sister after their separation in a terrifying hostile world. You can watch the trailer for yourself below:
Dying Light 2 official gameplay trailer
After over a year of radio silence, Techland hosted a Dying Light 2 live stream to update players on the game’s development. The gameplay trailer gave us some background on Dying Light 2’s setting, including the factions that fight for control of The City. We also got a look at some of the grotesque and mutated monsters we’ll be encountering. Check it out below:
Dying Light 2 E3 2019 trailer
The E3 2019 cinematic trailer revealed Dying Light 2’s initial release window of “Spring 2020” (which was later delayed). Check it out below:
Dying Light 2 gameplay world premiere trailer
The second trailer revealed at E3 2018 gave us our first look at Dying Light 2’s gameplay. Much like its predecessor, Dying Light 2 looks to be parkour heavy, with new protagonist Aiden traversing the world in style.
The trailer also explains how Dying Light 2’s “functioning ecosystem” reacts to the player’s choices and showcases a mission that sees Aiden undertaking a quest for a faction called the Peacekeepers. The city will change depending on whether you choose to carry out their orders, with each choice impacting the wider ecosystem. Each choice has its benefits and drawbacks, with Techland stating there are hundreds of choices to be made. Check it out below:
Dying Light 2 announcement trailer
Dying Light 2 was announced back at E3 2018 with this official announcement trailer, giving us our first look at Dying Light 2’s decaying open world which will change depending on the choices players make. Check It out below:
Dying Light 2 gameplay and setting
Dying Light 2, like its predecessor, is set in a post-apocalyptic open-world, plagued by zombie-like infected and ruthless survivors. Stay Human is set in Villedor (AKA The City), a huge urban area in Europe that is the last bastion of humanity. The City has been divided into regions and is set to be four times larger than in the original game, with three factions (Peacemakers, Renegades and Nightrunners) all vying for control.
Taking place 20 years after the events of the first game, and 15 years after the apocalypse, Dying Light 2 introduces a new protagonist, Aiden Caldwell, who is an infected survivor (best of both worlds, eh?) seeking to uncover the truth about his past and find his sister – a search that leads him to The City. It’s up to the player whether Aiden focuses on his own goal or decides to help rebuild The City.
Thanks to Aiden’s brutal combat abilities and athleticism, he’s a commodity in this world and so factions are itching to get him on their side as the city teeters on the brink of collapse due to a water shortage. Techland has said that players will be able to hone Aiden’s skills to their playstyle, with a focus on either combat, parkour or crafting – though you will be able to mix things up a bit. In an interview with MP1st, Lead Level Designer Piotr Pawlaczyk said that for Dying Lying 2, “Parkour has many improvements. New moves, new skills and new tools like paraglider or reworked grappling hook, which is more satisfying but also takes more time to master.” He adds “running across the roofs of buildings should always be a journey itself” and that “you can creatively use parkour in your combat”.
Choices play a huge role in Dying Light 2. Each choice you make will impact the ecosystem of the world, resulting in visible changes to the world itself and to the game’s narrative. No pressure. According to Techland, there are over one hundred choices to make and even if you complete the game, you’ll have only seen 50% of what’s on offer.
Dying Light 2 will also continue to have a focus on parkour for traversal, but offers new ways of getting around including paragliding, grappling and using zombies to break your fall. According to Techland, there are over 3000 parkour animations in Dying Light 2 – double that of Dying Light. Also, like in Dying Light, Stay Human has a day/night cycle that sees the streets becoming even more hostile during the nighttime – though those who venture out may be rewarded for their risk-taking with extra loot.
While some aspects are the same, Dying Light 2 does introduce a bunch of new elements including new zombies, melee weapons and characters. In a post on the official PlayStation Blog, Techland detailed some of the game’s weapons, parkour and combat which players will have to combine to take down enemies. According to Techland, “the way you approach enemies will depend on the faction you side with, the weapons you prefer, the threat you face, and your current location”. That’s a lot of variables and the developer says “the variety of possibilities at any given time lets you truly find your own style of playing”.
Dying Light 2 news and rumors
Over 1000 fixes in the Day One patch
Techland has asked players who got their hands on Dying Light 2 ahead of its release date to wait for the Day One patch before playing, and with good reason. In a statement to IGN regarding bugs in the pre-release version of the game, the developer said, “Within the last two weeks we added over a thousand fixes and improvements on all the platforms.
“You can expect the day one patch with another thousand tweaks to go live on consoles within the next few days, and of course, we are continuing our efforts to improve the PC version in real-time.”
It’s in the wild
Retail copies have made their way into players’ hands ahead of Dying Light 2’s official release date but Techland has asked that they wait until the game’s day one patch is released before playing so that they can experience it “the way it’s meant to be played.”
The studio made the announcement in a tweet, which reads: “Fellow survivors, we see that some of you got an access to the retail copies of Dying Light 2 before the release date (it’s this Friday, only 3 days left!). We understand you want to start exploring the City ASAP and we couldn’t be happier!
“That being said, we kindly ask you to wait until Feb 4th as by that time you’ll also get access to all improvements and fixes we’ve implemented within last weeks and will introduce with the day 1 patch. That’s the way to experience Dying Light 2 the way it’s meant to be played.”
That being said, we kindly ask you to wait until Feb 4th as by that time you’ll also get access to all improvements and fixes we’ve implemented within last weeks and will introduce with the day 1 patch. That’s the way to experience Dying Light 2 the way it’s meant to be played.February 1, 2022
Free cross-gen upgrades but no console cross-play
Techland has confirmed that those who purchase last-gen versions of the game will be entitled to free upgrades to the current-gen versions.
That means that PlayStation players who purchase the game on PS4 will be able to upgrade to the PS5 version at no extra cost. When it comes to Xbox, Dying Light 2 supports the system’s Smart Delivery feature so Xbox One players will also be able to access it on Xbox Series X/S without having to pay anything more.
However, cross-gen and cross-platform co-op will not be available on consoles at launch. Cross-play will, at least, be available on PC across Steam and the Epic Games Store.
Delay on Switch
Dying Light 2 will release on PlayStation and Xbox consoles as well as PC on February 4. However, the Nintendo Switch version of the game has been delayed.
In a statement to VGC, Techland doesn’t provide a new release date, only saying that it aims to have the Switch version out within six months from the original date. So, it’ll hopefully release by August at the very latest.
As for why it decided to delay it, Techland only says it’s “in order to provide fans with the gaming experience at the level they deserve and that Techland wants to provide.”
40,000 lines of dialogue
It looks like there’s plenty to talk about in Dying Light 2, with developer Techland tweeting to say that the game’s script has 350,000 words, or around 40,000 lines of dialogue. That, according to a second tweet from the studio, is about the same as Tolstoy’s classic Anna Karenina. That puts it around the same level as Fable 2, which has around 370,000 words in its script so it’s not a totally unreasonable amount.
350,000 words, 40,000 lines of dialogues – that’s the world we’ve built for you in Dying Light 2 Stay Human. Are you ready to explore it?#DyingLight2 #StayHuman pic.twitter.com/A0D0nzObbjJanuary 19, 2022
“At least” 5 years of post-launch content
Techland has confirmed that, like the original Dying Light, Dying Light 2 will receive multiple years of post-launch support. In a tweet posted by the official Dying Light 2 account, Techland said: “we guarantee to expand the world of Dying Light 2: Stay Human for at least 5 years post-launch”. The post-launch content will include “new stories, locations, in-game events and all the fun stuff you love!”
Want to know what will happen AFTER the premiere? We guarantee to expand the world of Dying Light 2 Stay Human for at least 5 years post launch with new stories, locations, in-game events and all the fun stuff you love!#DyingLight2 #StayHuman pic.twitter.com/SgaNynkrzIJanuary 14, 2022
Game length clarified
Techland has been managing the messaging over the length of Dying Light 2 after tweeting in January 2022 that the game would take “at least 500 hours” to fully complete. Although this was intended to be a positive announcement, it drew complaints about unnecessarily bloated game lengths, as well as the irritation of some players who found the idea of such a long game less than enticing.
In a follow-up tweet, Techland has attempted to offer some clarification around how the game’s estimated playtime breaks down. The main storyline, for instance, will take approximately 20 hours to complete, it says, while players looking to complete the main story alongside all side quests can expect to spend 80 hours in the game.
We wanted to clarify our recent communication about the amount of hours required to complete the game. Dying Light 2: Stay Human is designed for players with different gameplay styles and preferences to explore the world how they see fit.#DyingLight2 pic.twitter.com/tcaDKULMo8January 10, 2022
The 500-hour figure applies only to those who want to fully complete every aspect of the game, the studio said, such as finding all points of interest on its map, exploring every dialogue option, finding every collectible, and completing all side quests. The idea is that the game will cater to a range of playstyles.
“We wanted to clarify our recent communication about the amount of hours required to complete the game,” the official Dying Light 2 account tweeted. “Dying Light 2: Stay Human is designed for players with different gameplay styles and preferences to explore the world how they see fit.”
Four-player co-op is back
Four-player co-op, a favorite feature of the original Dying Light, will return in Dying Light 2. The feature was confirmed in Techland’s final Dying 2 Know presentation, with a look at some gameplay of the feature in action. Players will be able to play through the entire game, with the exception of the prologue, in co-op mode.
Customizable UI and accessibility detailed
In the latest episode of Dying2Know More, Techland’s Agata Sykuła has detailed Dying Light 2’s highly customizable UI and accessibility options.
Examples of the customizable UI and HUD include the option to choose how many dynamic elements such as quest tracking appear on the screen, with the ability to keep it highly minimal. Health bars can also be turned off and players who prefer a more immersive experience will no doubt be glad of this.
In terms of accessibility, the video highlights the ability to adjust on-screen text size size and background color, options for color blindness profiles, a control profile for those who are left-handed and a way to adjust controls so that buttons can be held instead of tapped during quick time events.
PC Recommendations
The advised system requirements for playing Dying Light 2 on PC have been revealed and they range from reasonable on the low end to pretty demanding if you want to take advantage of features like Ray-Tracing at 1080p.
Minimum requirements with Ray-Tracing off at 1080p and 30fps:
- CPU: Intel Core i3-9100 or AMD Ryzen 3 2300X
- RAM: 8GB
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti/AMD Radeon RX 560 4GB
- OS: Windows 7
- Available storage space: 60GB HDD
Recommended requirements with Ray-Tracing off at 1080p and 60fps:
- CPU: Intel Core i5-8600K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600X
- RAM: 16GB
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB or AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 8GB
- OS: Windows 10
- Available storage space: 60GB SSD
If you want the game at its absolute best—that’s Ray-Tracing on at 1080p and 60fps—then things get pretty steep:
- CPU: Intel Core i5-8600K/AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
- RAM: 16GB
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 10GB
- OS: Windows 10
- Available storage space: 60GB SSD
PS5 file size?
It looks like Dying Light 2 won’t take up a huge amount of space on your PS5. According to the PlayStation Game Size Twitter account, the download size of Dying Light 2 is only 21 GB. It is, of course, worth noting that that’s without the day one patch so the final number is likely to be a little higher. However, it’s a reasonable baseline at least.
???? Dying Light 2: Stay Human (PS5)▶️ Download Size : 21.099 GB (Without Day One Patch)???? Pre-Load : February 2???? Launch : February 4???? #PS5 #DyingLight2 ???? @DyingLightGame pic.twitter.com/hhWDUeROQtNovember 26, 2021
Gone Gold
Two months ahead of its release, Dying Light 2 went gold, meaning it is now ready to be pressed to discs and shipped. The news was announced by the game’s official Twitter account which stated that the extra time ahead of release will be used “making sure that we’ll deliver the best possible experience for you.”
Dying Light 2 has gone gold!It wouldn’t be possible without your support over all these years – we will spend an additional time making sure that we’ll deliver the best possible experience for you.Thank you for being with us!Can’t wait to meet you in The City on February 4th! pic.twitter.com/2I6KHrmW14November 30, 2021
Dying 2 Know More details abandoned buildings
An episode of Dying 2 Know More, Techland’s information series on Dying Light 2, has shone a little light on the game’s abandoned structures and how they will function. More than empty settings in which you can just run and fight, they’re places that can be restored and further contribute to the ways you can build and influence the game world.
According to Lead Game Designer, Tymon Smektala, “when you restore an abandoned structure, it becomes a functional building. Then it starts offering you a lot of new opportunities […] There might be vendors that offer you unique items or maybe some quests or new collectibles, or maybe NPCs that you can talk to which usually leads to new adventures”.
Abandoned structures can have a few different purposes. For example, there are training grounds where you can test unique weapons and face challenges. Players will find a few dozen challenges and they’re split into two groups: combat and parkour. Combat challenges, Smektala explains, will test and bend the mechanics, asking players to use their skills in “crazy and extreme situations”. Parkour challenges, on the other hand, will include delivery missions and checkpoint races.
Smektala lists off a brief but wide-ranging list of other things buildings can be restored into, such as an art workshop, a bakery, a smokehouse, a pumpkin farm and more, which players will discover as they play the game. Restoring the buildings is a part of the city’s alignment and rebuilding the world, with protagonist Aidan helping citizens to build a new future and “try to stay human with all they have”.
Rosario Dawson joins the cast
Actress Rosario Dawson has been confirmed as joining the cast for Dying Light 2. A brief trailer introducing Dawson’s character, called Lawan, was released. Dawson describes her character as “a warrior of sorts” and a “tough woman” who is looking to get revenge “on the people who wronged her”. Dawson points out that overall, Lawan’s behaviour is dependent on the player—she could be a “rage-filled killer” or a nightrunner who risks her life to save others.
A post on the official PlayStation Blog also reveals a little bit about Lawan, saying “She’ll show you both the joys and sorrows of The City, and as you get to know her better, you’ll realize she’s a very complex character with quite a backstory. Make sure you don’t get under her skin because… well. You don’t want to find out. Oh, and she can be brutally honest too, so don’t say we didn’t warn you. It’s worth it though.”
Coming to Nintendo Switch
It turns out Dying Light 2 will be playable on Nintendo Switch thanks to the cloud. According to an official listing on the Nintendo UK store, when Dying Light 2 releases in February Nintendo Switch players will be able to stream it, clarifying that the game requires a Nintendo account and “a stable and permanent internet connection” to play it. “If your internet connection becomes unstable,” Nintendo says, “the service will disconnect after a few minutes.” To make sure that your region and internet connection are suitable for the game, Nintendo recommends downloading “a free launcher application to test the game for a limited amount of time“.
Bringing Villedor back to life
In a recent PlayStation Blog post, Techland dug into The City of Dying Light 2, explaining how the city’s unique infrastructure works and how the player will be able to bring it back to life. According to the post, players will be able to see Villedor’s past as they explore through meeting characters or inspecting smaller things like “old newspapers, records of The City’s Mayor’s speeches, posters, books, audio cassettes” and more. By taking the time to look around, Techland says, players will be able to see “what life used to look like before the apocalypse, all sorts of stories, and human emotions.”
Techland also explains the extent to which players will be able to have an impact on the city and restore life to it. “The decisions you’ll make will play a crucial role in reviving the world of Dying Light 2 Stay Human,” the post reads, “For example, you can look for the old electrical substations which have been offline for years now and fix them if you want to. This choice alone will have an impact on how the entire city’s going to look. Shops will turn the lights on, and the air vents and electric traps will work again, helping you in combat and navigation. And as you revive the civilization, you’ll also get to choose the faction you wish to help—the Peacekeepers or the Survivors. This will determine what people will build on the roofs and, in consequence, The City’s skyline.”
Audio stories
Dying Light 2 developer Techland has released a series of audio stories, giving a little more insight into the game’s world. There are three audio stories: Rosemary, Antigone and Dedrick.
Though they’re audio stories, they’ve been uploaded to YouTube and fans have started seeing a pattern in the videos. In Rosemary, there’s a brief moment where the lettering on-screen changes to read “Everyone” for a few seconds. The same thing happens in Antigone, changing to read “Has”, and in Dedrick where it reads “A Story”. Taken together, the stories’ hidden messages read “Everyone Has a Story”.
Dying 2 Know episode 3
The third episode of Dying 2 Know premiered as part of Gamescom 2021, going over the game’s parkour and combat as well as showing some brand new gameplay footage. Techland explains through the episode that the city in Dying Light 2 has been built from the ground up to accommodate parkour and that even the highest building will no longer be an obstacle for players. There are many new animations to improve players’ experience of parkour movement in the game and to make it appear more natural and flowing. Parkour can also be combined with combat, an aspect of the game that the episode also touches on.
According to Techland, the team has worked hard to make the combat feel “visceral” and has created a system called “Progressive Hit Reactions.” With this, consecutive hits on enemies will enhance their reactions and they will react differently depending on the weapons you’re using and the body parts that you’re targeting with those weapons amongst other factors. The emphasis is on “creative combat”, empowering players to be playful in the ways that they approach enemies.
RTX at launch
The PC version of Dying Light 2 will feature RTX support at launch. Reported by IGN, Nvidia announced that Dying Light 2 will feature support for DLSS and ray tracing technologies at launch on PC.
If the PC port is up to scratch, then, it will likely be the most graphically impressive version of the game you can buy, which would be no surprise.
Using DualSense to a point
In an interview with MP1st, Lead Level Designer Piotr Pawlaczyk touched on how Dying Light 2 will take advantage of the PS5’s DualSense controller. According to Pawlaczyk adaptive triggers offered “a lot of room for experimentation” and said the controller’s audio capabilities are “also of interest”. However Pawlaczyk was keen to point out that the team wanted “balance the use of new controller capabilities so that they are an addition, not the main feature that players using previous generations of controllers connected to PC would miss.”
Full of Easter Eggs
Techland has confirmed that Dying Light 2 will be filled with Easter Eggs, just like its predecessor. Speaking with MP1st, Techland’s Lead Level Designer Piotr Pawlaczyk said, “ Dying Light 2 will be full of Easter eggs – how could it be different? We will reach some fresh and classic movie hits. We will blink an eye on many games, but the biggest amount of references will be found deeply in our hearts – with Dying Light.”
Options for current-gen consoles
Those playing Dying Light 2 on PS5 and Xbox Series X will have the option to choose between Performance and Quality Modes and Techland’s Lead Level Designer Piotr Pawlaczyk has revealed more details on how they will work in an interview with MP1st.
According to Pawlaczyk, “For players who prefer visual experiences, we have prepared the Quality mode which, thanks to the use of ray-tracing, has significantly improved the quality of the scene, with an emphasis on environment lighting. In quality mode players will observe greater accuracy of e.g. volumetric effects and many other frame post-processing elements. The ray-tracing itself is then the basis for generating, for example, physically correct shadows.”
When it comes to Performance Mode, players will find it “focuses on a high frame-rate (60FPS + optionally with VRR), making the experience of fast gameplay elements such as a course or combat even more smooth.” Of course, a platform will need to support Variable Refresh Rate to use it. At the moment, PC and Xbox Series X/S does while PS5 users will need to wait for Sony to provide an update.
Detailing the virus lifecycle
In Dying Light 2, the monsters you encountered are just people who contracted the virus and weren’t able to find any means of prolonged exposure to UV light to keep it from getting worse. In an interview with GamesRadar, Anna Kubica, brand manager for Dying Light 2, explained that the virus is transmitted by bodily fluids and that “Although the infection continues developing once contracted, the most dangerous stages of infection occur after crossing a point of no return. Managing infection can be controlled by UV light exposure – if you stay in the sun, you’re safe… at least until nightfall.”
That’s why, in the game, you’ll find that protagonist Aiden Caldwell and everyone else carries a Biomarker, which allows them to monitor their rate of infection and see how close they are to this “point of no return”. The biomarker will play a significant role in Dying Light 2 and players will have to keep an eye on it as they explore the world, particularly when they’re in the darkness.
According to Kubica, “Extended exposure to darkness causes the symptoms to progress rapidly with increased severity until the infected human becomes a Viral – a monster that’s as agile as it is bloodthirsty.” This is the “turning point” at which humans begin to mutate and UV light damages them rather than heals them.
The enemies you’ll face – from Biters to Special Infected
Viral enemies are those you’ll encounter all over the world in Dying Light 2 and Anna Kubica says they are “extremely quick, agile, and dangerous.” If you encounter this enemy type indoors, running outside into the light is a good method as it degrades them into a Biter enemy type. Biters are slower than Virals and the UV sunlight damages them.
Other enemies are less easily dealt with. Kubica explains that the longer a Viral spends in the darkness, the worse their infection gets, stripping humanity from the body until they go from Viral to Volatile.
“Volatiles are infected organisms developed entirely in darkness. They are never seen on the streets during the day, and instead stay hidden in dark places,” says Kubica. “UV light affects Volatiles in a similar manner to other infected; UV flashlights are an effective means of protection against them, but it is significantly more difficult to damage a Volatile with UV light because of their increased mobility.”
Special Infected are another step up from this, “created when the chemicals that created the infection progress at an alarming rate, causing mutations.“ Examples of these include The Revenant, Banshee and Demolisher, and they all have distinct physical features and patterns of behaviour. The Revenant, for example, is “imposing, scary, and extremely intelligent.”
Kubica says that this Infected ”appears at night in specific areas and fighting him plays out completely different from the other infected. To make matters worse, the mutations on his back emit a substance that summons and buffs nearby infected—if you’re going to fight the Revenant, be prepared to face more than one monster.”
The Banshee, on the other hand, has long arms and sharp claws making it a dangerous melee opponent even at a longer range. According to GamesRadar, this variant is “fast and aggressive, and somewhat unpredictable since – tragically – they sometimes experience flashes of lucidity that remind them of the person they once were.”
Dying 2 Know Episode 2
The second episode of Techland’s Dying 2 Know series gave us a better look at some of the monsters we’ll encounter when we play Dying Light as well as some brand new gameplay. Among the new enemies revealed during the episode are Sleeping Beauties, Revenants, and Banshees.
The next Dying 2 Know episode will release later this year and it’s expected to detail the game’s combat styles, weapons crafting and parkour.
Day/Night system making a difference
In an interview with PC Gamer, Dying Light 2 creative director Adrian Ciszewski has given some details on the game’s day/night system and how it impacts the game. According to Ciszewski, “The night is the common enemy for everyone in Dying Light 2. During the day, everyone has their own agenda. You might hate one of the factions. But when night falls, everyone has one enemy: the Infected.”
Ciszewski explains that night changes the game because at that time the streets, ruled by humans in the day, become overrun by Infected. “The floor is lava, basically,” he says. “You should stay on the rooftops. If you jump to ground level, it’s gonna be painful. You’ll be pursued and encounter Screamers.“
Aside from changing what enemies players will encounter, night in the game also “brings interesting gameplay opportunities. If you travel the world during the day, you’re gonna see a lot of Infected in buildings—almost like I Am Legend—who are asleep. They’re waiting for night to go hunting. So when they go out at night, they leave those interiors almost empty. And that’s an opportunity for you to visit these places.“
Ciszewski gives the metro system as an example of a place that’s more explorable at night, adding “the day/night system isn’t just a gimmick, it’s a part of the world. If a quest involves you going through an underground tunnel, waiting for night will make your life much easier.“
Keeping an eye on your infection level, however, is important and makes moving around at night even more complicated. “Everyone in this world is infected,” Ciszewski explains. “The more time you spend in darkness, the more the infection bar rises up. So you’re not only managing time, but your infection level. But you can give yourself more time with food items or injections.”
What’s happened between Dying Light and Dying Light 2?
According to Techland, Dying Light 2 takes place 20 years after the events of Dying Light but 15 years after the apocalypse. The developer has said that following the events of Dying Light, Harran became an exclusion zone as world leaders aimed to battle against the pandemic.
While this worked for a while, scientists secretly worked on mutating the infection for military applications. Christmas 2021 seen the mutated strain escaping and wreaking havoc and, by the end of 2023, 98% of the population had died. Villedor, The City Dying Light 2 is set in, is the last city standing.
