Dying Light 2 had to be the perfect sequel to the great title of the same name that came out the last generation. Although it is an evolution in the entirety of its conceptuality, in its gameplay and its setting, a bumpy development and a final version full of small bugs (and a huge problem) tarnish an experience that, on paper, looked spectacular.
A huge open game to get lost in until, due to a problem with the game (rather reported among the community), your game breaks and you end up in an infinite loop of die-revive (here is an example of the many there are), without being able to continue that forces you to stop playing. Or delete the game, start from scratch and beg for it not to happen again. On PC it has certain solutions, all of them messing with the code editor and with no guarantees that it will work. Yes, Techland is working on it, but there are no dates and hundreds of players are with their games stopped without being able to play even 15 seconds.
And well, just a stone on the road. Except if it happens to you like us when you have 60 hours of the game, and you are in the final stretch. The problem is huge. A tremendous bug that the first big patch came to solve, but that has not fixed anything.
We know this is not a good way to start a review, but the bug from the infinite loop of death has caught our attention more than the outstanding setting huge collection of easter eggs, and tremendously refined gameplay that makes it a delight to walk through the post-apocalyptic city of Villedor.
If you’re lucky enough that your game isn’t broken by the death bug, Dying Light 2 is a true work of art in gameplay and experience. A game that takes here and there from the previous installment, adds a little of the features Ubisoft open-world classics with icons all over the map and adds a layer of atmosphere that you will not see in any title with similar characteristics. Few experiences offer what Dying Light 2 does in its gameplays nocturnal.
An end of the world that undoubtedly has a great personality of its own, enviable gameplay, and a story that, despite being the classic of these tropes, does not tarnish the overall experience. It is clear that Techland has put a special interest in the gameplay and the setting over the story, and being an open-world game, it is greatly appreciated. At the end of the day this is a video game and what we have come to do is play. If luck, yes, is on your side.
But let’s start at the beginning.
Dying Light 2: Outstanding Gameplay, Predictable Story
Dying Light 2 is a direct sequel to the first game, but only in the universe in which it takes place. The events of this installment take place several years after the first game, and the only link in terms of characters is a secondary one that will start and end the game. The rest have their idiosyncrasies. We go from the city of Harran (presumably Turkey) to a fictional Eastern European city called Villedor (for the architecture, but few clues as to its actual location).
In the game, we face a pilgrim, a guy who goes from city to city as a courier to carry packages (future messenger, maybe). He wants to go to Villedor in search of his sister, and once they reach the city he begins the adventure. The story of Dying Light 2 is classic, with many characters with different loyalties and interests. but with the usual tropes.
It’s quite predictable, and halfway through the game, you’ll begin to guess what the matter is about and even guess the ending. And speaking of endings, the game has several branches depending on the decisions we make throughout the game. The game only has two endings with two variations each, which will depend on the characters we save and our actions.
Although these actions and decisions only affect the endgame on paper, they also have an impact on the game. gameplay. For example, depending on the decisions we make, we will have access to special equipment or improvements in the city depending on the faction. Others are deeper.
About the final third of the game, the decision we make will change even the missions that we will have access to, and one of them will unlock a new map area, which would otherwise be submerged, and a new enemy type. That is why it is perhaps advisable, before the epilogue, to have a save game and experiment with the decisions to have access to different missions and new areas.
Decisions that affect the development of the story and the map itself
The changes in the city have to do with our actions throughout history. There are certain facilities in the world, such as water tanks or power plants that we will have to assign to a faction of the city once “conquered” this decision will help us to have facilities to move, especially at night or access to more lethal equipment.
About the equipment, say that unlike the first, Dying Light 2 he has no firearms. All are scrum not counting a crossbow (which depending on who we help we will have or not), a bow, and a “gun” shaped easter egg (watch out for spoilers in the link) that 90% of the players will not get. And yes, they all break. Again certain actions allow us that if we have a favorite weapon it does not break, but like “firearm” it is an easter egg that you have to do at a certain point in the story (if you’re interested, do it right after the “Broadcast” mission), and it’s kind of tricky.
That said, Dying Light 2 has a wide variety of different weapons, which can also be modified with elemental damage. It is a good decision to have eliminated firearms since it gives a greater atmosphere to a city that almost lives in the middle ages due to the virus. The different weapons are enough to pass the game with ease, but our recommendation is to save the most powerful ones for important encounters.
If you want to pass the game without any problem, we recommend that once you reach the Center you go to the submerged city and get the equipment from there, with level 2 you will have access to level 9 weapons that kill any enemy, including the angriest hard, in one fell swoop throughout history. It will also kill SAI anomalies (one of the activities) in less than 5 seconds.
And yes, there are many activities. Perhaps that’s the point because Techland claims that the game is 500 hours long. No, it does not last 500 hours. Not doing all the secondaries when they play (because some of them disappear as we advance in the story), not all the parkour challenges, and even all the activities, the game does not exceed 100 hours which is already enough.
In fact, without resorting to the famous glitch online, just taking advantage of the game mechanics, you can get game platinum in one run doing things to order in just over 120 hours. Perhaps, if you want to read all the collectibles and get all the materials, the game will reach 500 hours but not with the content gameplay pure.
An open-world full of icons reminiscent of Ubisoft maps
Because most activities are filler. Techland has included the windmills, which are like the towers in Far Cry, but instead of giving information on the map, they create a safe zone. There are 17 in total, and each one is a parkour challenge. You can spend the entire game without activating a single one (beyond the one required by the story). Then there are the subway stations, which unlock fast travel, they are more fun than the windmills because they include their puzzle, but they are all the same. View one, view all. UPS anomalies, small bosses that appear at night, are not a big challenge either, there are 12 in total scattered around the map. And in this case, just like the accesses to the SAI containment rooms (another of the activities), the thanks is to have to do it at night touring the night map, which is different from day one.
In total, the game has activities to do in the open-world 7 electrical/water installations, 9 metro stations, 17 mills, 4 bandit camps, 12 SAI anomalies, 6 SAI quarantine zones, 26 airdrops, and 10 parkour challenges. /combat.
Activities that are added to 22 main missions and about 113 secondary ones, many of them continuations of the previous ones that are done in a few minutes. Most of them, about 90% pure classic open-world errand boy, hardly add anything to the main game other than the achievement of certain collectibles and resources. If you go to nougat and go beyond the accessories, you can complete the main story of Dying Light 2 in just 20-30 hours depending on your ability.
The night is the best thing about Dying Light 2
At night the enemies are tougher, there are more of them and a mechanic has also been included that forces you to go to ultraviolet areas every so often, for which it is necessary to plan movements at night. In addition, if certain types of enemies see us at night, the chase will be activated and they will begin to harass us with viruses. There are 4 levels, and the last one is hell.
However, everything has its reward. Doing activities at night doubles combat points and Parkour (needed to level up the character and unlock upgrades). In addition, the enemies killed at night will give us a type of resource that is necessary to improve the equipment. All this with a countdown every time we are in the dark, makes it a much better unique experience than the first game. In this aspect, it is one of the coolest things about Dying Light 2.
And innovative, since together with the inclusion of a new paraglider, the rest is what is already known. Much Parkourwhich works great, some changes such as the inclusion of inhibitors, which work as a point of improvement and collectible, and the change in the operation of the hook are the fundamental pillars of the game in terms of gameplay pure. And climb towers. Many towers.
A game that, removing the problem of the infinite death bug, something that we suppose they will fix sooner rather than later, little one’s glitch graphics in the PS5 version, and rare crashes in some missions, it’s fun and offers an open world in which to lose yourself for hours. However, the current situation of the game, at least on consoles, is not as recommendable as we expected. Especially since it may, like us, force you to start over after more than 60 hours of play. And be clear, history is not so attractive as to repeat two-thirds of it.
Dying Light 2 had to be the perfect sequel to the great title of the same name that came out the last generation. Although it is an evolution in the entirety of its conceptuality, in its gameplay and its setting, a bumpy development and a final version full of small bugs (and a huge problem) tarnish an experience that, on paper, looked spectacular.
A huge open game to get lost in until, due to a problem with the game (rather reported among the community), your game breaks and you end up in an infinite loop of die-revive (here is an example of the many there are), without being able to continue that forces you to stop playing. Or delete the game, start from scratch and beg for it not to happen again. On PC it has certain solutions, all of them messing with the code editor and with no guarantees that it will work. Yes, Techland is working on it, but there are no dates and hundreds of players are with their games stopped without being able to play even 15 seconds.
And well, just a stone on the road. Except if it happens to you like us when you have 60 hours of the game, and you are in the final stretch. The problem is huge. A tremendous bug that the first big patch came to solve, but that has not fixed anything.
We know this is not a good way to start a review, but the bug from the infinite loop of death has caught our attention more than the outstanding setting huge collection of easter eggs, and tremendously refined gameplay that makes it a delight to walk through the post-apocalyptic city of Villedor.
If you’re lucky enough that your game isn’t broken by the death bug, Dying Light 2 is a true work of art in gameplay and experience. A game that takes here and there from the previous installment, adds a little of the features Ubisoft open-world classics with icons all over the map and adds a layer of atmosphere that you will not see in any title with similar characteristics. Few experiences offer what Dying Light 2 does in its gameplays nocturnal.
An end of the world that undoubtedly has a great personality of its own, enviable gameplay, and a story that, despite being the classic of these tropes, does not tarnish the overall experience. It is clear that Techland has put a special interest in the gameplay and the setting over the story, and being an open-world game, it is greatly appreciated. At the end of the day this is a video game and what we have come to do is play. If luck, yes, is on your side.
But let’s start at the beginning.
Dying Light 2: Outstanding Gameplay, Predictable Story
Dying Light 2 is a direct sequel to the first game, but only in the universe in which it takes place. The events of this installment take place several years after the first game, and the only link in terms of characters is a secondary one that will start and end the game. The rest have their idiosyncrasies. We go from the city of Harran (presumably Turkey) to a fictional Eastern European city called Villedor (for the architecture, but few clues as to its actual location).
In the game, we face a pilgrim, a guy who goes from city to city as a courier to carry packages (future messenger, maybe). He wants to go to Villedor in search of his sister, and once they reach the city he begins the adventure. The story of Dying Light 2 is classic, with many characters with different loyalties and interests. but with the usual tropes.
It’s quite predictable, and halfway through the game, you’ll begin to guess what the matter is about and even guess the ending. And speaking of endings, the game has several branches depending on the decisions we make throughout the game. The game only has two endings with two variations each, which will depend on the characters we save and our actions.
Although these actions and decisions only affect the endgame on paper, they also have an impact on the game. gameplay. For example, depending on the decisions we make, we will have access to special equipment or improvements in the city depending on the faction. Others are deeper.
About the final third of the game, the decision we make will change even the missions that we will have access to, and one of them will unlock a new map area, which would otherwise be submerged, and a new enemy type. That is why it is perhaps advisable, before the epilogue, to have a save game and experiment with the decisions to have access to different missions and new areas.
Decisions that affect the development of the story and the map itself
The changes in the city have to do with our actions throughout history. There are certain facilities in the world, such as water tanks or power plants that we will have to assign to a faction of the city once “conquered” this decision will help us to have facilities to move, especially at night or access to more lethal equipment.
About the equipment, say that unlike the first, Dying Light 2 he has no firearms. All are scrum not counting a crossbow (which depending on who we help we will have or not), a bow, and a “gun” shaped easter egg (watch out for spoilers in the link) that 90% of the players will not get. And yes, they all break. Again certain actions allow us that if we have a favorite weapon it does not break, but like “firearm” it is an easter egg that you have to do at a certain point in the story (if you’re interested, do it right after the “Broadcast” mission), and it’s kind of tricky.
That said, Dying Light 2 has a wide variety of different weapons, which can also be modified with elemental damage. It is a good decision to have eliminated firearms since it gives a greater atmosphere to a city that almost lives in the middle ages due to the virus. The different weapons are enough to pass the game with ease, but our recommendation is to save the most powerful ones for important encounters.
If you want to pass the game without any problem, we recommend that once you reach the Center you go to the submerged city and get the equipment from there, with level 2 you will have access to level 9 weapons that kill any enemy, including the angriest hard, in one fell swoop throughout history. It will also kill SAI anomalies (one of the activities) in less than 5 seconds.
And yes, there are many activities. Perhaps that’s the point because Techland claims that the game is 500 hours long. No, it does not last 500 hours. Not doing all the secondaries when they play (because some of them disappear as we advance in the story), not all the parkour challenges, and even all the activities, the game does not exceed 100 hours which is already enough.
In fact, without resorting to the famous glitch online, just taking advantage of the game mechanics, you can get game platinum in one run doing things to order in just over 120 hours. Perhaps, if you want to read all the collectibles and get all the materials, the game will reach 500 hours but not with the content gameplay pure.
An open-world full of icons reminiscent of Ubisoft maps
Because most activities are filler. Techland has included the windmills, which are like the towers in Far Cry, but instead of giving information on the map, they create a safe zone. There are 17 in total, and each one is a parkour challenge. You can spend the entire game without activating a single one (beyond the one required by the story). Then there are the subway stations, which unlock fast travel, they are more fun than the windmills because they include their puzzle, but they are all the same. View one, view all. UPS anomalies, small bosses that appear at night, are not a big challenge either, there are 12 in total scattered around the map. And in this case, just like the accesses to the SAI containment rooms (another of the activities), the thanks is to have to do it at night touring the night map, which is different from day one.
In total, the game has activities to do in the open-world 7 electrical/water installations, 9 metro stations, 17 mills, 4 bandit camps, 12 SAI anomalies, 6 SAI quarantine zones, 26 airdrops, and 10 parkour challenges. /combat.
Activities that are added to 22 main missions and about 113 secondary ones, many of them continuations of the previous ones that are done in a few minutes. Most of them, about 90% pure classic open-world errand boy, hardly add anything to the main game other than the achievement of certain collectibles and resources. If you go to nougat and go beyond the accessories, you can complete the main story of Dying Light 2 in just 20-30 hours depending on your ability.
The night is the best thing about Dying Light 2
At night the enemies are tougher, there are more of them and a mechanic has also been included that forces you to go to ultraviolet areas every so often, for which it is necessary to plan movements at night. In addition, if certain types of enemies see us at night, the chase will be activated and they will begin to harass us with viruses. There are 4 levels, and the last one is hell.
However, everything has its reward. Doing activities at night doubles combat points and Parkour (needed to level up the character and unlock upgrades). In addition, the enemies killed at night will give us a type of resource that is necessary to improve the equipment. All this with a countdown every time we are in the dark, makes it a much better unique experience than the first game. In this aspect, it is one of the coolest things about Dying Light 2.
And innovative, since together with the inclusion of a new paraglider, the rest is what is already known. Much Parkourwhich works great, some changes such as the inclusion of inhibitors, which work as a point of improvement and collectible, and the change in the operation of the hook are the fundamental pillars of the game in terms of gameplay pure. And climb towers. Many towers.
A game that, removing the problem of the infinite death bug, something that we suppose they will fix sooner rather than later, little one’s glitch graphics in the PS5 version, and rare crashes in some missions, it’s fun and offers an open world in which to lose yourself for hours. However, the current situation of the game, at least on consoles, is not as recommendable as we expected. Especially since it may, like us, force you to start over after more than 60 hours of play. And be clear, history is not so attractive as to repeat two-thirds of it.