When looking at the story of Dying Light 2 Stay Human, you must be objective; post-apocalyptic zombie fiction is hardly Shakespeare, and many reviewers have unfairly slated the narrative as uninspired or played out.
On a surface level, I agree the entire genre has been done to death; however, Dying Light 2 Stay Human’s emphasis on what it means to be human and the enduring qualities of hope and a desire to be free make it a far more enjoyable narrative than the sum of its parts.
Characters are distinct, with realistic motivations and goals. Exploring their world and becoming part of it is a memorable experience that will appeal to a wide variety of gamers.
While I would have liked to have had the ability to customise my character, I can appreciate the restrictions a narrative-focused title of this score puts on the developers, and as a result, while I would like to have the option to play as someone other than a white male Aiden, I can appreciate his story, even if I feel Aiden’s story arc would be better with a female protagonist and support the inclusion of character customisation whenever possible.
Image credit Dying Light 2 Stay Human - Published and developed by Techland.
Aiden gets infected during the very early stages of the game, requiring players to manage his infection via UV light, mushrooms and various medications.
Being forced to keep moving in darkness ensures that players do not waste a second of any dark zone visits, lest they run out of time, and Aiden loses his humanity in the process.
Because of this constant threat, even the most adventurous player will want to choose their battles carefully, as while there is XP and loot to be had, spending too long dealing with infected may cause Aiden to turn before he can reach another source of UV light, staving off the infection.
Image credit Dying Light 2 Stay Human - Published and developed by Techland.
Techland has announced that they intend to support Dying Light 2 Stay Human with new content until at least 2027 in a tweet from the official Dying Light Twitter account.
Considering the original Dying Light enjoyed over five years of support, we have no reason to doubt they will keep their word, especially in light of how well Dying Light 2 Stay Human has performed, peaking at an impressive 274,983 concurrent users on Steam and beating its predecessors all-time high concurrent player count (45,770) by over 229,213 players!
Anyone who has played RPGs will be well aware of how repetitive some NPCs can be, from guards with very unlucky knees to vendors who feel the need to be dismissive to every customer, hearing an npc say the same line repeatedly across the span of a 40-hour playthrough does little to aid immersion. While Dying Light 2 does not eliminate repetitive NPC syndrome, it goes a long way toward mitigating it with an astonishing 40,000 lines of spoken dialogue ( containing over 350,000 words).
To make a good thing even better, with very few exceptions, much of this dialogue is accompanied by superb voice acting, further helping to flesh out the world, bring its many vibrant characters to life, and make even mundane encounters memorable.
Image credit Dying Light 2 Stay Human - Published and developed by Techland.
One of the most controversial design choices in Dying Light 2 Stay Human saw the developers remove firearms from the game; while this was done to allow the developers to focus more attention on creating an in-depth and balanced melee combat system, it also helped to flesh out the narrative, in a title that is set 15 years after the fall of humanity, ammo would be running scarce, and even the most well-tended firearms would be starting to show signs of wear, especially with survivors often having to use them to keep the infected and various criminal gangs at bay.
Is it possible that guns will appear as we discover new factions? Perhaps, but I am happy with my crossbow and wide selection of DIY zombie-bashing weapons.
Image credit Dying Light 2 Stay Human - Published and developed by Techland.
Dying Light (2015) is one of the highest-reviewed games in the history of Steam, with a whopping 95% positive review score from an equally impressive 222,776 user reviews.
Across all platforms, Dying Light: The Following – Enhanced Edition(2016) is rated consistently high, with an average score of user 8.4 on Metacritic across all platforms.
Without a doubt, Dying Light 2 Stay Human is off to a good start with generally positive reviews on all platforms; however, it has a long way to go if it wishes to surpass its predecessor in the eyes of many in the gaming community.
While Dying Light 2 Stay Human is not rated as highly as Dying Light: The Following – Enhanced Edition(2016), it has already surpassed the average rating for the original release of Dying Light (2015), and if Techland continues to release substantial free and paid updates I see no reason why it would not equal and eventually and surpass Dying Light: The Following – Enhanced Edition(2016) by the end of 2023.
Image credit Dying Light 2 Stay Human - Published and developed by Techland.
Dying Light 2 Stay Human is visually stunning, and the scope of the city of Villador is unlike anything we have seen before in an open-world game; however, this visual fidelity comes at a steep cost, with even 9th-generation console owners being forced to choose between quality, resolution and frame rate.
Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5:
Performance Mode : 1080p/60fps RTX OFF
Quality Mode: 1080p/30fps RTX ON
Resolution Mode: 4k/30fps RTX OFF
While I am more than happy with 1080p/60fps when a game looks this good, owners of 8th generation consoles and Xbox Series S are in for a bit of a rude awakening with Dying Light 2 Stay Human capping out at a 1080p/30fps on the Ps4 Pro, Xbox One X and Xbox Series S and a disappointing non-dynamic 864p/30fps on-base model Playstation 4 and Xbox One consoles.
Image credit Dying Light 2 Stay Human - Published and developed by Techland.
While many RPGs promise players their choices matter, and to a certain extent, they do, Dying Light 2 Stay Human takes this a step further by removing the player’s ability to save scum (save and reload) to avoid the consequences of their actions.
For players who are brave enough not to look up the best answers to the game’s most difficult choices, Dying Light 2 Stay Human has the potential to be the most rewarding player-driven experience on the market.
With Life and Death literally at your fingertips, I must admit to having second-guessed myself many times, and I am sure I will continue to do so as I delve even deeper as I progress through the remainder of the game.
Image credit Dying Light 2 Stay Human - Published and developed by Techland.
When time is of the essence fighting your way through hordes of enemies isn’t practical, and while some critics have mixed views about certain aspects of the game, one thing we almost all agree on is the parkour in Dying Light 2 Stay Human is second to none.
I love finding new routes and stumbling upon hidden treasures and open-world interactions that help make the city feel alive, from wounded settlers to interactions between npc factions; pushing further into the darkest reaches of the city rewards players with memorable experiences and bags full of loot for their effort.
Image credit Dying Light 2 Stay Human - Published and developed by Techland.
While some character models look like they could have done with another round of polishing, the vast majority of characters you encounter have some of the best facial animations I have seen in a AAA game, coupled with top-tier voice acting; it is easy to forget these characters you come to love (or hate) are nothing more than a collection of pixels on your screen.
While adult character models are fantastic, several child character models look slightly off, with mature faces and offputting animations that look to be the result of downsizing adult character models and reusing animations; this is most notable when a child character is walking, resulting in a nightmarishly animatronic gait.
Dying Light 2 Stay Human is a action video game developed and published by Techland, it was released on 4 February 2022 and retails for $59.99.
Dying Light 2 Stay Human is available on the following platforms: PC, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
On average Dying Light 2 Stay Human takes between 25 and 500 hours to complete.
Estimated completion times are derived from various sources and may vary based on the skill level of each player.
The Dying Light 2 Stay Human in-game store sells:
The following peripherals are officially supported:
Dying Light 2 Stay Human is rated PEGI 18+ and contains the following:
I love Dying Light 2 Stay Human, and I feel it is a worthy successor to the original; however, fans of the original who are still getting their money’s worth from the former could easily wait for a sale.
