The first Dying Light was a genuinely fantastic open world zombie-thon that merged thrilling parkour with engaging first-person combat in a gorgeous experience that captivated players around the world.
Given how well the first game was received, it should come as no surprise that people are very excited indeed to get their hands on Dying Light 2. While the game doesn’t have a set release date yet, a series of excellent new features from GamesRadar have thrown up some very cool new details to salivate over.
Techland’s lead game designer Tymon Smektała has been talking to the publication, sharing some of the influences behind the anticipated sequel, and some of the mechanics we can expect to see.
As you may already be aware, Dying Light 2 takes places a long time after the first game. Society has collapsed into a “modern dark age”, and everything has an incredibly cool post apocalyptic by way of Game of Thrones vibe to it.
Speaking of the beloved fantasy franchises, it sounds like Dying Light 2 is actually taking a lot of inspiration from the likes of Game of Thrones and The Witcher 3, which is pretty exciting.
Smektała said that the new setting will have all the hallmarks of classic medieval drama; Betrayal, infidelity, and intrigue. You might have also heard that Techland is working with the writers who created The Witcher 3’s excellent Bloody Baron questline, as the studio wants to create a narrative “on par” with the gameplay.
If the idea of a Dying Light game with a narrative inspired by Game of Thrones and The Witcher 3 isn’t enough for you, how does the sound of grappling hooks work for you? I’m pretty sure it’s been scientifically proven that grappling hooks can improve any game by 5%.
The first Dying Light had a grappling hook of course, but Techland’s Lead Game Programmer Bartosz Kulon has confirmed to GamesRadar that it’s back, and definitely won’t break the game this time.
He explained:
There was some complaints in the reviews [of the first game] as to why we gave it so late because it’s so cool, but we wanted the player to learn the freerunning move-set first and then gain this tool as a reward. But there will be a grappling hook in Dying Light 2, and we are working to make sure it won’t actually break the movement this time!
Dying Light 2 is ticking all my boxes so far to be honest. If you want to learn more about the game, I heartily recommend checking out GamesRadar’s coverage.
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Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.