The parkour and zombie formula returns with Dying Light 2: Stay Human. The second part of the 2015 game created by Techland comes with some bumps but the same intensity.
Dying Light 2: Stay Human It is available for PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4 and PS5.
As you may have already read on several sides, the game that reached us journalists came with some errors or bugs. Out-of-sync audio, very long loading screens at certain times, and other similar issues. Techland has already released a patch for their Day 1 which means many of these bugs may already have been fixed.
It’s a matter of time
The story takes place several years after the zombie outbreak and the plague has already reached all humans. In true “The Walking Dead” style, we are all infected. And if we spend a lot of time in the dark or do not take a supplement, we can become transformed.
The game puts us in the shoes of Aiden, a pilgrim who comes from the Badlands and arrives in the city of Villedor with the mission of finding his sister Mia. Both were part of a group of children experimented on by a certain Doctor Waltz.
Of course, the search for Mia is the main story that moves our protagonist, but the general conflict is the factions’ takeover; and as we opt for one or the other, the doors will open for us to continue on our way.
The main story is kind of simple and I didn’t feel as identified with Aiden as I did with Kyle Crane (the one from the first game). But among so many secondary missions, there are some illogical and others very interesting that take us from here to there.
Run, Aiden, run
Without a doubt, the fort of Dying Light 2: Stay Human it’s their fights, chases, and general action. Of course the first game had the benefit of novelty, everything here is the same or better. And add a few things.
Once we are in the city we have the freedom to go through all the buildings, climbing and jumping with a lot of patience so as not to run out of resistance. Falling from high places is synonymous with losing a lot of life and it is worse to do it at night when we are more vulnerable to zombie attacks.
The passage from day to night is the cornerstone of the game. Although I liked it better that in the first title there were very few missions at night and that venturing in the dark was much more challenging. In this second part almost from the beginning there are night missions. This is good and bad. There is not so much tension but the variety is greater.
As we advance in the secondary missions and the main one, we gain experience to spend combat or parkour points. This unlocks several of the game’s abilities such as dashing, wall-running, or hitting an enemy hard.
At the same time, Aiden has a special key to open certain mechanisms that give us other points to improve our life or resistance.
As I mentioned before, there are day missions and night missions. Most buildings are swarming with zombies during the day in a state of alert; if we get too close they all wake up. Therefore, it is better to go at night. Although this does not prevent us from entering as ninjas, let’s silently tackle a couple of zombies and that’s it.
To the variety of creatures, you also have to watch out for human enemies. Taking cover and attacking is still the same as the first game.
Regarding crafting, it also follows the same rules as the first game. We collect parts to create weapons, get coins to buy things, clothing or plans for special improvements such as fire, poison or electricity effects.
The main change happens at night, as we are infected and we can’t stay outside the safe zones for long. We have a clock that gives us the time we have to transform ourselves. To avoid this we have special serums that give us a little more time. If you are going to go deep into buildings at night, it is essential to have several on hand.
Decision making is another factor that implied a lot of promises from Techland. Although for now, I don’t know how many endings the game has available; there are some subtle changes when it comes to choosing one side or the other. If we go with the survivors we have improvements in mobility and if we choose the Peacekeepers you will see improvements in combat. These changes are indicated with colors on the overview map. Although there is not a great progression between your character and the NPCs that many times greet you as if they were seeing you for the first time (this is compared to games like Far Cry where our actions greatly inspire the AI both ally and enemy).
between light and dark
The delay of Dying Light 2 until 2022 put it on a shaky line when it comes to graphics. Since we find a title from a past generation. In the case of PC, the effort is put into the light and shadow mechanics. The game takes advantage of this very well, especially during sunsets or some closed areas. But the design of the characters and the general environment has something of an opaque definition, as if it strives to be gloomy when we are in broad daylight.
The sound effects are not greatly changed from the original game; they are still great and the screams at night bring to life a world that sometimes seems to be only inhabited by zombies. The music is sparse and appears at key moments in the main story or when we are spotted and have to run for our lives.
System Requirements
MINIMUM: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system – OS: Windows® 7 – Processor: Intel Core i3-9100 / AMD Ryzen 3 2300X – Memory: 8 GB RAM – Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti / AMD Radeon™ RX 560 (4GB VRAM) – Storage: 60 GB of available space
RECOMMENDED: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system – OS: Windows® 10 – Processor: AMD / Intel CPU running at 3.6 GHz or higher: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Intel i5-8600K or newer – Memory: 16 GB RAM – Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2060 6GB or AMD RX Vega 56 8GB or newer – Storage: 60 GB available space