E3 2019 Impressions — Dying Light 2

While at E3, I was able to see Dying Light 2 in a more intimate setting than just a trailer. Here is my take on Dying Light 2.

One of the many titles I have been amped for since last E3 has to be Dying Light 2. I have been a fan of the franchise and what Techland has done for the zombie video game for quite some time now. That is why I was over excited to get to see just where the game has progressed to since I last saw Dying Light 2 in 2018. It was quite impressive and vast undertaking they claimed to be doing and not it is time to see if they are keeping up their claims. I mean, they kind of have to now that they have set down the release window for Spring of 2020 to hit the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Still a good chunk of time, but still a massive project to get working.

The first thing to get out of the way before digging into the demo I was able to see is that we are playing as a character, Aiden, in this outing of Dying Light as he tries to survive this new and ever-changing world. He is infected by the virus but does not slow down with the fast parkour-style movement and dynamic combat we know and love. Something that is obviously back for Dying Light 2 and given a bit of an update. Not only to fit into the new setting but also to tweak a few things that the community has brought up over time. Granted, I did not get to actually play with the game, but it was mentioned and was somewhat visible during the demo.

As far as what I was able to see, it all started with the leaders of the community Aiden is part of trying to deal with a water shortage they are currently going through. A new deal needs to be made with a rival group and things turn south rather quickly with one of Aiden’s friends and co-leaders being shot. This is where the actual gameplay kicks off and we get to see the choice system of Dying Light 2 in action. We were able to choose to go after the enemy group and possibly get the water flowing again or run and find a doctor to keep our friend alive. In this demo, we went after the enemies so we could see more of the sweet parkour movement in action.

The movement in Dying Light 2 definitely looks to be a bit more fluid and freeform than before as we watched Aiden flow through buildings and across rooftops to keep up with the getaway vehicle. The demo was being run by one of the better players of Dying Light that Techland had at their disposal so it may not be what we all could pull off, but it all looks as smooth as a cinematic and not just basic gameplay. There were even some great recovery methods in the instance that we missed a jump or over-estimated and began to fall. If you are in for the parkour of the game, it is all here and amped up to fit the new look and world of the game.

During the run, though, we had a few other things pop off and happen to further press the dynamic and changing world as well as some of the new combat options in Dying Light 2. The first being that our choice to not find a doctor led to our friend dying and thus changing the motivations and wants of the people and Aiden, more on that later, but also brought us to a point where we fell into a large group of the infected. This was most likely the player doing a scripted bit for the demo as it felt like it was caused by the shaking news, but I cannot confirm that. Either way, it let them highlight the new UV light and how it can be used as well as the UV flares. They are limited but can get us out of a tight spot in a pinch while driving the undead back and clearing some space to build up speed again.

Fast-forwarding from that, Aiden eventually caught up to the getaway vehicle after more amazing footwork and we were led to another choice to take on. The driver of the van claimed there was a passcode to get into the fortress but also posed a threat in general. The choice was given to kick him out of the moving van or to keep him along; again, choice is big in Dying Light 2, so we kept him along. This allowed for a smoother entrance into the enemy base as there was a password and it is something we could never get or use if we did not make that choice. Even if we as a player knew it in real life and tried to cheat the system. Something to keep in mind if you are looking to replay and use different options to accomplish the same missions later.

From here, we were brought into more of a stealth mode in the Dying Light 2 demo as Aiden learned more about this other camp and did not want to cause chaos for the innocent people within. We could have, but we went a different way to show that there are various options we can take to get to the same goal with different paths. We climbed up and snuck into the main building of the base and confronted the leader and were presented yet another choice. We could join them or we could go out of our way to turn the water back on for our old camp. All while being told that turning the pumps on would be more of a problem than a solution. For the sake of the demo, we went with turning the pumps back on and then escaping with our lives.

This was when we were able to see how vast some of the choices in Dying Light 2 could change the world. Turning the pumps on meant that we had more water, but the reason they were turned off was to keep a section of the game’s world flooded and more of the undead “walled off” from us all. This did mean we had a whole new section of the world to explore and other missions to take on instead of just seeing a lake for the rest of the game, but it brought out a new water-based undead that we never got to see in action. They are supposed to be more powerful than some of the others we see in Dying Light 2, so the choice may have been the wrong one depending on how you like to play your game.

Last year when it came to these changes based on our choices in Dying Light 2, it looked to be a bit more cosmetic and maybe a different faction moved in. Now I am glad to say and see that it will actually change the world map and add in other challenges and rewards. Thus making it all more of something we will want to replay and not just watch how the story changed as other play through online. I am overly impressed by this and have had my excitement for Dying Light 2 pushed to new heights yet again. Even with this short section and single mission we were able to see in motion. Spring of 2020 truly cannot get here fast enough.