Since developer Techland split from Dead Island publisher Deep Silver, its new ventures have wielded more enjoyable results for many fans. Dying Light, while littered with uninteresting side quests, fulfilled the promise that Dead Island set out to achieve. With its sequel Dying Light 2: Stay Human releasing this month, the gameplay is tighter and offers the same level of fun, but continues the tradition of a weak main narrative.
Dying Light 2: Stay Human expands the horizons of the first in a few critical ways. Rosario Dawson's presence is a nice addition, and makes the events that unfold more memorable. Parkour traversal also makes exploring the map a delight, so players have been assured that the Dying Light series is headed in the right direction. Often critical developments for a game come by way of subtraction, and ditching old, overpowered, or uninteresting mechanics can result in a better experience overall. In Dying Light 2: Stay Human, Techland's decision to remove most of the guns was one such development.
Surviving Hordes in Dying Light
The biggest draw to Dying Light has always been its handling of first-person parkour. Like the Mirror's Edge series, the way its open world allows the player to traverse the setting is always engaging, and the first-person view is restricting enough to make tense moments more thrilling. In Dying Light, the excitement is dampened in its latter stages because guns become readily available, meaning the need to be up-close and personal with the enemy is no longer emphasized.
When hordes of The Infected can be mowed down with a few rounds of Barrel SMG ammunition, movement becomes less critical for survival. Ensuring there are enough bullets in the chamber is no different a mindset as one that players would have in titles like Call of Duty or Battlefield, rather than a series bearing similarities to Assassins Creed. Dying Light 2: Stay Human decided against including firearms, which has brought the game consistency of combat, and in-turn has kept the tension up throughout.
Dying Light 2 Makes the Smart Choice With Guns
Dying Light 2: Stay Human is a tense experience. Close encounters with infected enemies are a regular occurrence, and besting the horde is entirely reliant on the player's ability to land critical strikes. Projectile weapons are present, like the bow and arrows, but slow reload times as well as woeful fire rate makes it more of a last resort.
What the game lacks in a compelling narrative, it makes up in tone. Remove the thrill of combat by implementing guns, and the experience has to rely more on its writing, which is inconsistent. Dying Light 2: Stay Human focusing on what made the original so addictive is a wise decision. If Dying Light 2's content does stretch to 500 hours, the need for tight gameplay and a tone that justifies using its mechanics is crucial to retaining players. The tension on display must be balanced by a combat system that offers the player little power over their surroundings, and removing guns is an effective way to achieve this.
The enemies that litter the landscape in Dying Light 2: Stay Human quickly become part of the scenery. Playing alone or with co-op, the goal is to complete each of the main story quests despite the looming threat of The Infected, and navigating through danger is often a safer plan. Stocking up on firearms reduces this need, and along with dampening the tone and taking focus away from melee gameplay, the decision Techland made to remove guns was commendable.
Dying Light 2: Stay Human is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
