“Dying Light 2,” a sequel to “Dying Light,” builds off the success of the first game by expanding on the open world design, creating more in depth characters, and giving a new layout to the interactive map based on in-game decisions. The first-person zombie horror game lets you parkour into the action with an enthralling choice-based story that keeps you on your toes. 

Fun Factor

This game is loads of fun, fromusing the main protagonist Aiden’s parkour skills to scale buildings or to destroy the seemingly endless zombie army. Fighting against the zombies feels more like ragdolls for Aiden, as he expands his pent up rage to continue the search for his sister. 

Players will feel continually challenged as they attempt to capture windmills and avoid snipers on their way through the story. At the beginning of the game, the gameplay progresses quickly and it is very easy to deal with normal zombies. Subsequent levels will challenge even the most experienced players, and they will need to have a strategy to beat the zombie horde or skirt around them.

Control and Gameplay

The first thing gamers will notice is the smooth combat gameplay and the parkour is phenomenal, despite being similar to the first game. “Dying Light 2” could have expanded on this aspect more, but that doesn’t stop it from being one of the greatest games in its genre. There are many different strategies players can use to complete missions, contributing to the game’s diversity. 

Graphics

Differing from the last game, techies will appreciate that “Dying Light 2” runs on the C-Engine, which is known to provide a smoother experience and offer more powerful settings. This accounts for the insane parkour and combat found in the game. The graphics run extremely well despite the amount of fast-paced gameplay and parkour, and even runs smoothly on the older generations of consoles. However, one aspect of the game that I found slightly annoying was the audio and video not being in sync during character dialog. 

Sound

The biggest negative for this game was a semi-frequent audio glitch that occurred at random. This glitch cuts characters off at key points in their dialogue, leaving important pieces out of their conversations. However, there is an easy way to fix this glitch and to continue playing as normal. To fix the glitch, the player has to tweak the audio settings in the pause menu. When the sound does work, it’s almost as stunning as the graphics and adds to the atmosphere of the game. “Dying Light 2’s” sound is well incorporated with the way you play the game. For example, when a character jumps across buildings, or does parkour in rapid succession, the music changes to be more upbeat or changes to fit the environment you are currently in. 

Replayability 

“Dying Light 2” offers gamers extreme amounts of replayability, as there are many different choices that change the world around you and how you progress through the game. For example, when taking over a water tower, the player will be given a choice between assisting two factions: the powerful and militaristic PeaceKeepers (PK) or the striving and anarchic Survivors. Depending on who you put in charge of these water towers, the world around you will change. For instance, if you so choose to side with the PK, some parkour paths may be blocked off, but there could be more UV lights scattered around the map for your convenience. If you upgrade the factions enough, the player can get more items to either traverse the land easier or to fend off the hordes of zombies. The game environment changes based on choices made by the player, which provides for a new experience for players every time they play “Dying Light 2.” 

Conclusion 

The developers at Techland were admittedly trying to make a better version of the first game, but still have the same fast-paced zombie parkour. “Dying Light 2” is a stunning work of art and carries over hidden details from “Dying Light 1,” which are embedded throughout. These details are easily missed if gamers failed to play the first game. Even if you didn’t play the first game, I highly  recommend picking this game up and giving it a try. “Dying Light 2” was very engaging throughout the entire game and the many choices/plot twists made for an excellent story.