Dying Light 2 Review – Smells Cheap

The sequel to Dying Light 2 is approaching its release with tension. Chris Avellone left, journalists reported on reworks and crunches, the release date was pushed back — the team apparently had enough problems. And it’s not surprising, because Techland essentially cosplayed CD Projekt RED a little. All this time, the Poles showed beautiful trailers and screenshots, held demonstrations and shared information — remember the same post about 500 hours from Twitter . 

A few days before the release, we managed to play Dying Light 2 and were incredibly disappointed in it. We will try to explain what is wrong with this game until the end of the text, but we want to immediately mention at least one bright side. The game has not lost any of the key features for which we loved the original, and in many places it has even improved. But, unfortunately, not in all. 

The gameplay has been expanded with gadgets, but it is still ambiguous

The gameplay of the sequel has not undergone any major changes. We still explore the world from the first person, jump on roofs and break offices with homemade weapons. In this regard, Dying Light 2 is not far from the original, which, in turn, borrowed a lot from Mirror’s Edge. The main character can jump, slide, run on walls and do many other things, which is why this part of the gameplay is almost the best in the sequel.

The movement was diluted with a glider and a harpoon on a rope, but they are implemented ambiguously. The glider is probably the best invention of the game. With it, you don’t have to worry about tall buildings and a lot of other things. But the “cat” let us down. Even though it can cling to any surface, the best option is special places marked by the developers. It is inconvenient to use it otherwise, the hero just tries to fall off or not jump.

The combat system is one-button and even a bit pathetic. In fact, you can complete the game simply using a standard attack and one or two moves from the list of attacks. The whole problem is that the combat mechanics do not evolve even at the end of the game. In most cases, any fight can be won simply by waving a weapon in front of you. Yes, there are homemade devices like grenades and mines to choose from, and we even needed them a couple of times, but this is not enough. 

The game also has RPG elements. The hero can equip different items and get useful passives, and weapons have different buffs built into them. There are no damage numbers for hits, but you will still have to compare axes of two colors. Any improvements require resources and money.

The third important part of the game is exploration. You will have to repeatedly look into different corners and look for supplies, plot items or important levers. The authors came up with a way to reward the player for curiosity, but did not finish it. Any loot in the game is useful, but closer to the middle, the standard problem of many RPGs begins: there is too much of it. The same resources for crafting or improvements are more than enough, you can dress the hero in top-level gear without any problems. 

As a result, the key thing is lost – interest in exploration. Yes, there is an open world here, but it is made in the best traditions of Ubisoft. We activate towers, kill a super mutant, which can also be silenced, climb into a dark laboratory and steal resources. Plus, sometimes random events appear, but they are very sad: kill three bandits or a particularly fast mutant. 

Everything in the game is subject to the time of day. Under the scorching sun, mutants hide under the roofs, so sometimes it is simply impossible to climb some important object during the day, but the developers implemented this restriction in a strange way. At these points, several super-powerful mutants simply appear, who knock down our pumped-up character in a matter of hits. But the streets are calm: you can run along the roads, as well as complete story missions.

All the action starts at night. At this point, the hero is overtaken by an illness: according to the plot, he himself is infected and gradually mutates without sunlight. You can refill the “battery” under any UV lamp or with the help of consumables. There is almost always enough time, but several times we had to use consumables when the sortie dragged on. At the same time, screamers come out into the street, who will scream if you come close to them – strong mutants will come running to the screams, and a chase in the style of GTA will begin: you need to escape from the crowd of zombies to the point with UV lamps. 

The main character is an experienced wanderer, which is not reflected in the gameplay.

The plot and narrative of the game cause dissonance. The main character is Aiden Caldwell, a talented young man who has walked thousands of kilometers through a destroyed civilization in search of his sister Mia. The road leads him to Villedore, one of the few surviving cities where the remains of civilization are still seething. It is overshadowed by the fact that in childhood, Aiden and Mia were experimented on, as a result of which the young man became stronger and faster than an ordinary person. 

And even taking this into account, the leveling up in the game is mediocre. The more often you hit and use an arsenal of two hits, the more points you accumulate in “Combat”. The more active you are in jumping, rolling and hovering on a glider, the more points you get in “Parkour”. Plus, Aiden will often encounter inhibitors, which you can use to level up your health or your stamina bar. The latter is spent on everything: hitting, climbing ledges, flying on a glider, and so on.

Moral choice solves almost nothing 

In Villedor, the player will meet many different characters with their ideals and cockroaches, with some of them you will even have to establish relationships. Once in the city, Aiden becomes involved in a conflict between two sides: peacekeepers and survivors. 

The first are almost like Gestapo, who carry out the command’s tasks and look after the remains of civilization, destroy mutants and raid nests. But they often exceed their authority: they threaten people, take their resources, and so on. The survivors, on the contrary, want to overthrow the peacekeepers and stop living under their supervision, which is why they do not shy away from sabotage. And both sides are interested in the player helping them, because each can provide him with information about the final goal.