Dying Light 2 Stay Human

 PC
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 47 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 47
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 47
  3. Negative: 0 out of 47
  1. Worth Playing
    Mar 7, 2022
    71
    Dying Light 2: Stay Human isn't a bad game, but it can't help but get in its own way. For all the freedom of its parkour system, you'll have to sit through cut scenes and fumble through the interior environments. For all the talk of conflict between the factions or that the choices you make matter, the game only recognizes them when it is convenient to the narrative and forgets about it entirely in the next. Much like the undead that populate the streets below, the gameplay is best avoided by sticking to the parkour as much as possible as you work toward the conclusion.
  2. New Game Network
    Feb 14, 2022
    71
    Dying Light 2 exchanges simplicity for scale but it is still a decent sequel. The parkour movement and combat are both excellent, but the poor story, simplified night gameplay, and broken co-op mean this is not the best zombie game from Techland.
  3. PCMag
    Mar 1, 2022
    70
    Dying Light 2 should appeal to fans of the original game with is terrific graphics and zombie-bashing action, though it suffers from poor pacing, a bland story, and technical issues.
  5. Easy Allies
    Feb 4, 2022
    70
    Dying Light 2 is an enjoyable zombie survival game, but little else. It's hard to get attached to the world on any sort of deeper level because it's too overstuffed for any one thing to strongly resonate. And it really, really wants you to care since it spends so much time trying to generate those feelings. It's a good and occasionally great game buried in an abundance of ambition that is never fully realized.
  6. PC Invasion
    Feb 2, 2022
    70
    Dying Light 2 still retains many of the key factors that made the original enjoyable and exhilarating. Unfortunately, it's also bogged down by technical issues, janky mechanics, and a restrictive save system that prevents you from readily seeing outcomes.
  7. TheGamer
    Feb 2, 2022
    70
    Dying Light 2 is a game with a troubled development, and unfortunately, it shows. I know how much the first game grew significantly over the years with patches and content updates, and I can only hope that this one gets as much support, because it still needs a lot of work before it becomes the game we were first promised back in 2018, if ever.
  8. GamesRadar+
    Feb 2, 2022
    70
    Dying Light 2 offers a great open world playground for zombie survival, but lacks an impactful story or meaningful choices.
  9. Shacknews
    Feb 2, 2022
    70
    There’s a lot going on in Dying Light 2 Stay Human. The story that’s presented is moreish, despite having predictable beats and clichés. Its movement is sleek and fast when it’s working but often stumbles over itself. The combat has glimpses of greatness but can wind up feeling a bit average. Overall, each element taken by itself has potential but when mixed together dilutes what could be a rich experience. Though there are moments of joy to be found, they’re punctuated by fetch quests and odd collision detection. Fans of the original will no doubt find fun in a return to the world, but for everyone else, you might want to wait a bit longer before you take a bite.
  10. Riot Pixels
    Feb 23, 2022
    65
    Dying Light 2 cannot manage its massive scale. It tries to put the accent on the narrative, but fails miserably at storytelling, and fills its unusual sandbox with soul-sapping drivel.
  11. Launcher (The Washington Post)
    Feb 2, 2022
    65
    If only “Stay Human” could navigate its story of post-apocalyptic morality with the same deftness as its assured, acrobatic protagonist.
  12. Hooked Gamers
    Mar 11, 2022
    60
    There is fun to be had here, but aside from a few moments of joyous parkour, it's the sort of fun you can have in dozens of other open-world games. There is certainly some added fun in co-op with a couple of friends, but in a world where we get another open-world game every week, I just cannot recommend anyone go out and buy Dying Light 2 at full price. Especially not when it came out right before Horizon: Forbidden West and Elden Ring, both of which look far more promising.
  13. IGN Adria
    Feb 11, 2022
    60
    With the story all over the place and meaningless choices, Dying Light 2 is a game that will leave most of the players with zero impressions. The potential of the plot and the faint writing of Chris Avellone are present but not nearly enough to make this game worth your time. This is only for the hard core fans of the genre.
  14. NME
    Feb 2, 2022
    60
    It’s more Dying Light but at what cost? A marketing campaign promised the world but a production hamstrung by constant delays and shifts in key personnel has delivered a joyless game that lacks the spirit of exploration of its predecessor and strips out a lot of the joy.
  15. PCGamesN
    Feb 2, 2022
    60
    Bugs, repetitive side content, bad storytelling, and the unfulfilled promise of its choice and consequence system leave Dying Light 2 unable to capitalise on the strength of its excellent parkour and combat mechanics.
  16. RPG Fan
    Mar 28, 2022
    52
    Despite all my complaints, I initially had fun with Dying Light 2. The first quarter of the game was engaging. I think if the rest of the game played like this, I would have way more positive things to say, but the fact is that it’s just not done. This is clearly an unfinished game mired in mismanagement. I don’t blame the developers at all; the leaders and executives behind this work are responsible. What works here is clean and well done, albeit with some boring AAA niceties. After the first quarter or so, though, the game absolutely falls apart in almost every respect. I’m sad for what was produced here, but if I’m being honest, I’m more sad that I invested nearly thirty hours of my own time into this. Don’t make the same mistake I did.
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  1. Ars Technica
    Feb 2, 2022
    I got tired of the game after 20 hours for the reasons stated above. There's beautiful, inventive fun within DL2, but Techland doesn't do paying customers favors with the game's dialogue, pacing, and execution. Wait for a sale.
  2. Kotaku
    Feb 2, 2022
    Maybe the world doesn’t need another zombie game in 2022, but I’m happy we got one, and I’m happy it’s the wickedly fun sandbox of Dying Light 2.
  3. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Feb 2, 2022
    Techland’s taken something quite distinct and sanded down the edges. Some will find it agreeably smooth, I’m sure, but you can only sand so much off of chaos before it becomes ordinary. Come the real zombie apocalypse we should all be so lucky to face a world this trudgingly well behaved.

Awards & Rankings

3
#3 Most Discussed PC Game of 2022

User Reviews

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User Score
4.4

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 2867 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,159 out of 2867
  2. Mixed: 183 out of 2867
  3. Negative: 1,525 out of 2867
  1. Majexsky
    Feb 7, 2022
    10
    POLSKA GUROM, CIEKAWE CZY WŁOSKIE GRY MAJĄ POLSKI DUBBING.
    JESZCZE BARDZIEJ CIEKAWE CZY WŁOSKIE GRY WOGÓLE ISTNIEJĄ
  2. bristolman
    Feb 14, 2022
    0
    most Indie games I played are way better and interesting than this crap game. Asked for a refund and will never buy any other game from techland
  3. Strutt3r
    Feb 5, 2022
    4
    The second game is a clear downgrade in almost everyway. The devs seem oblivious to what made the first game fun, it was essentially a zombieThe second game is a clear downgrade in almost everyway. The devs seem oblivious to what made the first game fun, it was essentially a zombie killing sandbox and it was the best one ever made.

    Hours of fun just playing around with the hordes of zombies, pushing them into traps, setting them on fire, kicking them through windows and off rooftops, mowing them down with the vehicle in the DLC. Each weapon felt unique, each swing was satisfying, the way the zombies seemed to react differently to every hit. Of course the story wasn't great but nobody cared, it was good enough to keep you moving through the game.

    So what do they decide to do with the sequel? Attempt to turn it into a branching RPG-like story focused game where all your choices will matter, which they seemed to have completely given up on half way through development and just left the barebones of it.

    That wouldn't be a problem if they didn't neglect almost everything that made the first game so good, zombies will now play canned animations after every hit before they go ridiculously flying through the air like they've been hit by a truck when they die.

    The weapons have lost all their weight and impact, a baseball bat will cut through a crowd of zombies just as easily as a sword will. Even kicking zombies off of rooftops isn't fun anymore because they don't go tumbling off ledges, now they just slide off and fall straight down.

    Overall the combat is worse than the second game, although human v human combat is improved it is nothing special. The ragdolling and physics have been massively downgraded, zombies won't even stick to spike traps anymore, they just collapse and die. There are less zombie hordes and they are less fun to kill. Almost all horror aspects of the game have been lost, night time isn't dark, no roaming volatiles and the loot scan ability now reveals every zombie in the area.

    For all the focus and marketing around the story it is no better than the first but it is definitely longer, more boring and more irritating. The only improvement is in the parkour but it still gets plenty of things wrong, the ridiculous running animation and Aiden having the same vertical leap as the Mario brothers are the obvious ones.

    Dying Light 1 is still the best zombie game, Dying Light 2 feels like a Ubisoft reboot.    … Full Review »
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