Dying Light 2 Stay Human

It isn't more than the sum of its parts, but those parts are at least expertly arranged to foreground the very best in firstperson athletics. [Issue#369, p.104]

Dying Light 2 is so close to being great, but it is held back by a myriad of technical issues. It's fine with friends, but wait for some patches if you intend to fly solo.

As with the original game, Dying Light 2 Stay Human will find its share of audience, while the teams at Techland will continue to expand their vision. The solid base is already there, and it would be interesting to see how the game will turn out in 5 years time.

For all its promises about an expansive world that players shape with their choices, Dying Light 2 is essentially a by-the-numbers sequel that doesn’t offer much that’s new. But that’s no bad thing when the reality is that I haven’t had quite this much fun with a AAA video game in years. Techland’s long-awaited zombie RPG mostly delivers the goods in style, providing an expansive - if not entirely original - open-world playground that’s filled with epic action, pleasingly brutal combat, and some difficult choices. The end of the world has never been so entertaining. Just try not to rush through the main story, okay?

A little rough around the edges, especially in terms of the storytelling, but the interminable wait for this open world zombie sequel has been worth it.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human is often let down by noticeable issues, but remains a consistently enjoyable experience until the end nonetheless.

Indeed, if, like me, you have a weakness for the zombie-hued, and for the sway and flail of first-person platforming, then Dying Light 2 is easy to recommend.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human is a unique game that players have waited seven years to play. It’s an ambitious project that aimed to improve upon the original’s mechanics while creating more of a unique world. In many ways, Techland has succeeded, giving us a much more involved story that’s presented better, additional moves and actions that enhance gameplay, more rewarding nighttime features and a great playground in Villedor. The game gets into trouble elsewhere, though.

When the platforming actually works, Dying Light 2 is an absolute blast. Chaining together a high-flying hang glider maneuver, then grappling off the edge of a building before executing a perfectly timed series of jumps makes you feel like a superhero. It’s just too bad that more often than not, something will go wrong and you’ll fall to your death instead.

Dying Light 2 is a super solid follow-up to the 2015 original, building upon its fantastic gameplay loop with new traversal options for even more parkour fun. It's extremely disappointing, however, that the narrative and open world promises Techland made in the lead up to launch haven't been realised. Your choices don't have nearly as much impact as we would like, and the map is much more rigid than pre-release footage would have you believe. Still, Dying Light 2 feels awesome and empowering to play, and that can go a long way.

Dying Light 2 expands and refines a formula Techland has been peddling since its breakout success with Dead Island. This sequel learns a lot from modern open world video games, its massive, zombie-infested sandbox rarely feeling empty, especially as you breeze through city blocks with a Mirror's Edge-like finesse. However, Dying Light 2 inherits the same problems - a dull story, tiresome combat, and character progression that’s a tad too sluggish.

While Dying Light 2 does a lot right with its gameplay and new-gen presentation, it’s still a far cry from zombie gaming greatness. The weak story, uninspired mission design, limitations on initial player skills, and bugs let it down in a big way. Sure, a lot of this will be easy to ignore when fighting the undead as a four-man squad, but “it’s fun with friends” is an excuse that can only get you so far.

Dying Light 2 has a strong, if restrictive start and manages to pull you into an intriguing mystery that grows into a satisfying finale, with an engaging gameplay loop. However, the game also vastly overstays its welcome. With an overly drawn-out narrative and an irritating main character, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth by the time the credits roll.

Techland deserves praise for having put together a well-functioning and well-flowing game, which is also completely free of microtransactions and other nonsense. It's just a shame that the game itself isn't more fun to play.

Techland's horror sequel features crunchy combat and thrilling parkour, but buries its best bits with a clumsy story and open-world excess.

With a slow plot and uninteresting characters, Dying Light 2: Stay Human's few redeeming qualities are what sets the franchise apart from other zombie games out there.

Dying Light 2: Stay Human feels like it lost its direction somewhere along the way. It begins as an interesting zombie game wherein the threat feels tangible, your character feels weak, and the world feels primed for a dynamic story. However, the further you get into the game, a lot of its early ideas feel sidelined for a generic zombie plot, uninspiring combat, and the absence of any kind of danger.