Dying Light 2 Stay Human is a post-apocalyptic survival horror game featuring an expansive world to discover. Players will spend nights roaming abandoned subway stations and power plants while fulfilling story missions during the daytime hours.
Bloody Ties expansion does not deliver on its promise to improve one of its less impressive elements, but does attempt to. Featuring elegant parkour and melee combat as well as an expansive open world to explore, it often strives for greatness yet frequently falls short. The Bloody Ties expansion attempts to do just this but it ultimately falls flat.
Parkour
Traversal is an integral component of Parkour, allowing players to traverse cars, jump from roof to roof and run across giant skyscrapers with ease. Every time you jump, run or climb you earn XP that goes towards unlocking one of 24 skills available within it – though unlocking most early requires significant physicality!
Dying Light had an excellent parkour system in its original version; now its sequel surpasses it thanks to numerous tweaks and upgrades. Some key additions are smoother wall running animations, improved jumping techniques and an adjustable head-bob for camera movement during gameplay; players also now gain air control midflight to allow reactions against environmental obstacles more readily.
Navigation in Villedor can be challenging at times and any extra speed can make a world of difference when trying to avoid enemy capture or death. One such parkour ability, Enemy Jump, unlocks very early on requiring only High Jump skill and 140 stamina for activation. When activated it helps mitigate fall damage while maintaining momentum – an invaluable asset when trying to evade enemies!
Another helpful parkour addition is the revamped Safe Landing skill. Though gaining it won’t require much of an effort (merely High Jump and 140 stamina are needed), it could save you from much heartache should an accidental leap off a building result in serious injury and game over.
Techland has promised that they will release more updates like Good Night, Good Luck to enhance the traversal in Dying Light 2. As the franchise expands and evolves into an interactive narrative sandbox that changes both its storyline and physical landscape, these promises should be fulfilled; recent Gut Feeling updates demonstrate this fact.
Combat
Zombie games can be similar to Metroidvanias in that you can’t have too many of them at once; their oversaturation could potentially spoil gaming, yet that doesn’t mean the genre is dead. Dying Light 2 stands as proof of that; its best moments lie within emergent gameplay moments! If you are open-minded enough for such experiences then Dying Light 2 could become one of your go-to titles.
Dying Light 2’s world is both visually striking and eerily unsettling in equal measures, having been devastated by an epidemic which transformed many human beings into uncontrollable undead beasts. You play as Aiden Caldwell, an industrious pilgrim searching Villedor city for Mia who he hasn’t seen since they were children.
Navigating Villedor is an absolute joy thanks to its impressive first-person parkour system. Clear paths fill environments, enabling you to maintain momentum and reach almost any location with ease. There are various gadgets and aids you can use such as air brakes for slowing down or ziplines for scaling buildings more easily that all work seamlessly within this system.
Combat is where the game falters somewhat; while over-the-top and entertaining, it can be hard to take seriously when taking down an entire horde of zombies while throwing them around your environment. While seeing one fly through a window or crash against a skyscraper is certainly memorable, it doesn’t help convey an accurate representation of real world events.
Dying Light 2 remains enjoyable despite its sometimes odd tone, offering deep RPG mechanics that are both complex and lush, day/night cycles that impact gameplay, an expansive open world setting and an extraordinary combat system – it all holds together marvelously well; indeed it seems almost miraculous that this game stands the test of time so well; unfortunately the average story and awkward line delivery keep this gem from joining the pantheon of great zombie games ever made.
The Infected
Dying Light 2’s infected are an integral component, having been transformed by the Harran virus into creatures who now roam The City vulnerable to whatever or whoever attacks them. Each infected has a distinct set of abilities or traits which make them even more dangerous than others.
Biters are typically the first infected that players encounter as they level up Aiden Caldwell, though even these slow-moving creatures shouldn’t present too much of a problem as players progress through Aiden Caldwell’s levels. But even seemingly harmless infected can quickly transform into monsters if exposed for too long; therefore it’s essential to monitor Caldwell’s wrist biomarker, which monitors viral progression and will inform players if their infection has progressed beyond its point of no return.
Volatiles are one of the most dangerous infections in the game, able to communicate via telepathy but still reverting back to base instincts at night. Luckily, they no longer need Antizen for protection; all it takes to keep their infection under control is exposure to UV light like sunlight or UV lamps – either one will work.
Virals, newly mutated virus strains that move at great speed and will shadow players around The City; they may climb walls. Players should do their best to avoid them; stealth kills or ranged attacks such as bows, Molotovs or guns should be used instead to take down these infected.
The Banshee is an infected that can be found throughout The City. These frightening wailing apparitions wear scraps of clothing and often act more humanlike than other infected. Additionally, they possess powerful attacks which can instantly decimate player health with just one attack.
The Bloody Ties DLC for Dying Light 2 features more infected characters, weapons and the Carnage Hall arena – where only the best infected will compete to earn glory, money and power. Now available for both Deluxe and Ultimate Edition players of Dying Light 2, the DLC offers even greater challenge to players of Dying Light 2.
Story
Dying Light made waves back in 2015 with its innovative take on zombie survival and engaging open world, sparking widespread criticism but eventually finding its own cult following. Dying Light 2 builds upon this foundation with parkour, freerunning and melee combat elements; yet, at times it may feel more like an incomplete draft left for players to finish themselves.
Bloody Ties is Dying Light’s inaugural expansion designed to address some of the issues encountered upon its initial launch by strengthening its weakest aspect: combat. Set in Carnage Hall, an old opera building filled with challenges and quests to complete; plus new weapon types, character interactions and discoveries introduced through Carnage Hall – Dying2Know delves deeply into all these details in their latest behind-the-scenes episode below – you can watch all this first expansion for yourself here!
Unfortunately, while the new setting and character additions are welcome, they fail to compensate for the slow pacing of the story and lack of captivating gameplay moments. Most of your time will be dedicated to following NPC orders while doing your own thing within your abilities; occasionally there are moments that are actually captivating; these are however rare and few and far between.
Worse still is the lack of interesting combat encounters to keep your skills sharp; most fights feature regular zombies or bandit-type enemies; Techland could have taken advantage of its new location to present more intriguing enemy types, but most fights remain simply dull grinds against regular foes.
Bloody Ties is a promising start, yet does little to transform the core experience of Dying Light 2. However, fans of both genres and non-fans alike can enjoy Dying Light 2 equally; its movement is fast when working but can become bogged down with predictable beats and cliches; combat has occasional flashes of brilliance but becomes monotonous due to fetch quests and weird collision detection issues.
