So, confession… I never played the first Dying Light. I’ve heard good things about it, but never got around to playing it. Zombie games are normally my jam. I loved The Last of Us and State of Decay, so I thought I’d give Dying Light 2 a try. Does Dying Light 2 live up to the other great zombie centric games. Should you play this game? Is Dying Light 2 a good single player experience.
Let’s get into it.
What is Dying Light 2? No spoilers. You play as Aiden a pilgrim, a.k.a a parkour and zombie killing master who is on a mission to find his sister in the zombie apocalypse. You get caught in the middle of a war between factions that want control over the city. Both promises to help you if you side with them.
Pros:
There is a lot to like about this game. First off, the game looks and runs well. I played it on a PS5 and Xbox series X and both versions are solid. Visually this game isn’t going to blow most people away but there are some moments of beauty in the game.
The gameplay is vastly different from other western RPGs. The way to move and parkour around the city is enjoyable. The game has a great way of making you feel fast but still in control. I enjoyed the way the game changes in the day vs the night. It’s a completely different vibe. In the daytime you can mostly traverse with ease. You can run into zombies and bandits that want to square up with you. It’s your typical zombie environment. At night it’s a different story. The game does a good job making you feel like the world goes to hell when the sun goes down. The Zombies are more aggressive and out on the street. They will actively chase you down. There is legit palpable tension. The day and night cycle is the best overall feature of this game.
Let’s talk about the narrative. For the most part the story is engaging and interesting. The characters in the main quest have solid motivations and the narrative is well paced.
Cons:
The Bad: This game has some major faults.
It’s a learning curve to say the least. Let me explain. So, in what world has any game had the jump button be R1? That’s not the traditional jump button in any game I’ve ever played. It sucks that there isn’t a way to change that.
This game gives the players choices that are supposed to have a huge impact on the game as a whole. Very few choices did that. There were some resources that you could assign to each faction but even that was more about the rewards it would give the player and less about the actual story and world.
I hated the ending. I won’t spoil it, but ending is terrible. It didn’t ruin my experience as a whole, but it felt like it belonged in an entirely different video game.
Overall/Should You Play Dying Light 2:
Ultimately Dying Light 2 is a good game, but nowhere near an all-time great. This game is missing something to really make it stand out. It has good ideas and a good day and night cycle, but all of it pieces don’t mesh well. Sadly Dying Light 2 is forgettable. The moment-to-moment journey was a fun experience but, it didn’t stick the landing at all.
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