Dying Light 2: Reloaded Edition News

The start of the first Dying Light game can be notoriously unforgiving, as you find yourself facing hordes of Infected without all the tools or skills needed to fend them off. But that's not the case in the sequel, as Dying Light 2's lead designer, Tymon Smektała, tells us in an interview ahead of the game's launch next year.

"We got a lot of feedback from the first game, people saying, 'Hey, it's difficult to get into Dying Light'. Actually, that was on purpose," Smektała explains, emphasising that players feeling "weak and defenceless" at the start of the game leads to a "feeling of empowerment" later on. "At some point they realise, 'Hey, now I'm stronger, I can overcome those obstacles.'"

The progression in Dying Light 2 works differently, however. "It starts a little easier on regular difficulty, but we also have a difficulty dedicated to the hardcore fans of the first game - we call them 'Harran survivors'... so if they want the same level of challenge, they will definitely get it."

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Dying Light 2 introduces a paraglider, with some Tony Hawk Pro Skater-like tricks

Dying Light 2: Stay Human makes running away cool

For Dying Light 2's devs, adding wall-running was the easy part

Twenty years after the events of the first Dying Light game, the zombie virus has spread throughout the entire human population. It hasn't taken hold of everyone yet, though - humans in the post-apocalyptic stronghold of Villedor track the progress of their infection with a biomarker, and keep it under control by staying away from the dark.

During the day, the streets are packed with lurching hordes on every corner, but the night holds even more terrors - not only do the zombies enrage when the sun sets, protagonist Aiden Caldwell is also in danger of losing his humanity as the dial on his biomarker steadily ticks down the longer he spends in the darkness.

Personally, I'd set up a UV nightclub and spend every evening drinking enough not to notice when I inevitably turn. Aiden, however, is a cool guy on a mission to find his sister, so he spends every waking moment risking it all for complete strangers, because you don't survive very long in the end times without making a few allies.

Read the rest of the story...

RELATED LINKS:

Dying Light 2 starts easier than Dying Light, but there's a hardcore mode for zombie game pros

Dying Light 2 introduces a paraglider, with some Tony Hawk Pro Skater-like tricks

For Dying Light 2's devs, adding wall-running was the easy part

Techland's 2015 zombie game Dying Light is well known for its exhilarating parkour, and its upcoming follow-up Dying Light 2 will likewise offer a veritable playground for freerunning aficionados. Alongside an expanded and improved parkour system, the sequel also introduces a way to not only survive falling off a skyscraper, but to swoop your way across the city, well out of reach of the hordes of hungry Infected below.

The paraglider is a simple piece of equipment: once it's strapped to your back, you simply open it mid-fall to release the canopy, and carefully steer and stabilise it until you reach the ground. You can't glide forever, but air vents and gusts of wind reset your stamina and carry you further.

It may seem like a natural fit for Dying Light 2, but Tymon Smektała, lead game designer, tells us that the idea came from left-field. The paraglider, he explains, is the brainchild of lead gameplay programmer Bartosz 'Głowa' Kulon - głowa being the Polish word for 'head', so nicknamed because he has a "head full of crazy ideas" - some pretty brilliant ones, from the sounds of it.

Read the rest of the story...

RELATED LINKS:

Dying Light 2 starts easier than Dying Light, but there's a hardcore mode for zombie game pros

Dying Light 2: Stay Human makes running away cool

For Dying Light 2's devs, adding wall-running was the easy part