You Will Probably Only See 50% of Dying Light 2’s Content in Your First Playthrough – E3 2019

By Lucy O'Brien

The big buzz-phrase during Dying Light 2’s extremely impressive E3 demo was “narrative sandbox.” Throughout the 30-odd minute gameplay demonstration, developer Techland pushed the idea that even if you finish Dying Light 2, you’ll probably only see around 50% of its content based on the decisions you make throughout. It’s a liberating premise that promises for some great watercooler chat with other people playing, as theoretically, there are hundreds of thousands of variations on how your story could play out.

The demo kicked off with new protagonist Aiden Caldwell, a purposefully morally blank guy whose personality you can shape with your decisions, helping a ‘man of the people’ named Frank. Frank is trying to bring together two warring factions in order to help with the water crisis; the most urgent problem in Dying Light 2’s world is severe drought, caused by those with means hoarding the H20. The Peacemakers and The Renegades are at odds with each other, though Aiden doesn’t trust either of them to behave in this particular scenario.

His instincts were right, of course, and a fight breaks out. Frank gets shot, and you have the decision to chase them down and exact revenge/turn on the water pumps, or stay with Frank and help him. It’s noted by Techland that the story will change drastically depending on your call here, before choosing to chase down the bad guys.

Dying Light 2's Parkour Has Been Turned Up To 11

From here, we were shown a giddy slice of traversal through Dying Light 2’s world. There are twice the amount of moves in Dying Light 2 than in the original, and seeing them in action across its rooftops, outfitted with ropes and makeshift bridges and shattered windows, is thrilling. As Techland sent Aiden hurtling through its dilapidated playground, I counted 7 moves in a matter of seconds: wall run, slide, wall jump, far jump, double wall run, and pole jump. The piece de resistance was a swinging kick to a zombie chest that sent him through a window, his body used to break your fall.

Aiden can use a paraglider to traverse long distances, and we also saw frequent use of Dying Light 2’s grappling hook (it appears you can grapple almost every flat horizontal surface in the game). Once these moves become second nature, I imagine traversal through Dying Light 2 will be a wonderfully fluid exercise.

Your Decisions Will Close Or Open Up Areas In The World

Ultimately, Aiden reaches the ostentatious base of the Renegades (he does this by catching a ride with a driver employed by the faction, who you can also choose to kill, thus closing off that option). He finds the leader of the Renegades, the ‘Colonel’, and demands he turn on the water. The Colonel pleads with him - he’s been set up! His men didn’t shoot Frank! If Aiden works with him, they can turn on even more water pumps! Here, another critical decision must be made; do you believe the Colonel and work with him, or turn on his coveted water pumps by force?

In this instance, Techland chose to turn off the pumps, kicking off a small slice of boss combat. A football-helmet-wearing heavy with an electric weapon slashes at Aiden, whose regular attacks with a melee weapon don’t seem to be working. Even though it didn’t seem to actually connect with anything, the grappling hook is put to great use here, and the heavy is finished off with a staggering swinging kick to the chest before a slash to the torso finished him off.

Aiden drains the pumps, water flows freely into the city. Turning on the pumps, Techland says, reveals new quests, mechanics, and changes the direction of the story. But things would be very different if you sided with the Colonel. He was being set up, we are told, and as that information settles in, a zombie arm bursts out of the earth, spikes springing from its flesh.

It’s hard to count how many times you’d need to complete Dying Light 2 to see all its content. It’s very possible to skip out on huge areas the first time around. Its multiple side quests can also change the direction of the story, as can your minute-to-minute decisions during combat. Choose to be extremely brutal? You’ll have to live with those consequences.  Dying Light 2 has an auto-save system, so if you make a decision, you have to live with the consequences.

Techland is promising a brutal, unforgiving world that’s also a blast to navigate, and as long as there’s the requisite depth in character, and that branching story goes to some fascinating places, I imagine Dying Light 2 will have plenty of longevity with the sheer amount of content to uncover.

Lucy O'Brien is Executive Editor of Features at IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

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