[Review] Dying Light 2

[Skipper ✪]

During its reveal at E3 2018, Techland softly announced that the Dying Light 2 release date would be sometime in that same year. In an interview with Wccftech , the game's lead designer Tymon Smektala was emphasising Techland's commitment to hitting 4K resolution and 60fps on PS4 Pro and Xbox One X, before teasingly stating that "we still have a year to optimize [the game]", suggesting that it will out before the Summer. That said, delays are always a possibility with a game like this, so don't hold out hope for anything until Techland is more forthright with an announcement. 

But... internal goalposts change and, during our trip to Poland, Techland walked back on that timeframe and stated that Dying Light 2 no longer has a confirmed release date. Whether that means a delay into 2020 is anyone's guess, but we'll hopefully hear more specific dating from the studio at E3 later this year. Fingers crossed. 

Techland has described the time period of Dying Light 2 as the "new dark ages", where the zombie apocalypse has dragged society back to a Hobbesian state of nature, and humanity is just as likely to kill itself than be eaten up by the hordes of undead parading the streets of Harran (the Turkish-set city from the first game). 

Despite the absence of any release date, Techland was more than happy to show off several minutes of direct gameplay footage at E3 2018, which implies that the game is very much in the final stages of production.  Naturally, the updated visuals look stunning, and Techland seem to be making the most of the Xbox One X to show off all those rich colours and sharply drawn skylines. The demo also gives you a good idea of the game's updated parkour and combat mechanics, so it's well worth a watch for any interested fan. 

One of the most surprising things about Dying Light 2's reveal was the announcement that Chris Avellone - a famed games writer known for his work on multitudes of RPGs, from Divinity: Original Sin 2 to Fallout: New Vegas - has been assisting Techland with designing the game's story, which is now far more ambitious than Kyle Crane's linear tale in Dying Light. 

In Dying Light 2, the plot is an organic, reactive entity that can weave in multiple directions, depending on how you decide to respond to situations in the zombie apocalypse. In turn, your actions will affect the world around you, from the threat level of its po[CENSORED]ce to the scarcity of its resources.