When the lights go out, will you survive?

Dying Light 2: Stay Human is the second game in the survival horror/action franchise developed and published by Techland. In this edition, we assume the role of Aiden, a young wanderer who goes in search of Mia, his missing sister. To survive in this devastated world, our protagonist will need to face various enemies and, of course, perform many acrobatics on the rooftops of the beautiful and tragic city of Villedor. 

The game was released on February 4th, 2022, and is available for PC, Xbox, and Playstation.

The ruin of humanity in a ruined world.

We are in a new dark age. Humans wage a losing war against corrupted monsters while fighting each other for increasingly scarce resources. Villedor, the scene of various and incessant conflicts, is all that is left for those who still dream of a tomorrow without the terrible stench of death. 

Aiden, our protagonist, is a pilgrim. Pilgrims are part of a group that travels long distances as messengers and explorers. Usually, their journeys do not last long, because they eventually succumb to the dangers of the world within 2 or 3 years. But Aiden is a case in point, as he has been searching for his sister for four years, which is considered quite an achievement. 



On his way to Villedor, looking for an informant, Aiden is bitten by a creature, which should turn him into a zombie, but for some reason, this does not happen immediately. However, the young man faces the virus circulating in his body, which causes excruciating pain, while he continues to search for the boy. When he finds him, he realizes that they are both in danger, since bandits in the service of a powerful local boss are looking for an important artifact, a key that opens doors and containers of an ancient and important organization.

Aiden manages to escape with the key, but his informant is not so lucky. Thus, our hero, in possession of the artifact but consumed by pain, manages to save himself by reaching a base of the Bazaar, a group of local survivors. However, realizing that Aiden was about to transform, the inhabitants of the Bazaar try to hang him, but Hakon, his friend and mentor, saves him moments before his end.

Realizing that Aiden does not have the necessary equipment to survive in Villedor, Hakon decides to help him. We proceed in search of the biomarker and an inhibitor. The biomarker allows us to track our infection and enter allied bases. With the inhibitor, we can increase our life points and stamina. From there we go on missions that teach us a little more about life and the people in Villedor. We learn about the main factions, the Peacemakers, the Pilgrims, the Renegades, and the survivors. 

The story of Dying Light 2 may not even be considered the game's strong point, since, despite several side-quests, it manages to be linear and to the point. It also doesn't present innovative narrative features, but it does very well the role of inserting you in a world of family tragedies, loneliness, and where the urge to survive justifies any kind of attitude, no matter who it hurts. 

I embarked on a journey of sadness and compassion as I put myself in the shoes of many of the characters, who were clearly taking questionable actions because they were under the shadow of despair, pain, and hunger. The world is at an end and all that is left for these people is a slim chance of survival.

As the protagonist, Aiden manages to establish dialogues that lead us to paths where justice and revenge are possible choices, as well as empathy. Inhabiting such a world and living with those realities makes us reflect on the conflicts the world is currently going through. And how must be the people who are the protagonists of these tragedies. 



Beyond this reflection, Dying Light 2 manages to build its story through a few but good characters, such as Hakon, a friend and mentor of Aiden mentioned earlier, Aitor, a Peacekeeper officer who searches for the killers of his leader and Lawan, a young woman seeking revenge. During the campaign, we are introduced to several other characters, but they don't have as striking or important a background as these.

Fitness saves lives, even in the apocalypse

Endless parkour, everywhere possible. Compared to the previous game, we see an improvement in the controls and acrobatics, as the responsiveness of the player's movements is clear. Controls that work very well, combined with a fun exploration in a city rich in missions and small side objectives make the game a true apocalyptic playground.

In several moments in my gaming sessions, I found myself driving several zombies just so they could start chasing me and I could escape with a lot of adrenaline (and style!) Between one escape or another, sometimes I felt like trying to save the world alone, then I would go on a frantic and unbridled killing spree, which always ended up reminding me why the pilgrims live so little. But man, was it fun! 

The combat is not so innovative, reminding me a little of the Warhammer series, but it is still fun. However, I must point out that the unlockable skills in my talent tree, which are divided between combat and parkour skills, added very little to my gameplay. I did not feel the need to use special skills, I just dodged and pressed my attack button incessantly, between one dodge and another. 

Despite this, the game has an interesting variety of weapons, including knives, axes, bows, and clubs, among others. In addition, there are some weapons of opportunity scattered in the scenario that gives us more versatility in combat, such as broken bottles and spears. We also have several accessories that make the combat more tactical, such as items that attract the zombies and bombs that eliminate several of them at once.



The various parkour structures scattered around the city made me want to explore all the places because they made me curious to see more of what was left of Villedor. It was a very interesting experience to see ruined buildings or just gaze at the city from above after climbing, jumping, and sneaking around various obstacles. I would have liked to see more styles of stunts because they are really cool. But what the game offers, for me, is enough to have a lot of fun. 

I make a reservation about the gameplay in the sense that maybe, after several hours of play, Dying Light can become a repetitive experience, since I noticed that the game has some objectives that are repeated, such as killing some bad guys or some specific creature, as well as some basic missions, which even if they are not repeated, may seem uninteresting to a player with many hours of gameplay. I point this out because I feel that, perhaps, the experience of doing 100% on Dying Light 2, for those who have this goal, may become more tiring than it needs to be.

During my gameplay, I found no significant bugs/crashes or glitches and/or that impacted my gaming sessions. 

Who knew the end of the world could be so beautiful?

During the day, very beautiful colors and an atmosphere stirs hope amidst melancholy. During the night, the certainty that the end is unquestionable. Dying Light 2 manages to deliver a very well-executed visual experience, despite some bugs. 



The cycles of day and night manage to deliver two completely different realities but they complement each other and give breath to the gameplay. While the nights manage to cause a lot of anxiety, and insecurity, and awaken a sense of self-preservation that prevents us from performing our stunts in a careless manner, during the days we manage to feel that we belong to a normal world, despite the circumstances. We see flowers, colors, and plenty of light, in a saturated landscape full of life. We feel that we can explore more easily and even make mistakes because we do not run the risk of being chased by rampaging zombie hordes. 

Both settings are well realized and even contribute to the gameplay, not in the sense that they change the mechanics, but because they influence the player's behavior. 

The soundtracks also fulfill their role very well. While by day the music conveys a sense of loneliness and melancholy, the sounds at night make us feel like prey in a cursed jungle. The monster noises are also very striking and can arouse fear, for those who are not very accustomed to terror. 

The dubbing of the game, in PT-BR, is very well localized, but I felt that the voice of Aiden seems less fitted than other characters such as Hakon. The character's lines sometimes sound robotic or disconnected from the feeling of the scene.

And about the bugs, I found some problems with the reflections in the water and small glitches in interactive objects, such as the chests of items. However, they do not hinder gameplay or immersion in any way.

For this review, Dying light 2: Stay Human was played on PC via the Steam platform.