Techland has releasedDying Light 2: Stay Humanafter years of delays, and so far fans are generally pleased. The game lives up to its predecessor in every way, offering a massive world to parkour around and explore to the player’s content. The story offers many branching paths and ways to resolve stories, backed by a large cast of characters. The game is also on the same path of post-launch improvement and support thatDying Light 1was on. While technical issues and gripes with the story persist,Dying Light 2is proving to be the zombie apocalypse power fantasy fans have been waiting for.
Being a power fantasy is part of the main appeal of theDying Lightfranchise. The games’ protagonists are much more athletic and resourceful than regular people, sometimes to superhuman levels. The ability to run across rooftops and kick-off of a zombie’s soft skull to keep moving is thrilling and could be compared to the act of swinging aroundNew York City in 2018’sSpider-Mangame. Following that line of thinking reveals something rather profound aboutDying Light 2: it has transcended the usual trappings of a zombie game and is more comparable to a superhero title. This may seem like a major leap to make, butDying Lightis well-equipped to do that.
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Dying Light 2’s Power Fantasy Emulates the Superhero Genre
Right away, it’s clear thatDying Light’s parkour is meant to feel greatas players dash across the open world and slide around combat encounters.Dying Light 2starts with a heavily restricted version of it, but a few upgrades in, and it becomes clear why some call this franchise the spiritual sequel toMirror’s Edge. From sprinting to wall-running, and later even gliding and grappling,Dying Light 2makes traversal a breezy and enjoyable part of its core gameplay. While the aforementioned web-slinging is an obvious equivalent source of empowered travel, other titles likePrototypeandInfamousalso have ways of making travel fast and fun. Even ifDying Light’s parkour looks mundane, it still captures the feeling of moving in ways no mere mortal ever could.
Dying Light 2’s combatis also comparable to that of a superhero game, in a surprising number of ways. TheSpider-Mananalogy continues to work flawlessly, as protagonist Aiden Caldwell gradually becomes a speedster capable of zipping around the battlefield, vaulting off of enemies, and using his own body as a weapon as much as his makeshift tools. And while those tools may not provide the same versatility as a roulette wheel full of gadgets or powers, Aiden can attach special properties and even the occasional bonus attack to them. The result is an ever-growing pile of enemies, with only particularly powerful enemies and the largest hordes a nighttime chase can produce proving a threat.
Dying Light 2’s Story Has Similarities to Superhero Narratives
Another fact quickly pointed out at the beginning ofDying Light 2is that Aidenis not a normal human being. The experiments he was subjected to as a youth bestowed upon him great strength and stamina, and his profession as a Pilgrim helped him hone his physical abilities. He essentially has a superhero origin story, right down to chasing the similarly-powered scientist Waltz to find his sister. Aiden and Waltz turn out to be even more unusually powerful than Aiden realizes, and the narrative of a comparable supervillain nemesis is presented with little innovation. This plot point, combined withDying Light’s signature parkour, crystallizesDying Light 2’s nature as a subtle superhero game.
That’s not all, however. While Aiden is often very focused on his goal of finding his sister, the player has plenty of chances to make him care and intervene in the lives of people around him. Countless side quests and open-world activities that better the city of Villedor are optional, but wandering NPCs will gradually begin to recognize Aiden for his heroism if he applies himself. It can feel as if the player was controlling ahero like Captain America, being less empowered than other heroes but still committed to helping those in need. It’s an interesting angle forDying Light 2to take, and regardless of how deliberate it was, it makes players feel important and powerful — when they aren’t reigning that feeling in to sneak through an infected nest.
Dying Light 2is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, with a Switch version in development.
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