Dying Light 2 is set 20 years after the events of the first game, in a world devastated by a mutated version of the original virus. With over 98% of the population now lost, the remnants of humanity have congregated in the sprawling metropolis of Villedor, also known as The City, and it’s here that new protagonist Aiden Caldwell finds himself while searching for his family. To date, Techland has really only painted the ensuing adventure in broad strokes, talking up key points such as Dying Light 2’s 2-4 player co-op, its returning day and night cycle, and its focus on choice and consequence. Today’s developer livestream didn’t go too much further than those core concepts, but did flesh them out with a few additional details. It all starts, perhaps, with the day and night cycle. By day, Dying Light 2 is all about the humans: as Aiden roams the streets and rooftops, scavenging and exploring along the way, he’ll need to be wary of the dangerous bandits, outlaws, and thugs whose only goal is to plunder and kill. However, he’ll also encounter members of The City’s three main factions - the Survivors, a band of ruthless ex-prisoners known as the Renegades, and the Peacekeepers, determined to impose their own version of law and order on the populace. Techland says the choices players make will determine which factions become allies and which become enemies, while other actions will shape the city and experience in different ways. Story missions choices will supposedly affect the narrative and ending, for instance, while a city alignment system can impact how the world looks and even the tools available. Water and electricity can, Techland explains, be restored in every area of the open-world city - which is split into two major regions and multiple zones - and players can decide which faction will take control of these essential utilities, impacting how a district looks and unlocking faction-specific tools, such zip lines and trampolines. These can be used in tandem with Dying Light 2’s expanded parkour system, said to feature more than twice the moves of the first game. However, once darkness falls, exploration becomes considerably more deadly. Humanity hunkers down for the night and the streets become swarmed with ferocious monsters known as the Infected. On the bright side though, this means the buildings that house the Infected’s nests are now empty, providing the perfect opportunity to scavenge them for valuable supplies. Some of the above makes an appearance in Techland’s latest Dying Light 2 trailer, while some of it comes from interviews with the development team during tonight’s livestream. Techland says it’ll be sharing more details on a regular basis in the run-up to Dying Light 2’s 7th December launch on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC.
