At long last, the review embargo on Dying Light 2 lifted today, allowing critics to share what they really think about Techland’s new open-world action game.
While 2015’s Dying Light wasn’t exactly revolutionary in terms of gameplay mechanics or technical achievements on the developer’s side, the game introduced a visceral open-world where players could live out some of their greatest post-apocalyptic fantasies.
From free-roaming via the game’s advanced parkour system to bashing in the heads of hundreds of zombies with baseball bats or just combining every sort of firearm and sharp tool to your advantage, Dying Light gave players a ton of options on how to play the game, if nothing else.
Now, it appears that the long-anticipated sequel, Dying Light 2 Stay Human, has turned out to be a mixed bag. While most critics acknowledge the numerous improvements that Techland has made over its original IP, the game has a number of discernible flaws. As of now, the new entry is retaining a score of 77 with 46 reviews on Metacritic.
Starting off with the most critical overview, The Guardian wrote that “if you’ve played a zombie game in the past decade, this mishmash of tattered post-apocalyptic stereotypes will feel all too familiar.”
Gaming outlet IGN, meanwhile, had a much more positive take, noting: “Dying Light 2 Stay Human is an ambitious zombie action-adventure that’s packed with top-notch parkour, an awesome open world, and every painful bug in the book.”
Andrew Reiner of GameInformer also heaped praise on the sequel. “Techland has crafted a monster of a sequel that is bigger and better in almost every way,” He wrote.
Jordan Middler of VGC iterated that while Dying Light 2 stars off as “an interesting zombie game,” it slowly morphs into a title that boasts “a generic zombie plot, uninspiring combat, and the absence of any kind of danger.”
Last but not least, our own Eric Hall also had a positive impression of the game, writing that Dying Light 2 “was well worth the extended wait.” You can read the review in full here.
