The folks at Techland are finally giving us a look at their extended E3 2019 gameplay demo. We get a more in-depth look at all the new systems coming to Dying Light 2. And after seeing it all in action for an entire quest, Dying Light 2 looks to be shaping into one hell of a sequel. I’m going to touch on a few parts that stood out to me after the video below.
Your choice impacts the narrative. We’ve known about this since Techland gave us a brief glimpse of the mission above back in E3 2018, but now we can see how it all interacts within the game. The mission starts with you and your allies negotiating with a rival faction to supply drinking water to the city. Things go south with one of your allies (Frank) getting injured.
That’s when the choices begin to open up. Do you stay with Frank, or chase after the ones responsible. The decision to continue on the mission ultimately leads to Frank’s death. Along the way, you get another option to help Frank out by finding a doctor. And the choices only expand as you finally talk to the leader of the rival faction called The Colonel. He suggests there’s a plot to pit you and him against each other. Do you trust him, or turn on the water pumps? The video wraps up with the protagonist deciding to turn on the water pumps. A whole new area is revealed offering new mechanics and quests according to Techland. But it also unveils a new threat – a new infected.
While the gameplay demo focuses on only one branching narrative, we get to see how quests open up within a single one. And how those choices impact the broader story. The question is, how common are these branching narratives? Is this something we only see in the main quests? Or, are these choices also there in sidequests?
Even if it’s only on the main quests, it adds even more replayability to a franchise where the parkour and melee combat already pulls us back for more.
Double the parkour moves. That’s straight from Techland. Some of the biggest new tools to the movement set are a grappling hook and deployable parachute. We aren’t limited to building roofs anymore. Use your grapple hook to catch some air and then pop your parachute to cover a lot more ground. But Techland does add a stamina meter so we can’t abuse it. Moves like the parachute or hanging drain stamina. The same mechanic is also used on locked doors. You won’t be busting your way through a locked door unless you have enough stamina. We can probably assume there are upgrades to earn for more stamina and stuff like that as we play.
We also see a lot more variety in regular parkour moves.
Ranged weapons that also melee. It’s been a while since I played the first Dying Light, but I don’t remember ranged weapons also doubling as a melee. A new ranged weapon called the Scorpio also has a blade on the other end of it. I’m guessing this won’t be the only weapon that we can slap a blade on to.
Today was a good look into how Techland is building off the first Dying Light. The parkour and combat look as good as ever, and the branching narrative looks solid. We’ll see how all the systems come together in the entire game when Dying Light 2 releases early next year.