Dying Light 2 Reloaded REVIEW

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 Improved a ton since lanunch


By Ameer Ammar

The first Dying Light is straight up one of my favourite games of all time, so back when DL2 dropped in 2022 i was disappointed to play through it and see it doesn't ever reach the heights and horror of DL1, while it was fun in it's own way, it wasn't as good as we all hoped it would be.

I've been playing DL2 on and off since its launch back in 2022, over two years ago now. I've logged on for pretty much every major update and have finished the game on my own save file over four times and on friends' saves at least four times that I can remember. To start off, I did actually always like Dying Light 2. From launch, I thought this game was quite fun, with a fantastic OST, floaty but addictive parkour, and a great co-op experience (albeit stupidly buggy back then), and the general fun vibes as I played with friends kept me going for many hours. However, the game suffered from clear issues back then. It was a step down from the first game in many ways, with floaty animations throughout, especially in combat, parkour, and cut scenes. Nighttime gameplay was frankly a joke and far too easy; the parkour gravity felt like you were on the moon, and the city was strangely devoid of zombies pretty much at all times on street level, and there was almost no variety in enemies. It also didn't help that the enemies' designs were all too cartoony, and the game pretty much lacked gore compared to DL1 plus the HUD sucked.



Now, Techland promised 5+ years of updates to this game, and going off how long DL1 was supported, I fully believed they'd update the game constantly and fix many issues, but I kept my expectations low when it came to core gameplay mechanics. There was just no way they'd fundamentally alter this game, right? Boy, was I proven wrong. Much better than the launch version

Dying Light 2 in 2024, which has become the Reloaded Edition, is practically a different game. EVERYTHING has changed, to start off the parkour system was updated massively and has now genuinely become possibly the best FPS parkour system I've ever played. It is incredible, with an insane sense of momentum, physicality, and addictiveness. I open this game at random times even after 200 hours just to jump around and listen to that banger reactive soundtrack that changes melodies depending on what you're doing. Combat is so much better, animations and balance got many major overhauls. ALL the animations have been changed since launch and are incredible, I especially love the Katana animations. Gore effects were completely overhauled, with some stupidly gross effects at times that have surpassed DL1, The "parkour combat" that they marketed at launch has really been realized now. I love wall run kicking, drop kicking, vault kicking, and jumping over enemies. There really is nothing else like it. and the HUD got an overhaul so it is far more immersive now with less things on the screen!



More recently, firearms were added after community requests, and those are pretty interesting to see. I never thought DL2 really needed firearms as the melee combat has become so excellent, but after trying them out I really think they add a pretty fun new dynamic to the gameplay as ammo is a little hard to come by so it's another layer to combat now and I am sure the upcoming massive expansion later this year will take advantage of this addition. Many cut scenes had completely redone animations since launch. The general color tone of the world has changed to feel so much less cartoony as it always strangely way too bright, and recently, especially with the Reloaded Edition update, the graphics have gotten a major bump. This game looks absolutely gorgeous and it is optimized incredibly well on PC, it ran flawlessly back on my 1660 super and runs even better now on my 3060Ti, also worth to mention All the zombies also got a redesign and now look realistic, far more in line with DL1. Reloaded Edition is practically a remaster for free. While the story itself and writing is quite mid, this to me is and always will be a gameplay first genre, and that alone is why i have played this for over 200 hours, it is why I am going to rate it as highly as I am.




FINAL VERDICT
It is a great parkour zombies killing adventure and has fully grown to be a worthy successor to DL1 that improves on it in almost every way. If you like these kinds of games (Dead Island, Dying Light) you'll absolutely love this one and at the price it goes for these days, it is a no brainer of a purchase.


Dying Light 2 - 8.5/10 - BUY