I played 45 hours of Dying Light 2 – How brutal is the cut version still?

On February 4, Dying Light 2 will be released. MeinMMO author Tarek Zehrer was able to test an early version of the survival game – the cut version. How much the cut affects the game and how he liked the zombie slasher otherwise can be found out here.

What is Dying Light 2? It is a survival game with an open world and action focus. Players take on the role of Aiden, a survivor of the zombie apocalypse that broke out over 20 years ago in the world of Dying Light.

• While Dying Light 1 sends players to Harran, a city reminiscent of Rio de Janeiro, the sequel brings us to “The City”. Our goal: The search for Aiden’s sister.
• In this search, we find ourselves caught between several factions, have to do favors for information, find allies, and above all: loot and take out zombies/bandits. In the vast open world, we move primarily through a parkour system. However, there is also a glider that you unlock during the game.
• You collect equipment, improve your abilities in combat and parkour. Additionally, you make decisions that affect the game world.

But how does Dying Light play? Is the story any good? How much does the cut version affect the game? In my preview, I want to answer these questions for you.

Cut vs. Uncut – How it Plays and What the Story is Like

Update: Anyone who purchased Dying Light 2 through Steam, Epic, or Techland’s own digital sales received the uncut version automatically. More on this here: Dying Light 2 is indeed uncut in Germany for at least one platform.

What was playable? I had access to a complete early PC version of Dying Light 2. In the game itself, there were theoretically no limits, I could do whatever I wanted.

Since it is a beta, one can only make limited statements about the technical state of the game. I played the Steam version. However, I found hardly any shortcomings and only encountered one bug, which is supposed to be fixed by release.

Unfortunately, the servers were not online yet to test the co-op mode. I have only played solo so far. In doing so, I played for nearly 40 hours and tried nearly all the content that had been unlocked by then.

First, I want to address a big topic for the community: the differences between the cut and uncut versions. I was able to try both, but spent most of my time in the cut version.

Cut Primarily Affects Human NPCs

What gets censored in our version? The cut version of Dying Light 2 differs from the standard version in two aspects:

• Human enemies cannot be decapitated or dismembered
• Neutral NPCs cannot be killed

Is that noticeable while playing? The short answer: it depends. If you are one of those who likes to push the limits in this type of game, the cuts might be bothersome.

I personally am not someone who runs around in open-world games slaughtering neutral NPCs. That humans cannot be decapitated is also not a problem for me personally.

However, I have noticed, and this has been confirmed by other testers: It seems that other gore effects, such as blood, are also reduced in the cut version. This is also not a huge difference, but something that does bother me retrospectively.

However, if you hadn’t told me it was the cut version: I probably wouldn’t have noticed. Whether cut or uncut: Dying Light 2 is brutal and has moments that feel like a horror game.

This depends largely on the time of day in the game, as the horror begins at night.

More on the topic

Don’t buy the wrong Dying Light 2: What co-op players should pay attention to

von Tarek Zehrer

At Night, Dying Light 2 Sometimes Feels Like Real Horror

Why is the night so dangerous: Unlike many other open-world games, the day-night cycle in Dying Light 2 has a crucial impact. The differences are huge. In Dying Light 2, zombies are primarily nocturnal. While this was only true for some specific types in the first part, now most zombies follow a daily rhythm.

• During the day, most zombies “sleep” in houses, while the streets are swarming with them at night. Then, more dangerous variants also come to light. As a player, it is advisable to keep on the rooftops at night and avoid being on the streets as much as possible.
• If you are spotted by so-called screamers, they make a hell of a noise and summon the entire zombie neighborhood onto you. If that happens, a so-called “hunt” begins. All zombies in the vicinity hunt you down if they can see you.
• The longer it takes to shake them off, the higher the hunt level rises. There are a total of four levels, with each comes more and more dangerous zombies. Usually, there is only one way to protect yourself from them: safe houses.

In the game world, there are small and large refuges for humans equipped with UV lamps. These UV lamps are dangerous to zombies, which is why they cannot enter these illuminated areas. Thus, you must keep an eye out for the next place illuminated by UV lamps during a hunt.

Additionally, you are also infected. If you spend too much time in the darkness, your immunity runs out and you turn into a zombie, which means game over. You have only a limited amount of time before you need to return to the light. The time pressure creates additional stress and can even lead to slight panic, especially if you’ve focused too much on looting and have no time left to get to the light.

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Why should one be out at night? Well. When zombies leave their homes at night, they are not full of zombies anymore. Valuable loot awaits to be found there. There are several quests and side activities that can only be completed at night.

But just because most zombies are on the streets, doesn’t mean there won’t be any problems indoors. Some homebodies can usually still be found.

All these factors make the night in Dying Light 2 feel threatening, and being chased by a horde of zombies is quite a kick, especially at the beginning when you are still poorly equipped.

But how does Dying Light 2 play?

Dying Light 2 Mixes Survival Horror with Action Gameplay and RPG Elements

How does Dying Light 2 play? First of all, I must say that I did not play Dying Light 1 back then. The game is on the index in Germany and I was too lazy to order it from abroad.

Now, after playing a good chunk of Dying Light 2, I have to say: That was a mistake. Because Dying Light 2 mixes elements that I really enjoy.

• The combat system is easy to control but gains more depth through additional skills. I played with a controller, which I prefer for story-focused action games.
• Parkour feels incredibly fluid with some practice. It’s a lot of fun to move through the game world and look as cool as possible while doing so. It reminded me a lot of Mirror’s Edge (or Assassin’s Creed when it still focused on parkour).
• These two systems are influenced by the skill system, with which you unlock more climbing and combat abilities.
• You gain experience by fighting and climbing. Both values receive continuous experience points for their respective activities.
• Through crafting, you can create useful items like medicine and various boosters that help you. You can also make various mods for your weapons.

All systems are meaningfully interconnected. Your gameplay automatically ensures that you improve your character and unlock more skills. Thus, you become stronger, which in turn allows you to find better equipment.

Every loot in the game world, from rice to alcohol, has a use, either as crafting material or for sale. All of this does not feel overwhelming, but is learned quickly.

In close combat, you have one-handed and two-handed weapons at your disposal. There are also bows and items like grenades, Molotov cocktails, C4 explosives, UV light sticks, throwing knives, and various baits. With the right blueprints, these can also be crafted.

With these tools, you can either charge straight into battle or take a tactical approach and distract zombie hordes. Be cautious when using grenades and such, as the noise attracts zombies to your position.

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However, many of these points can also be criticized in Dying Light 2. The equipment system is not particularly deep, and you cannot build real builds. Some potential has been left untapped here.

Dying Light 2 Tells Interesting Stories and Has Tough Decisions

What role does the story play? The focus on the narrative is surprisingly strong for a zombie game. At the start, I was immediately thrown into conflicts between the factions. I had to make moral decisions right away and consider who I wanted to ally with and who could be trusted.

The plot may not win an Oscar and the presentation usually happens plainly through dialogues. However, I had no major expectations for the story and was pleasantly surprised.

There were some interesting characters and twists that kept it exciting. Aiden’s goals often conflict with the goals of other characters, or they help each other out because both sides benefit.

It can indeed happen that you must make decisions for or against a faction. However, I haven’t been able to officially join any so far. Aiden is regarded by the inhabitants as an outsider who must first earn trust. This allows us to navigate and find ourselves with Aiden in this unfamiliar city.

It is hard to estimate how far along I am after around 45 hours. According to other tests, I should be in the last third of the main story. It is said to take around 80 hours to complete everything.

What about side missions? There are several, and some of them offer really interesting stories. While some missions are multi-stage quests, others are simply short dialogues in which you learn more about the people.

Techland has made an effort to make the game world and its inhabitants feel believable. However, there are also plenty of simple collect quests that have never bored me because it is simply too much fun to dash through the game world via parkour.

More on the topic

Dying Light 2 in a short check – Why you should play it and for whom it is worthwhile

von Maik Schneider

“The City” Is a Huge Open-World Playground

This is how the open world is structured: While the game world is open, you cannot just jump from one part of the city to another. You can only leave the first area called Old Villedor by progressing in the main story.

Old Villedor is located away from the center. Here the buildings are mostly a maximum of 2-3 stories high and it seems to be primarily residential areas. Later, I managed to reach the Central Loop. This is the city center. Here there are many skyscrapers and some wooded areas.

Due to the varying heights of the buildings, street widths, and many other factors, the gameplay changes depending on the district. While you can seamlessly run over rooftops in Old Villedor, it is more challenging to stay on the rooftops in the center.

However, you quickly receive a glider that allows you to overcome these hurdles. In the game world, you can find ventilation shafts that provide uplift and can elevate you into the air.

The game world is designed quite varied except for some repetitive assets and interiors. There is almost always something to find and see. Nice details like graffiti scattered throughout the city also add to this, reminding me of games like The Division.

Some parts of the city occasionally resemble each other strongly, and interiors sometimes seem copied. More effort was needed here because some parts of the game world feel very…generic.

Technically Mostly Clean, Only One (Almost) “Gamebreaking” Bug

What about the tech? My Steam version runs mostly without problems. However, it seems that in the early version, some graphic features like upscaling or ray tracing do not work smoothly yet.

While upscaling provides a decent performance boost, it has visibly degraded the visuals in some areas, while ray tracing consumes considerable performance without making a significant difference.

Now and then there were framerate drops, but apart from that, I had no major issues. Until a bug appeared that blocked my progress.

What kind of bug is that? It pertains to the travel from Old Villedor to the Central Loop. At one point, I fast traveled back from the Loop to Old Villedor. Then I realized: I couldn’t get back into the Central Loop to continue the story.

There was no fast travel point, and the original path was only open on a story mission that was no longer accessible. Therefore, my game progress was blocked.

Fortunately, I found a trick with the glider to get back. Before that, however, I had reluctantly completed nearly everything there was to do in Old Villedor. Annoying, but this bug should not be in the game at release. The developers have explained to me that many bugs will be fixed at release – including this one.

Some players might be bothered by the graphics, which appear somewhat outdated. Personally, it did not bother me at all; I find the quality sufficient.

By the way: The preload for Dying Light is already running. You can already download it to start on time.

What Happens After Release? According to developer Techland, Dying Light 2 will be provided with new content for over 5 years. This will include both free and paid DLCs.

You can find a roadmap until June with the known DLCs overview