Dying Light 2: Stay Human is one of my most anticipated games of 2022. And when there was a slim chance we’d see it in 2021, it was one of my most anticipated games of that year too. As we get closer to the game’s February 4 release date, it’s fair to say that my personal hype levels are about to reach a crescendo. In other words, I am amped up to 11.
Maybe that tweet about 500 hours of content was a bit much. But even so, there’s a lot to be excited about. And now, with the release of the new gameplay trailer, titled The Reason, it’s like I’m seeing even more reasons to be excited. Let’s get into it.
The original Dying Light was a game about parkour and zombie slaying, but at its heart was focused storytelling. And from the looks of it, Dying Light 2 will be no slouch in the narrative department. One of the more intriguing elements of this narrative is the world in which it’s set.
There’s a sort of ramshackle, cobbled-together city where residents huddle together for safety. The seedy bars and nightclubs remind me of something out of the television series Defiance. These elements existed in the original game, but that game was focused on a society that had only recently fallen — in fact, you might argue that it was still in the process of falling. Now, 15 years later, we see how humanity has progressed and evolved since the fall of Harran. Needless to say, things haven’t gotten any prettier.
The new trailer also gives us a decent sampling of the sorts of people we will encounter, the various factions the player will have to work alongside (and also possibly stab in the back) as they attempt to help find Aiden’s missing sister.
Which brings me to my next point. Maybe I just haven’t been paying as much attention as I should have been, but I hadn’t really picked up on how much finding Aiden’s missing sibling seems to factor into the central narrative. But seeing that angle fleshed out really lends a human angle to a game subtitled Stay Human, which now makes more sense within that context.
It was also nice seeing Rosario Dawson’s character Lawan in action. I love Rosario, and I look forward to absorbing her performance.
But really, at the end of the day, we all know that is the biggest draw for most of us is the parkour-style zombie-slaying. And boy howdy, is it on full display in this trailer — and it’s looking mighty fine, I might add. I can already feel my stomach jumping into my throat at the thought of making leaps of faith from rooftops. Seeing just how high up you can get in Dying Light 2? Well, I think It’s safe to say that some nails are going to get nervously bitten.
I was already all-in on Dying Light 2: Stay Human before this trailer dropped, so seeing more of it is only whetting my appetite further. I would be curious to see if this trailer will sway fence-sitters to take the plunge, though, so feel free to leave your impressions down in the comments.
In the meantime, you can check out The Reason trailer below. Dying Light 2: Stay Human comes out February 4, 2022, from for Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and PC. It’s also coming to Nintendo Switch via the Cloud.
