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2015’s Dying Light was known for its parkour, but also for how it became more of a horror game when the sun went down. Techland dialed back the tension for the sequel, making nighttime more approachable. And according to a Dying Light 2 developer, the team might have overreacted with this change.
Dying Light 2’s latest update brings back some of the tension from the first game
Senior producer Michał Borecki spoke about this on a stream detailing the big new Good Night, Good Luck update for Dying Light 2. While explaining the changes, he admitted that the studio scaled back a bit too much of the stress from the first game.
“We really wanted to bring back the night from Dying Light 1, but we kind of overdid it in the first version of [Dying Light 2],” said Borecki. “So we tried to find a balance between the scary dark nights [of the first game] and the more approachable nights in Dying Light 2. We think we’ve struck the balance [between both games].”
There are a few ways that Techland has brought back the tenser atmosphere of the original. Volatiles, the big zombies with the bisected bottom jaws, roam the streets and rooftops and offer a greater threat. There is even a new optional filter that makes nighttime a bit darker. Borecki also said the sound effects and flashlight have been upgraded to make sneaking easier.
The ongoing Bloody Nights event lets players test these new changes, too. It runs until July 13 and has players looting valuables at night, which will get more dangerous as time passes.
Techland talked about how players avoided nighttime in the first game because it was too dangerous, something senior PR specialist Paulina Dziedziak repeated in the stream. Dying Light 2 had zombies that would scream and start a chase, but these enemies could be avoided and shaken relatively easily. The change made nighttime more manageable, but some complained that this was far less interesting than the first game, which shifted into more of a horror game with its roaming Volatiles that caused players to play more carefully.
The Good Night, Good Luck update contains a few changes that are in response to player feedback. Dying Light 2’s parkour was criticized by fans of the first game, as many complained that it stopped the player’s momentum and felt too floaty. This criticisms can be visualized though a video from YouTuber Noviex that uses Cheat Engine to display how the player’s velocity is often halted or diminished. This update not only adds more air control, but also lets players keep their momentum more easily and yields two parkour styles — Physical and Assisted — that take off or add assists.