Before release, Techland stated that Dying Light 2 would feature over 500 hours of gameplay, including a fairly lengthy 20-hour campaign, an additional 60 hours of side content, and a slew of collectibles and encounters. While these numbers may have been a little skewed for promotional purposes, Dying Light 2 is still a massive game, often taking over 100 hours to beat.
For those looking for even more Dying Light 2 content, the most recent 1.3.0 update has finally added the much-anticipated New Game Plus mode. Being immediately accessible after the player finishes the main story, Dying Light 2's New Game Plus mode sees the player return to Villedor with all their upgrades and gear, ready to face the city's horrors once more, but this time with even more challenging foes and objectives.
How To Access Dying Light 2's New Game Plus Mode
Accessing Dying Light 2's New Game Plus mode is as easy as it could be. All players need to do is finish the game's main story, and select the New Game Plus option when prompted. This will send players all the way back to the start of the game, searching abandoned houses with Spike again.
This time, however, players will be equipped with all the gear they had prior to finishing the campaign. Any weapons and upgrades the player had will all be available right away. The only gear that doesn't make the transition, and needs to be unlocked again, are the Nightrunner Tools, such as the Grappling Hook, Paraglider, and UV Flashlight.
New Game Plus' Added Challenge
The big draw of Dying Light 2's New Game Plus mode is that it adds a significant amount of challenge to the game, enticing players who have otherwise already spent countless hours in the game. Dying Light 2's New Game Plus mode achieves this higher level of challenge in a few ways.
New Game Plus mode brings more difficult enemy AI to Dying Light 2. Along with enemies acting more aggressive towards the player, their level also scales with the player's, ensuring that players are challenged at all times through their new run. Some enemies placements have also been tweaked, keeping seasoned players on their toes. Special Infected spawn rates have also been increased, making it more likely that the player will encounter these dangerous foes while traversing from one objective to another.
Dying Light 2's New Game Plus mode also adds a "Platinum" tier to Parkour Challenges, requiring the player to complete these time trials in even less time. To earn a spot on the leaderboard, players will need to use every trick in the Nightrunner's book to succeed.
New Game Plus' New Content
On top of some tweaks to enemy AI, challenge difficulty, and enemy placement, Dying Light 2's New Game Plus mode is also adding some brand new content to the game. While this new content likely won't blow anyone's mind, it may be enough to get veteran Dying Light 2 players back on board for round two.
30 new Inhibitors have been scattered across Villedor, each one being hidden in various buildings, nests, and camps. Once found, these Inhibitors will further extend the player's health and stamina meters, which they'll certainly need if they plan on taking on New Game Plus' more challenging foes.
New Game Plus is also bringing a new Legendary weapon tier to Dying Light 2. These new weapons can be obtained by seeking out special encounters, which are highlighted with a bright orange icon on the player's map during the night. At these locations, a group of enemies needs to be taken down. Doing so should reward the player with a new Legendary weapon, indicated with a bright orange border. These new weapons range from axes to swords, each one capable of dealing a significant amount of damage.
Dying Light 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A Switch version is in development.