Players were quick to dismiss Dying Light before release, chalking it up as just another zombie game. The market was a little saturated with other zombie games at the time, like Dead Island, Dead Rising, Black Ops Zombies, and Zombie Army Trilogy all releasing within close proximity of each other, many players were just burnt out on zombie media.
However, Dying Light eventually turned heads with its unique parkour emphasis, its day/night cycle gameplay, and its impressive visuals. The game's unique zombies and monsters were also a key highlight of the experience, and the sequel, Dying Light 2: Stay Human, seems as though it's going to expand on this element tenfold.
The Dying Light 2 Zombie Life Cycle
Dying Light 2 is introducing an infected "life cycle" in the game, meaning that each zombie encountered in the game is in one, or has evolved from, a specific stage. The first stage in a Dying Light 2 zombie's life cycle is called the "Viral" stage. Here, the zombie is essentially still a human, meaning that they possess the same level of agility and fitness as they did prior to infection. This makes this enemy a tough one, as they will chase the player down if spotted, and will do so with extreme speed and strength.
These zombies focus on attacking with brute force, using their fists to punch the player. As the Virals have only just been turned, they can often be heard mumbling and even speaking still, but that glimpse of humanity soon fades as the infection starts to take over, and the Viral continues this zombie life cycle.
The next stage of the life cycle is the "Biter" stage. This is where the enemy appears most like a traditional "zombie," moving quite slowly and staggering towards the player as opposed to sprinting after them. These zombies are named on their method of attack, which is primarily grabbing and biting, in an attempt to infect the player.
Before the final stage of the life cycle, zombies have a chance of evolving into a "Volatile," an extremely fast and aggresive enemy. These Volatiles are an extreme challenge for the player, often requiring high level weapons to defeat, meaning that escape by parkour is realistically the only real way out. Stealth can also be used throughout Dying Light 2, and is recommended with these enemies, as Volatiles will apparently huddle together in groups of two or three.
The final stage in the zombie life cycle is known as the "Degenerate" state, named after the visual appearance of these enemy types. These zombies are extremely weak and slow, having been weakened over time by the Sun's UV light to the point at which their flesh is falling off in chunks.
Further Evolutions and Mutations
While the vast majority of zombies within Dying Light 2 will follow the set life cycle pattern, there are a few further evolutions and mutated zombies in Dying Light 2 that the player will come across, each with their own set of abilities and quirks.
For instance, the "Banshee" is an infected with extremely long claws who will cause significant damage to the player. The "Howler" emits a horrific screech when it spots the player, which alters all the surrounding infected. The "Drowner" seems as though it's going to be solely water-based, making any underwater sections of the game extremely tense. A slow yet deceptively powerful monster, the "Revenant" secretes a mist that buffs all surrounding zombies. The final confirmed type of infected is a "Demolisher," a large and extremely aggressive infected that seems to act in a similar way to Left 4 Dead's "Tank" infected.
Though there's still a few months to go before release, fans of the first game should be excited about this slew of new monstrosities. Cleaving your way through hordes of the undead should be more terrifying than ever.
Dying Light 2: Stay Human releases on February 4, 2022, for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.