We’ve seen quite a bit of Dying Light 2 from E3 public conferences, but TheGamer was treated to a private hands-off demo where the game’s key points where highlighted. The parkour is still there, as are the brutal and varied kill animations. But the people from developer Techland wanted to make one point clear: this is a game where choices matter.
It’s a narrative we’ve heard before, but one that rarely ever gets fully delivered upon. Game developers exclaim that we, the player are in control, that we shape the world. When that claim does prove true, it can often come off as manufactured. Choices are either extremely simple or don’t really affect the story. It’s a matter of which faction gets pissed and comes after you.
Techland is trying to prevent that mechanical feel in Dying Light 2, and showed us (and several other people) a demo that presented many quick choices in about a 30 minute span.
It seems many of us were curious about just how much the player’s choices impacted this turn of events. One person asked if choosing to not turn on the water would make it so the flooded area wasn’t unlocked. Another asked if playing the parkour section differently could allow us to sidestep the “accidental” encounter with infected. Could we really make choices that denied us entire events and locations?
Maybe? The designer who answered wanted to avoid spoilers, so he wouldn’t say exactly what the alternate choices brought. He did say that we will see “about 50%” of the game in one playthrough. Also, co-op play allows you to see another player’s city. He claimed that another player’s city could be drastically different from your own, implying that we really will be able to change the world itself through our choices.
It’s a bold claim, but one that Techland is really trying to pull off. People seem to believe in them, as the tweet above shows them winning a lot of “Best of E3” awards. Dying Light 2 comes out next year, so they have time to make it happen.
