Dying Light 2 Stay Human may be a first-person game, but developer Techland were always insistent it wasn’t a first-person shooter. While there were a few hacked-together firearms in the game, their use was very limited – the game was almost all about melee combat. This was explained in-game by the fact that Dying Light 2 takes place a couple of decades after the first game in a world that’s essentially returned to a feudal society where most mechanical things, including guns, have broken down or been destroyed.
Well, despite all that, some fans continued to hope gunplay would return (it was a feature in the first Dying Light) and surprise – it’s coming this week! A new video posted exclusively on Game Rant (sorry, no embed) shows various automatic weapons being used to mow down zombies. Dying Light 2 lead designer Tymon Smektala promises guns haven’t just been thoughtlessly tossed back in either – there will be some storyline reason for their return.
“It was quite a challenge for us, especially in terms of world-building, because, as you know, Dying Light 2 was originally crafted to be a universe without firearms. That being said, in response to your numerous requests stressing how important this is to you, what else could we say than, well... challenge accepted!”
Smektala further described the upcoming update, which will also include visual improvements to lighting, environments, and even the zombies’ faces…
“Our upcoming [Firearms] update is very different from the previous ones, which were focused mainly on adding and tweaking mechanics, like new enemy variants and crafting options. This update brings a bunch of new gaming content for both solo and co-op players. I also have a gut feeling that Dying Light 1 fans will be happy as well. We allowed ourselves a couple of crazy ideas here. Did I say a couple? I might be selling it short.
You can also expect several smaller and larger features. Some relate to the visual layer, like new vegetation, skyboxes, and improved faces of our zombies to create a more mature and expressive gaming experience.”
It isn’t all good news though, as Techland is pushing back the Tower Raids and Nightmare Mode they promised previously, but they are now at the top of their priority list. The new update will launch alongside the new Dying Light 2 Stay Human – Reloaded Edition, which packages everything added to the game thus far (a price tag has not yet been revealed).
Dying Light 2 Stay Human can be played on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and Switch (via the cloud). The Firearms update and Reloaded Edition drop this coming Thursday (February 22).
