What better way to celebrate Halloween month than with a deep dive into one of the most eagerly anticipated horror games around? In Edge 364, which you can buy here, we talk to lead designer Tymon Smektala about Techland’s Dying Light 2: Stay Human, and find out why it’s much more than a straight sequel.
Set 15 years after the original, this expansive follow-up relocates the action to a new city, Villedor, in a new era the developer is calling the “Modern Dark Ages”. It’s a brutal, lawless place even before you take the zombies into consideration. But here you have the opportunity to leave your own mark – and with more interesting new abilities at the beginning of the skill tree, you won’t have to wait as long to start your power grab.
It’s a more dynamic game in every sense. Free-running and combat now flow together rather than feeling like separate entities as they did in the first game. “You can, for example, jump off a guy high into the air and land with a powerful blow. Or maybe lean on the guy and use that extra support to kick another guy with a parkour kick,” Smektala says.
Your environment, meanwhile, can be transformed by the choices you make. At first, it’s about gaining control of districts and adding features to make the zombie threat a little more manageable. As Smektala explains, “Some might install ziplines making traversal much easier; others install huge pendulums you control with a remote trigger so you can lure biters into those streets and activate it.”
At other points, you face the kind of decisions that will have you putting the pad down to chew over them as you consider their potential impact. Draining a flooded district, for example, opens up new areas to explore, but also introduces a new enemy threat. Yet that also provides an extra incentive to play the game in co-op: visiting a friend’s version of Villedor gives you the chance to see how things would have played out had you taken the other path.
E364’s expansive 14-page feature includes plenty more fascinating details, such as how the game encourages night-time raids, while Smektala offers insights into the game’s delay to early next year.
If Villedor sounds a little too dark and disturbing, E364 has you covered with the bright, cheerful open worlds of DokeV and Tchia, as we talk to the developers behind two of the biggest hits from GamesCom and Sony’s PlayStation showcase. In Time Extend, we look back at the exhilarating chaos of Treasure’s last console game, Sin & Punishment: Successor Of The Skies. And our Making Of feature this month tells the story behind the creation of one of the year’s very best games, Chicory: A Colorful Tale.
Talking of GOTY contenders, Arkane’s Deathloop heads up a packed review section, which also includes verdicts on Jett: The Far Shore, Sable, The Artful Escape, Tales Of Arise, Kena: Bridge Of Spirits, the brilliant Bonfire Peaks and more. Plenty to sink your teeth into, in other words, so make sure you grab Edge 364 today.
Edge 363 is in UK shops now, and can also be ordered for delivery via Magazines Direct. To buy the issue digitally, head to Apple’s App Store or PocketMags.
