Best Upcoming Open World Games in 2019
Dying Light 2
Dying Light set the bar very high for the series. It managed to impose itself on a saturated zombie genre, standing apart with its unique blend of first-person melee combat and parkour, and an open world that shifted and changed depending with day/night cycle.
It certainly proved popular. Techland’s original Dying Light has been played by over 13 million people since its launch back in 2015.
So how does the developer improve on things this time around?
From what we saw at E3 2018, Dying Light 2 is bigger and more ambitious in virtually every aspect of its design. Most notably, RPG elements have now been weaved into the experience, putting a much greater emphasis on story and decision-making.
The map is huge —four times the size of the original– and its split into different zones controlled by various different factions. Every decision and action that players make throughout the narrative totally shifts and changes the strength and influence of these controlling factions.
To make room for this new dynamic, zombies only come out a night where before they’d still roam to some extent. So there’s an even greater contrast between the gameplay during the day and night this time around.
All of this in combination with sharper, more brutal combat and even more intuitive parkour and Dying Light 2 is one impressive package. So much so, in fact, that we gave it one of our Game of the Show awards at E3 2018.
Dying Light 2’s release date is set for 2019, with no specific date confirmed.
