Dying Light 2: UK release date on PS5 and Xbox, will it be on Game Pass, gameplay, trailer - pre-order details

After a troubled development cycle which included writers and long-time employees leaving the company amid rumours of conflicting visions of the game, the sequel to a cult gaming hit of 2015 is finally.

Expect more dramatic parkour-powered encounters with hungry zombies, when Dying Light 2 drags us back into the apocalyptic open-world action series, enhanced with a more interactive and impactful storyline.

Two years on from its initial release date, the game is finally being released, so what can players expect?

Here is everything you need to know about it.

What is Dying Light?

Released in 2015, Dying Light was an action-adventure game with a story that followed undercover agent Kyle Crane, sent to infiltrate a quarantine zone in a Middle-eastern city called Harran.

Taking place within a zombie-ridden open-world, the game’s dynamic day-night cycle drastically affected the way enemies behaved, with foes being slow and clumsy during the daytime, but becoming extremely aggressive at night.

With first-person gameplay focused not only on weapons-based combat but a parkour traversal system, players were usually always given the chance to flee from encounters in stylish ways, or stand and fight.

What happens in Dying Light 2?

Dying Light 2: Stay Human takes place two decades after the events of the first game, and moves its action to a new, European setting known only as “The City”.

Gameplay demos have shown fans can expect much of the same, but with refinements to the parkour and melee systems.

The game’s traversal system has been beefed up for the sequel, with a grappling hook and a paraglider also now available to the player.

Alongside the returning action-adventure of the first game, a number of RPG-esque gameplay mechanics are being introduced, such as weapons which can be upgraded with blueprints and components.

Developer’s Techland have also hyped up the storyline, with different factions promising multiple playthroughs to see everything The City has to offer.

The player will have to make different decisions that fundamentally change the state of the game's world and how non-playable characters view Aiden.

The consequences are far-reaching, with the player being able to bring prosperity to a faction while completely destroying another settlement, and making certain decisions will open up or seal-off areas in the city, encouraging multiple playthroughs.

Will it be any good?

The game has been beset by myriad issues during the course of its development.

It was initially announced back in 2018, with a tentative release date of early 2020.

But in January of that year, Techland announced that the game would be delayed out of its early 2020 window to allow additional development time.

American video game designer and comic book writer Chris Avellone was also drafted in to help write the game’s story,but in June 2020, sexual misconduct allegations made against Avellone forced the end of his involvement with Dying Light 2.

He has since filed a libel lawsuit and vehemently denied sexual misconduct of any kind, calling the allegations malicious and false.

A revised release date of December 2021 was eventually revealed, but the game was pushed back again to its current release date of 4 February 2022.

When can I play it?

Dying Light 2: Stay Human will be released on Friday 4 February 2022.

The game will be available on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

The game will also be available to play on Nintendo Switch consoles, although only as a “cloud version”, which will require an internet connection to stream the game.

As to whether it will be made available through Microsoft’s Game Pass subscription service, there’s nothing to say that Dying Light 2 will be coming.

Where can I pre-order it?

Dying Light 2: Stay Human is currently available to pre-order through Amazon for £59.99.

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