The build-up for Dying Light 2 is reaching new heights as information is revealed, including an eerie new teaser video posted to the game's official Twitter account. This short clip does an excellent job of building tension, unease, and anticipation for Dying Light 2's release.
Techland recently held a Dying Light 2 AMA to reveal a number of details about the upcoming open-world zombie game, including the fact that Dying Light 2 will contain far more free-roam events than the first game and no returning characters. However, the AMA also said the actions of Dying Light protagonist Kyle Crane would play a large role in how the events and setting of Dying Light 2 came to be. This suggests the sequel will build off the ending where Crane survives, only to become infected and spread the virus to a populated area. If so, the story of Dying Light 2 promises to be a tragic one, and the foreboding tone of the teaser certainly fits that mood.
RELATED: Dying Light 2 is Ditching Guns, Kind Of
The teaser video is nine seconds long and begins with a long shot of a concrete wall covered in graffiti. For most of the video, the wall shows three words scrawled in black against a dull red background: "Save The City." Birdsong is heard as the light turns red and fades with a simulated sunset. Once night falls, the peaceful tone shifts as flickering streetlights illuminate a different message: "Are You Dying 2" in pale yellow and pink text, with the red background turned an uncanny shade of blue. The result is an excellent showcase of Dying Light 2's day and night cycle that is is disquieting.
The teaser manages to evoke a feeling of unease without showing a single zombie. Both phrases found in it have connections to the events of Dying Light, particularly that infected ending, which suggests that Kyle Crane may return as an antagonist the way Alex Mercer did in Prototype 2. Hopefully, Dying Light 2 pulls off the transformation from protagonist to villain more smoothly.
Reportedly, players will not have to play Dying Light in order to understand Dying Light 2. This could mean Dying Light 2 is sufficiently distanced from the events of the first game that any connections will come off as Easter eggs. It could also mean that Dying Light 2 will simply reintroduce the world and conflicts it contains for new players. Whatever the case, Techland has recently trademarked the title Dying Light 2: Stay Human, which could put this teaser's hidden message in a whole new context.
Dying Light 2 is in development for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.