New Dying Light 2 gameplay shows that stealth might be fun this time around

The slow trickle of Dying Light 2 information continued today during episode 2 of the game's official reveal stream, Dying 2 Know. The stream focused mostly on the game's special zombie types in a new gameplay clip from what appears to be near the beginning of the game.

The gameplay clip follows the protagonist, Aiden Caldwell, and a freerunning friend as they sneak through a zombie-infested hospital to nab a few wristbands that will let them know if they're ever about to turn into zombies (a little ironic considering what they go through to get them, but they are basically zombie killing machines). During the stream, Techland said that Dying Light 2's stealth will be majorly improved compared to the first game. I thought the stealth was fine in the 2015 original, but it was pretty annoying to dodge zombies' vision cones at night.

In the new clip, we see what looks like more freeform rules for when a zombie will spot you. As long as Aiden keeps quiet and low, he can get pretty close without causing a stir. That said, this was a linear mission presented as a scripted sequence, so how these systems interact with a normal player still getting used to the game has yet to be seen.

We also got a good look at the zombie types, most of which will sound familiar to folks that have shot or sliced up zombies in other videogames:

Revenant, the one with spikes on its back
Demolisher, the one that throws rocks
Banshee, the agile one with a big claw hand
Howler, the one that can call for help
Volatile, the one that can pounce

I also spotted some sort of acid-spitting zombie, which officially checks off the last box and makes Dying Light 2 a certified zombie game. If you're catching up on Dying Light 2 news, Techland recently revealed that the game will finally release on December 7, 2021.

Morgan has been writing for PC Gamer since 2018, first as a freelancer and currently as a staff writer. He has also appeared on Polygon, Kotaku, Fanbyte, and PCGamesN. Before freelancing, he spent most of high school and all of college writing at small gaming sites that didn't pay him. He's very happy to have a real job now. Morgan is a beat writer following the latest and greatest shooters and the communities that play them. He also writes general news, reviews, features, the occasional guide, and bad jokes in Slack. Twist his arm, and he'll even write about a boring strategy game. Please don't, though.