First-person zombie apocalypse RPG Dying Light 2 will be coming to PC and consoles in early 2020, and developers Techland have aimed for the sequel to 2015’s first, well received game to be a lot more involved and broader in scope. New protagonist Aiden faces a humanity on the edge of extinction, and naturally has hoardes of zombies to deal with as he traverses ‘The City’, a massive urban open world, which is four times bigger than the one in the original game.
In a new interview, Techland’s Chris Avellone, Kornel Jaskula, and Paweł Rohleder have been chatting about Dying Light 2’s morality system.
“We have created our playable character with a certain goal in mind,” Jaskula explained. “We want Aiden to be a mere vessel, a shell that the player fills with their decisions. The Aiden that emerges in the end will be shaped by the player’s own moral compass.”
However, in Dying Light 2, you’ll have to answer for your own transgressions.
“There’s no traditional morality bar or a Karma system like you’d find in other games – you are the judge of your own actions,” confirms Avellone. “Ultimately you know why you’re making a choice, what the intention was behind your choice, then you face the consequences of your choice. Even if you had the best of intentions, it’s entirely possible to make a choice that will cause others to regard you as a villain or an enemy – and choices you may have made for selfish reasons may end up causing the inhabitants of the City to interpret it as an act of goodwill.”
Avellone also revealed that it’s possible to play through Dying Light 2 as a “just want to watch the world burn” type.
“Dying Light 2 is designed to allow the player to play any number of roles – helpful benefactor, selfish looter, ruthless pragmatist, betrayer, or even a trickster if they wish, and you can definitely turn the factions against themselves and individuals against each other. There may be many instances where such behavior earns rewards, both expected and some unexpected… but unexpected consequences as well. While you can orchestrate chaos, there’s also the danger of being swept up in it as well.”
The Polish publisher previously confessed that the first game is still giving them opportunities to shape Dying Light 2, by testing out features and seeing if they work before adding them to the sequel.
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