Game images by RAWG
Dying Light 2 Stay Human
Techland
About This Game
Super ReviewDying Light 2 Stay Human is a graphically intense open-world action RPG where players use parkour and brutal melee combat to survive a zombie apocalypse. Its mature themes, extreme violence, and unmoderated online social features warrant significant parental caution, despite opportunities for teamwork and creative problem-solving.
Super Review
Parent verdict
This game is a decent fit primarily for older teens (17+) who are mature enough to handle its extremely graphic violence, strong language, and disturbing themes. While it offers engaging parkour and cooperative play, the significant risks from content intensity and potential online interactions mean it's best approached with clear family rules and supervision, rather than a casual recommendation.
What players actually do
- Players traverse a sprawling, zombie-infested city using elaborate parkour moves like wall-running and gliding to navigate obstacles and escape danger, exercising spatial awareness and timing.
- Players engage in brutal first-person melee combat against hordes of infected and hostile human factions, utilizing various improvised weapons and environmental hazards to survive and strategize attacks.
- Players make moral choices that directly impact the game's story and the layout of the open world, encouraging consideration of consequences and narrative influence.
Where it shines
- The combination of fluid parkour and visceral combat provides players with creative ways to approach survival and express themselves through movement and fighting styles.
- An expansive open world encourages exploration and strategic planning, as players navigate a dynamic day-night cycle where threats intensify after dark.
Parent watch-outs
- The game features extremely graphic violence, including explicit depictions of decapitation, dismemberment, and abundant blood and gore, which can be highly disturbing.
- Online cooperative play includes unmoderated voice and text chat with strangers, exposing players to strong language, toxic behavior, and potentially inappropriate conversations.
- Themes are consistently bleak and mature, including a scene depicting suicide if the player fails to intervene, and morally ambiguous decisions that can be emotionally heavy.
- A premium currency system allows players to purchase cosmetic items, potentially encouraging overspending to acquire bundles that may cost more than intended.
Family rules worth setting
- Set strict rules about online interaction, such as disabling voice and text chat, or only playing with known friends in a supervised setting.
- Discuss and agree upon spending limits for in-game purchases, making it clear that premium currency for cosmetics is unnecessary for gameplay progression.
Talk about this
- Discuss the impact of graphic violence and strong language in media: How does it make you feel, and what are healthy ways to process intense content?
- Explore the moral dilemmas presented in the game's narrative: What choices did you make, and how did they reflect your values or understanding of consequences?
- Talk about the social dynamics of online gaming: How can you maintain positive interactions and what steps can you take to protect yourself from negativity?
Play style
Dying Light 2 offers a core gameplay loop of intense survival and exploration, blending fast-paced parkour with strategic combat. Sessions can be varied, from quick treks across the city to longer story missions or cooperative expeditions with up to three other players. Difficulty can be challenging, particularly at night when more dangerous infected emerge. Players may need help with navigating complex environments, managing resources, or overcoming particularly tough enemy encounters, especially when playing solo.
Score Breakdown
Positive Aspects
Risk Factors
Why this rating
Educational Value
1/5The game scores 1 for Educational Value as it lacks explicit educational content or design intended for learning. While it might involve some critical thinking for survival and resource management, these are inherent to the genre rather than direct learning objectives.
Addictive Monetization
3/5Addictive Monetization scores 3 due to the implementation of a premium currency system for cosmetic items. This system can encourage players to buy more currency than immediately needed, potentially leading to overspending on non-essential purchases.
Social Risk
4/5Social Risk receives a score of 4 because of the online cooperative mode that includes unmoderated voice and text chat with strangers. This exposes players to potential toxic interactions, strong language, and inappropriate conversations, requiring strict parental controls.
Content Intensity
4/5Content Intensity is rated 4 due to the extremely graphic violence, including decapitation and dismemberment with detailed blood and gore effects, and strong language. Additionally, the game features disturbing mature themes, such as a scene depicting suicide and suggestive dialogue.
Negatives
- •Contains extremely graphic violence, including decapitation and dismemberment, along with strong language and suggestive themes.
- •Online features include voice and text chat with strangers, which can expose younger players to unmoderated and potentially toxic interactions.
- •Features a premium currency system for cosmetic items that can encourage overspending.
- •The game's themes are bleak and mature, including a scene depicting suicide.
Positives
- •Players can express themselves through creative parkour and combat, and make narrative decisions that visibly shape the game world.
- •Offers an online cooperative mode for up to four players, encouraging teamwork and shared experiences.
- •The open-world environment is large and detailed, promoting exploration and strategic thinking.
Other Recommended Games
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
Asobo Studio
Same platform, Same business model, Similar gameplay style, Higher health score
Grounded 2
Obsidian Entertainment
Same platform, Same business model, Similar gameplay style, Higher health score
Project Zomboid
The Indie Stone
Same platform, Same business model, Similar gameplay style, Higher health score
The Orange Box
Valve Software
Same platform, Same business model, Similar gameplay style, Higher health score
Official Ratings
No official ratings available.
Age Fit
Help us rate the next game
GameCompass is free for every family and takes nothing from game studios. A coffee is what puts the next game on the list.
Buy us a coffeeWhat support pays for