Let’s be honest, 99% of the time choices in video games really don’t matter. A slightly different outcome, a few changed lines of dialogue, or maybe a party member dying earlier in the narrative instead of a little later. It’s rare for the choices you make in a game to be truly impactful, outside maybe getting a certain ending. But Techland is looking to buck that trend with the upcoming Dying Light 2, which they say will be impacted in huge ways depending on the choices you make.
In a GamesIndustry interview with Tymon Smektala, Lead Designer at Techland, he talked about the evolution of the game, particularly how they used the first game as a sort of experiment for things they wanted to do in the sequel, something they mentioned before. Because of that, they want the world to change significantly based on the choices you make. Those choices will shape the world, literally, meaning you can potentially miss a lot of the game’s massive amount of content.
“We were initially only thinking about the narrative,” said Smektala. “But with the technological advancements of our new engine — the C-Engine — we realised we were able to do more. So for instance, what if these decisions didn’t just change the narrative, but the sandbox space itself? We started working on it and we realised it was a powerful feeling for the player, because they make that decision and they discover the world around them has changed due to it.
“They can climb to the top of the highest building, look around and go: ‘Wow, I made this. What surrounds me is the outcome of my choices.’ This really excited the heck out of us, and it was an idea that wasn’t designed for the project from the start. But around two years ago we realised this is something we can and should do.”
Considering how players won’t always know the immediate consequences of their choices, it’ll be interesting to see where the game lands in that regard. It certainly is shaping up to be one of the most ambitious big budget titles out there. Dying Light 2 will release in 2020 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. You can keep up to date with all the news on the game through here.
