30. Just Cause 2

Although almost all games in the Just Cause series are fine sandbox experiences, the second game is perhaps the best the franchise has to offer. Featuring over the top bombastic action set pieces along with stellar mission design, Just Cause 2 features a vast playground to do some of the craziest things possible in video games. Although the combat is disappointing, it’s the open world and the crazy amount of destruction one can do in it is the star of the show here.

Next week’s free games have already been announced, and include Dying Light Enhanced Edition. It will be free to claim from April 6th to 13th. The popular open-world action RPG is set in Harran following an outbreak which turns most of the population into zombies. It’s distinguished from similar titles thanks to the parkour mechanics and combat.

Dying Light Enhanced Edition includes the base game with numerous improvements and updates and The Following expansion, which adds a new area and buggies to drive. It also includes the Season Pass, The Bozak Horde, Crash Test Skin Bundle and Ultimate Survivor Bundle.

Of course, those who claim it on the Epic Games Store also get a free pack that includes the Alternator hammer, the Last Hope weapon, a Ratty outfit skin, a survival kit bundle and a blueprint for the Deadeye’s Bow. You’ll need to link your Epic Games Store account to Techland GG from April 6th to claim them.

Dying Light’s final patch has now gone live, adding a High Performance mode on Xbox Series S, bringing new content to Hellraid, and releasing the Dieselpunk DLC for the base game. Along with that final hurrah, however, Techland has also announced that anyone who owns the standard edition of Dying Light is automatically going to get upgraded to its Enhanced Edition for free.

That means you’re getting a meaty chunk of new content for free. Dying Light: Enhanced Edition includes a sizeable expansion in Dying Light: The Following, as well as four DLC packs that bring new content, skins, weapons, and a new game mode. Namely, those four DLC packs are Bozak Horde, Cuisine and Cargo, Ultimate Survivor Bundle, and Crash Test Skin Bundle.

To upgrade your copy of the game to the Enhanced Edition, all you need to do is boot up the game, choose the “DLC Packs” option from the main menu, and claim all the aforementioned content for no additional charge.

Dying Light is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and as a cloud-exclusive title on the Nintendo Switch.

Through a trailer, Techland has announced that Dying Light will be getting an in-game event, called Spike’s Story: Last Call this month. The event takes place right after the end of the original game’s ending and will put players up to the task of rescuing any survivors in the city and bring them to a safe shelter, at the behest of Spike. The event takes place after Rais is defeated, and his goons takes over the city of Harran raiding a shelter with survivors, in turn increasing the viral count.

Through an official update, Techland confirms that the event will run in two parts. Part 1 of the event will run from January 24 to January 28, and upon completion of the three bounties, you will be rewarded with a weapon called Crankshaft, a blueprint for Last Hope, and three king mods respectively.

Speaking of more Dying Light, Techland recently announced that their upcoming sequel Dying Light 2 will be receiving post-launch support for the next five years at they very least. They have also confirmed that the main story of the upcoming open-world zombie game will take roughly 20 hours to complete.

Check out the trailer of the new event in Dying Light below. Spike’s Story: Last Call’s first part is now live.

Techland’s Dying Light isn’t going to stop receiving support now that the Enhanced Edition and full-fledged expansion The Following are available. The studio recently confirmed its commitment to deliver more Dying Light content till the end of the year. In fact, it’s already working on new, unrevealed content that will be receiving more information in the coming months.

Techland CEO Paweł Marchewka also said that the studio is interested in hearing players’ ideas. “We want to hear about all your stories, ideas and problems you could have. As the Dying Light franchise goes forward, let us also know where you want to see it headed.

“We strongly believe in active collaboration between our design team and you, players who every day fight for survival in the world of Dying Light.”

Dying Light: The Following released in early February for Xbox One, PS4 and PC alongside the Enhanced Edition. You can check out our official review for the expansion here.

GamingBolt had a chance to speak to lead producer Tymon Smektala about Dying Light, The Following, upcoming trends like cloud computing for games and even if the team will visit Hellraid at some point.

"Once we went live and responses and numbers of players online started coming in we were totally floored. Even today new players are getting into the game regularly while the existing fan base continues to come back in droves."

What are your thoughts on the success of Dying Light?

Tymon Smektala: We’re still getting to grips with at times it to be honest. As a studio, this is our biggest independent success so the number of players is immense. The other day we reached around 7million+ registered users. I think the surprise comes from the fact that at launch we felt we had something good, but we were never 100% certain since you never know in the world of videogames. Some amazing games go on to flop while something that is the same thing over and over can end up selling millions and millions. We had an untested formula mixed with some sure bets so nobody could feel certain about anything. But once we went live and responses and numbers of players online started coming in we were totally floored. Even today new players are getting into the game regularly while the existing fan base continues to come back in droves.

What inspired the storyline for Dying Light: The Following?

Tymon Smektala: There are multiple sources of inspiration for the storyline, but if we had to narrow it down I’d say The X-Files and Twin Peaks are closest to the vibe we are going for. We created this ominous mystery where you often find yourself wondering if what you are dealing with is genuine or even “supernatural” or is it all just big deception created by those using the outbreak to their advantage.

What can you tell us about the world outside of Harran? Which memorable location will players come across?

Tymon Smektala: The countryside map is extremely big (Slums + Old Town maps from Dying Light fit into the new map twice) so there are a lot of cool new places we added in. Scenic but infested towns and farms. Giant monuments built into the mountains. There’s a graveyard plus abandoned trains and military checkpoints throughout the place. There is also a massive hydroelectric dam where a lot happens. The list goes on and on. Personally, one of my favourite places though is the buggy dirt track. The locals used to be big petrol heads so a lot of their infrastructure is still in place, only now it’s filled with the dead. Add a zombie smashing buggy into the mix and you’ve got heaps of fun.

What kind of new weapons can players acquire in their quest? Will there be anything we haven’t seen before?

Tymon Smektala: There’s plenty! Last I checked, we’ve added around 100+ new weapons or blueprints be it to The Following or through the Legend Levels rewards. For The Following, a lot of the new melee weapons are in-line with what you’d expect to find in a rural, countryside environment. Tools of trade that are now tools to survive. But we’ve also added a lot more ranged weapons. Fans kept clamouring for more gunplay so we gave it a fair amount of our time. We’ve now got crossbows, pump-action shotguns, SMGs etc. The new wide open map makes ranged weapons more viable, but they still make a lot of noise so expect to be swarmed if you overdo it.

"If you come in with an elite maxed out character and plan to STRICTLY do the main storyline, focusing on tasks that’ll get you there the fastest then it’s around 10+ hours of gameplay from start to finish."

The new missions involving the dune buggy are highly anticipated. How difficult was it to implement vehicles into the game and how heavily will they feature in The Following?

Tymon Smektala: The dirt buggy is one of the key new features so it’s focused on a lot. As a weapon and as a form of movement. Putting it in was a task and a half though. We basically had to rewrite our entire AI code from scratch. Our AI is designed to deal with a target that moves at running speed. When we added the buggy they simply flipped out and didn’t know what to do. We also had to adjust their behaviours and attacks because we don’t want you to get into the buggy and be invincible. There still needs to be a threat and consequences, let alone incentives to keep upgrading your ride.

Overall, how much content will you be targeting with The Following in terms of hours players can invest?

Tymon Smektala: Well everyone’s play style is different and since the progression of the main story line is non-linear, total time is going to vary quite a lot. If you come in with an elite maxed out character and plan to STRICTLY do the main storyline, focusing on tasks that’ll get you there the fastest then it’s around 10+ hours of gameplay from start to finish. But if you’re into exploring your options, taking on the random encounters, buggy challenges and want to take on multiple side quests, get a lot of the buggy upgrades etc. then expect your playtime to ramp up by a lot, somewhere between 20 to 30 hours.

How will Legendary levels and end-game challenges tie into The Following when the game’s Enhanced Edition is out on the same day?

Tymon Smektala: Legend Levels work across all areas, modes and maps. Any XP you get at any point will go into your Legend Levels, assuming you have them unlocked – you to this by simply maxing out 1 of the base skill trees. So it’s the same is with The Following.

What kind of support will Dying Light receive after The Following has released? Are there any other similarly sized expansions planned or smaller DLC packs?

Tymon Smektala: Right now all our attention and focus is on getting Dying Light: The Following and also the Enhanced Edition out into the hands of players. From there we’ll see what players are saying and what we might improve and react accordingly. Plans for further content of this size are possible, but it all depends on where we stand after the release of our current expansion.

Is there any motivation to create a sequel to Dying Light anytime soon?

Tymon Smektala: Motivation? Well there’s plenty of that. The first game was a major success, we own the IP ourselves and so we control where it can go 100%. So if we decide to make a sequel then there is plenty of motivation to be found. As for soon, I can’t speak for the studio as a whole. One thing that is certain, if we do come out with a sequel it’ll only be when we have some great ways to really progress game in terms of mechanics and features.

"Be The Zombie has also had a big make over to work in The Following. Human players have been equipped with some intense weapons and means of movement so the Night Hunter had to get a decent overhaul to be a credible threat."

Will The Following put any interesting spins on the Be A Zombie mechanic or other co-op missions?

Tymon Smektala: The Following has 4 co-op support built into the bone. Everything you can do on your own you can also do with your buddies except the closing mission. A new spin on co-op is definitely how you’ll be using your buggies. Each player will have their own buggy but the option to get in the back you your buddy’s ride and equip ranged weapons is also there. The co-op buggy challenges also take working as a team and throw it out right the window. These are really competitive and the rewards are worth coming first. Be The Zombie has also had a big make over to work in The Following. Human players have been equipped with some intense weapons and means of movement so the Night Hunter had to get a decent overhaul to be a credible threat.

What kind of graphical improvements have you made in Dying Light: The Following?

Tymon Smektala: Our graphical improvements are across the board so they are also in Dying Light: The Following and Dying Light the base game. To name a few we’ve got enhanced facial expressions, new NPC models, HUD and video filter customizations and new parkour animations. We’ve also added some performance upgrades on all platforms to get more out the machines which allows us to play more with our lighting system, the draw distance etc.

Judging by the support you guys have given to the title, are there any plans to release a DX12 version of Dying Light in the future?

Tymon Smektala: We’ve been tinkering around with DX12 tech for a bit, there is no immediate plan for an official DX12 release before we are done with Dying Light: The Following. After that, we’ll go right back into tinkering and see what we can do

Is the game finally running at a full 1080p native resolution on the Xbox One?

Tymon Smektala: It’s still 1536×1080. We believe a smoother frame rate is more important than the exact resolution.

Are you using the 7^th core CPU on the PS4 and Xbox One that were recently unlocked on both console’s SDK? If yes, how has this benefitted development?

Tymon Smektala: Dying Light was made and optimized to work on 6 cores since that’s what was available when we made the game.  So the opening up of the 7th core CPUs on both platforms simply gave us a good reserve of processing power. It essentially gave us a helping hand in dealing with more processor intensive situations, but given when Dying Light was developed, it simply means we use the additional CPU power as a nice to have and not something we need have to rely on.

"We got teams looking at the potential of new IP ideas, a dedicated VR R&D team and then teams looking at what we already have and where we could possibly go next, but nothing is set in stone."

What is your take on cloud based graphics processing? Do you think you will be interested in using Microsoft’s cloud services in the future? I mean, a game like Dying Light can certainly use it to render more and more zombies and other effects on the screen?

Tymon Smektala: New tech is always welcome and whenever stuff like this comes out our engine and R&D teams are on it right from the start to see what can be done. I can’t say how much we could using the tech now for Dying Light since it’s an existing game that runs on multiple platforms. But in the future, we’d definitely consider its potential. You can already see examples of upcoming games using the tech and it just opens up so many possibilities.

What is Techland going to work on next? Perhaps revisit Hellraid?

Tymon Smektala: Right now it’s mostly all hands on Dying Light: The Following + the Enhanced Edition. We do however have a few small teams tinkering behind closed doors. We got teams looking at the potential of new IP ideas, a dedicated VR R&D team and then teams looking at what we already have and where we could possibly go next, but nothing is set in stone. The success of Dying Light means we can really let these people explore and take their time with no immediate pressure to deliver a game like every 4^thquarter for example. Other than that, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Is there anything else you want to tell us about the game before we let you go?

Tymon Smektala: Dying Light: The Following plus Dying Light: The Following Enhanced Edition is about a year’s worth of work that was only made possible by our fans support. This was never on the cards when we sat down to design and work on the original. So I just want to thank everyone who has supported us and we hope you enjoy this expansion. Without you guys this wouldn’t be happening!

Still on the fence about Dying Light: The Following, the expansion to Techland’s open world survival horror? You’re in luck – Arekkz Gaming has 42 minutes of gameplay footage to showcase the wonders of The Following. And that includes chopping down zombies with a machete.

Dying Light: The Following will offer a storyline progression of sorts when Kyle Crane discovers a map leading him outside of Harran. Of course, there’s a mysterious cult of sorts out there along with wide open fields perfect for dune buggies.

With the Enhanced Edition, you’ll have new weapons, visuals, bounties and Legendary levels to earn as you hack through hordes of the infected. The Following will be available to any one who bought the Season Pass while the Enhanced Edition is a free update to all Dying Light owners.

Dying Light: The Following will be out on February 8th for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. Will you be picking it up? Let us know in the comments.

Techland’s Dying Light will receive a substantial expansion with The Following but from the information provided by the studio, it seems like it will be more than just simple DLC. In fact, with new mechanics, a new story, a map larger than the original game’s city and even vehicles, there’s enough content to justify a standalone release with more tweaks.

The developer views The Following a bit differently though. It was first made as a “thank you” to its loyal fan base (novel concept, we know) but as producer Tymon Smektala told Examiner, “Dying Light: The Following features the same protagonist, some familiar NPCs and similar setting, so it only made sense to release it as an expansion pack

“Even with all the gameplay changes and improvements we’ve made, it’s still closely connected to the original game. A standalone would have also had a later release date and we feel our fans deserve something now given the support they’ve shown us throughout 2015.”

Dying Light: The Following is out on February 8th along with Dying Light: Enhanced Edition for Xbox One, PS4 and PC.