Dying Light just got its biggest expansion yet called ‘The Following”. It offers a giant new map that’s bigger than all the old maps combined, a new story and vehicles. We got our hands on it back in the Gamescom days and were already impressed back then. Now that we’ve spent some more time with the expansion we can only say it’s one of the best things that ever happened for the Dying Light franchise.
The Enhanced Edition
First of all, it might be good to know what ‘The Following” is and how you can actually play it. It’s not that hard really. The Following is the biggest expansion of the Dying Light universe to date and is part of the Season Pass. If you own the Season Pass, you’ll be able to download The Following without extra cash. Don’t own the original game or Season Pass? No need to worry! Techland also launched a new Enhanced Edition in stores, consisting out of the base game and all DLC released to date. That means you’ll get access to the great Cuisine & Cargo, Ultimate Survivor Bundle and The Bozak Horde DLC packs together with the new The Following expansion as well.
If you haven’t played Dying Light before and don’t own the game yet, this new Enhanced Edition is definitely the best deal on the market but be warned. If you want to enter The Following, you’ll need to own a strong character, a character that you’ve created in the base game. It’s possible to play The Following DLC with a level 0 character but you’ll have a hard time surviving for sure. This expansion is best enjoyed with a stronger character.
Meet the new star, meet your buggy
So when you’re ready to enter the new Farmland area, you’ll have a lot of fun for sure. Rather soon in the game, you’ll get your hands on a mighty buggy. This vehicle will transform into the beating heart of the expansion and your favorite weapon in no time. Including a vehicle also changes the way you play the game. The original Dying Light game offered parkours-skills comparable to Faith in Mirror’s Edge to escape the zombie hordes. By running as fast as you could and by jumping over crates and fences, you could leave the horde behind you in no time. This mechanism is still found in The Following but the new buggy offers far better ways to defend and run away from your enemies.
The Walking Dead on steroids
Since the buggy is really fast, it’s the ideal tool to use during the night, the time where the zombies become aggressive. You can easily drive away from huge hordes or take them down with your improving skills. The more driver skills you acquire, the better your gear and buggy becomes. An improved buggy will have no problems to kill multiple zombies at once. You really feel stronger with the buggy and will even return to zombie-filled places just to run them over with you machine of death. Since it’s such a strong weapon, the developers also added some realism to it. A buggy wouldn’t be able to keep driving forever so you’ll need to fix your vehicle from time to time.
Pimp my ride
A damaged car could mean a quick death in the Farmland, especially when you’re running around during the night. Unlike the other environments of Dying Light, the Farmland offers a lot of big open places where you have no places to run or hide. When you lose your vehicle in those places, you’ll need to restart without a doubt. Upgrading your car is crucial for your future. You’ll find a lot of other vehicles in the game that can serve as your backup plan or extra parts for your tuning.
If you manage to increase your skills, you’ll be able to transform your buggy into something Mad Max would get excited for. Flamethrowers, electro shocks, stronger tires and a lot more upgrades will transform your once innocent buggy into a machine straight from hell. It sucks when your vehicle is damaged and you’re forced to use to alternative, normal vehicles until it’s fixed again. It’s clear that Techland wanted to include the buggy in this new expansion since you simply can’t survive in the gorgeous new setting without your new baby.
The Farmland
As said before, the Farmland is an interesting new setting; it’s the biggest map of any Dying Light game and is even bigger than all the old maps combined. This also means you’ll have more free space and fewer obstacles. Free running switched places with buggy racing and that’s the way you’ll want to enjoy the map. It’s a gorgeous new map filled with interesting farms to visit, breathtaking waterfalls and incredible vistas on top of some cliffs. The open space also comes with some limitations. Since there are far fewer buildings, you’ll encounter far less safe zones. Meaning you’ll respawn far away from the point you died, if you haven’t conquered any watchtowers that is.
These new watchtowers allow players to create more mobile spawning zones, closer to their vehicle and place of death. Even if you spawn way back on the map, you’ll be able to call in your vehicle rather easy. The open space comes with its limitations but Techland made sure it could never become a source of frustration.
A new story
The new expansion also comes with a new story of course. You still play as Kyle Crane but you’ll meet a lot of interesting new people. Kyle traveled to the Farmland to find a cure for the zombie apocalypse. He meets with a strange cult that doesn’t seem to be affected by the virus. They don’t change when bitten and they might form the cure for the people back in Harran. The people in Harran are in need of a new solution since their medicines are running out fast. Kyle will only be able to gain the information he needs if the people of the cult trust him. Gaining their trust is the main focus of this story.
In order to gain their trust, you’ll need to complete a lot of missions, including a lot of side-quests. This is rather new since the original Dying Light never forced you to play side-quests. That being said, we understand why this decision was made since it makes a lot of sense for the story. Every mission, ranging from story missions to side-quests offers a lot of fun and focuses more on the free running instead of the buggy action. It’s in the missions that you’ll find that traditional Dying Light gameplay and I’m sure a lot of you will enjoy messing around in the new Farmland.
Conclusion:
Dying Light: The Following is a very ambitious DLC pack, including a bigger area, new weapons, a lot of new interesting characters and, of course, the buggy. It isn’t easy to combine all those elements into the Dying Light universe but Techland definitely delivered. It’s great to see how well this expansion was handled, including the popular co-op mode that also makes a return of course. The Following doesn’t really feel like a DLC, more like a sequel to the original game, a cheap sequel that is. If you enjoyed the original game or haven’t played Dying Light before, this is the perfect time to jump back in.
