Buy a week's worth of lattes or my favorite game of 2022 on Black Friday and have hundreds of hours of fun? It's a no-brainer

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By Richard Devine
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If you haven't played Dying Light 2 yet, you're really missing out.

I play a lot of Xbox games. It's both a pleasure and an occupational hazard. Black Friday is a perfect time to pick up something new for your collection, and this one gets my highest recommendation. Dying Light 2 is my favorite game of last year, and it's on offer right now for just $20, a small price to play for hundreds of hours of fun.

Dying Light 2 (Xbox One/Xbox Series X)was $59.99now $21.29 at Amazon

Dying Light 2 (Xbox One/Xbox Series X) | was $59.99 now $21.29 at Amazon

Set over two decades after the events of the first game, Dying Light 2 explores a post-apocalyptic future following "The Fall," a global pandemic that virtually wiped out humanity. A huge map, satisfying melee combat, zombies, loot and parkour all add up to a huge amount of fun. 

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✅Perfect for: Fans of open world games, melee combat, zombies and RPGs. 

❌Avoid if: You prefer your combat to be firearm based.

👍Price Check: $43.99 at Microsoft

🔍Our experience: Dying Light 2 review

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A huge and engaging open world, delicious parkour, and satisfying melee combat

Grab a sword and hit the streets of Villedor. (Image credit: Windows Central)
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(Image credit: Windows Central)

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Dying Light 2 takes the ideas from the first game and builds upon them. That means melee combat, parkour, a huge map and a tale of despair for humanity. 

It takes place 22 years after the first game, and in the time since a global catastrophe known as "The Fall" took place and nearly wiped humans off the face of the earth. It turns out the Global Relief Effort (GRE) didn't stop experimenting on the Harran Virus from the first game that turned people into zombies. A mutated version escaped the lab, spread across the globe, and here we are. 2036 in the fictional city of Villedor, a world still full of undead threat, no firearms, and endless peril. 

I enjoyed the first game, but I really fell in love with Dying Light 2. I'm not usually a big fan of melee combat games, but this one hooked me hard. I love open world games, but there are still too many that create big maps that feel uninspiring. This quote from our Dying Light 2 review, written by Jez Corden, sums it up well. 

Initially, I was concerned Dying Light 2 wouldn't find its voice in a world crammed with shallow open worlds designed for busy work rather than fun, but the more I played, the more I found that wasn't the case. Dying Light 2 truly shines with its high-stakes nighttime gameplay, which turns the modern and tired open-world formula on its head.

Jez Corden, Windows Central

Sure, the story isn't the best writing you'll ever find, but it's still not bad. I like that as you play through, you have real choices to make that have real impact on the path your play through will take. There are multiple endings, and these decisions will impact which of them you'll see. 

Toss in a huge loot pool, mods, easter eggs, items to collect, and Techland's reputation for long-term support (the first game was supported for seven years right up to the sequel launching), and you have a real winner. Black Friday has it down to the same cost as you might spend on coffee for a week, and I know what I'd rather spend that money on. 

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Richard Devine
Richard Devine
Managing Editor - Tech, Reviews

Richard Devine is a Managing Editor at Windows Central with over a decade of experience. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you'll find him steering the site's coverage of all manner of PC hardware and reviews. Find him on Mastodon at mstdn.social/@richdevine