It's been a long time since players first got their hands on Dying Light, but its long-awaited sequel, Dying Light 2, may finally be peeking over the horizon. Considering that span of time, it's understandable to be a little vague about Dying Light's finer points, perhaps warranting another visit to the desolate streets of Harran and the infested countryside of the game's main add-on, The Following.

With the six years that have already passed, Dying Light has received oodles of added content, so there's never been a better time to start, or return to, drop kicking zombies into spiked traps or leaping across rooftops as they swarm below. There are even cricket bats, for those with such refined taste. December's pretty close, though, so what kind of time investment are players looking at to revisit this parkour-filled, first-person zombie brawler?

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Just The Story

dying light zombies melee combat first person

No matter what version of the game is chosen to climb, slash, leap and dropkick through (the Enhanced Edition would be the easiest way to get the most DLC right now, though) there's a solid investment even to just get through Dying Light's story. Based on the gathered data at HowLongtoBeat, an average run-through equals out to about 20 hours, down closer to 15 hours if speed is the only real objective.

That's just the base game, though. Once you factor in The Following DLC, should you choose to embark on its gore-splattered road trip, you can add about another 9 to 10 hours on top of that. So, all told, to work through just the main quest lines of Dying Light as well as The Following, there's a time investment of anywhere from 25 to 30 hours. But with parkour mechanics so smooth and an entire city and broad countryside to explore, where is the fun in rushing anything?

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Middle Of The Road

Dying Light players avoid zombies in The Following.

The real beauty of Dying Light comes out once you begin to explore beyond the main story, both just randomly throughout the city as well as by taking part in the numerous side quests the player's companion survivors have to offer. As is often the case, the real strength of zombie-based stories shine through the more directly they're applied to human situations and Dying Light runs with this concept through its side quests, so it only makes sense to indulge. Random exploration of the city yields its own valuable rewards, like supplies for healing and upgrades as well as new weapon options and most important of all, experience for leveling Crane up.

Open world games often feel bloated after completing a good portion of their side activities, but the characters and gameplay manage to keep Dying Light engaging for the 45 to 50 hours it'll take a player to see a bit of everything, this time with the content of The Following already factored in. Of course, even with the investment of 50 hours, it's still only roughly half of all that Dying Light has to offer for those truly willing to brave the dark.

Related - Dying Light 2: Release Date, Trailer, Plot & News to Know

Every Last Inch

Dying Light players face down zombie hordes in the countryside.

Dying Light offers a variety of collectibles to find, from those that directly affect gameplay like weapon blueprints or formulas for new tools to more story-focused items, such as the scattered voice files or the battle journals of one of Harran's other hunted survivors. Tracking all of these down and seeing all that Harran and its surrounding countryside have to offer can add almost 30 more hours to the game, bringing the total investment up closer to 80 hours on average.

It shouldn't be overstated, however, that the playability of Dying Light doesn't just end at its quests and stories. With how smoothly the parkour system flows and how satisfying annihilating swathes of wandering zombies can be, it's easy to lose hours to Dying Light just wandering around. Factor in co-op, should that be an option in the face of Harran's apocalypse, and that time expands exponentially.

Now that Dying Light 2 is finally nearing release, there's no better time than now to delve into all that Dying Light has to offer. With playtimes running anywhere from 25 to 80 hours, it can fit into even the most flooded of backlogs. With a blend of shambling hordes and first-person melee combat, all anchored by a parkour system that turns the city itself into a jungle gym, Dying Light is a more than worthy addition to any play pile.

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