Despite a rocky road to release, Dying Light 2: Stay Human appears to be in the homestretch of its development. Techland continues to shed more light on what players can expect in the sequel to its 2015 parkour zombie-killing game, from humanity's newest "dark age" to how the zombie continue to evolve. The latest update gave players further insight into the game ahead of its February 2022 release, most notably the newest member of its voice cast who comes direct from Hollywood.
Dying Light 2: Stay Human picks up 20 years after the events of the first game, trading in the Middle Eastern city of Harran for a mysterious new city in the heart of Europe. Players will once again be able explore the world and outmaneuver the various zombies inhabiting the world with its parkour-inspired traversal and combat system. However, players will also be interacting with various survivor factions around the city and influence which group rules atop the city's zombie-infested ruins.
Among the survivors players will be interact with is a woman named Lawan, voiced by Rosario Dawson. Dying Light 2 writer Marta Szczechowska revealed Dawson's involvement in the game as part of a game update with Xbox Wire. Lawan is described as "a real fighter" and one of the toughest survivors in the city who could become one of players' most reliable allies as long as players don't "rile her up."
This is hardly the first game Dawson has provided her talents to over the course of her career, either. She dipped her toe into the gaming pool with 2006's Marc Ecko's Getting Up before stepping into a larger-scale title with 2012's Syndicate. She would also make appearances in 2016's Ratchet and Clank, Dishonored 2, Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, and NBA 2K20.
The addition of Rosario Dawson to the game's cast comes at a time when, as mentioned above, more Hollywood names stepping into the games space. Its reflective of an industry where the production values and appeal are such that well-known actors are open to the possibility of being part of these games, regardless if its a major studio release or a smaller indie title.
Keanu Reeves was part of one of 2020's biggest releases with Cyberpunk 2077, playing the key role of Johnny Silverhand in CD Projekt Red's sci-fi RPG. On the smaller side, Annapurna Interactive's title 12 Minutes touted the voice talents of Daisy Ridley, James McAvoy, and Willem Dafoe in the mystery thriller.
Dying Light 2: Stay Human is scheduled to release on February 4, 2022, on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Stadia, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Xbox Wire