Dying Light: The Following
| Dying Light: The Following | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Techland |
| Publisher(s) | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment |
| Series | Dying Light |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Survival horror |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Dying Light: The Following is an expansion pack for the first-person survival horror video game Dying Light by Techland and was published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The story of The Following follows Kyle Crane, who must venture into the countryside of Harran to investigate a mysterious cult whose leader may hold the key to immunity to a zombie virus that plagues the city. The game introduces a large, sprawling rural environment that is two times larger than the map of the base game. While the gameplay continues to focus on parkour, it has a larger emphasis on using firearms to defeat enemies, and the game introduces a dune buggy for both traversal and combat. Players can access this expansion after completing the prologue of the base game.
The release of the original game became a large success for Techland, prompting it to pause development of its other project, Hellraid, to focus on creating more content for the Dying Light franchise. Certain gameplay mechanics of The Following were originally planned for the base game, but were abandoned as the team struggled to finish development of the core game. The team listened to community feedback and decided to add numerous gameplay adjustments, introducing more weapons and refining parkour mechanics. To accommodate vehicular traversal and combat, the team had to completely revamp the artificial intelligence and behaviors of enemies in the game.
Announced in July 2015, the game was released for Linux, Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in February 2016. It was also released alongside Enhanced Edition, which bundles the base game, The Following, and some of the downloadable content packs released for the original game together. The release of the Enhanced Edition also brings new updates to the base game, introducing a new difficulty mode, Legendary Levels, and bounty missions. The Following received generally positive reviews upon release. Critics praised the map design, progression systems, crafting mechanics, and the introduction of vehicles, while criticizing its characters and quest design. Kyle Crane's story will continue in Dying Light: The Beast, which is set to be released in 2025.