5 Pre-Emptive tips for surviving Dying Light: The Following

With Dying Light's first official DLC The Following releasing tomorrow, February 9th, we thought you'd like to know some general tips on how to survive the deadly countryside before diving in.

This massive add-on sees our hero Kyle Crane enter the farmlands outside Harran, looking for people rumored to be immune to the deadly virus. What he finds is a local cult reluctant to help and tougher zombies than he's ever faced before. 

In a recent interview/playthrough with IGN, Dying Light producer Tymon Smektala let it slip that The Following is not for the faint of heart. This expansion is made for players who were good at the original game. A true sequel to the original, simply smashed onto the same disc.

With so many new mechanics in the game, it's high time someone told players which ones to look out for. Today, that's going to be me. 

Be sure to keep your browsers glued to GameSkinny over the next couple weeks. In-depth guides on Dying Light: The Following will be issued following its release!

1. Drive

It's no coincidence that nearly every image you'll see of Dying Light: The Following has a buggy in it. An all new mechanic, driving vehicles is your ticket to traveling about the countryside - and staying alive while doing so.

With the amount of driving featured in trailers and gameplay footage, I'm surprised this DLC hasn't landed the descriptor "racing." However, it only makes sense to drive in the country. Rather than running for miles on end in the extremely exposed grasslands - which happen to be filled with the undead - you can drive a dune-buggy absolutely outfitted for war. 

Buggies can be used singlehandedly or as a pair in co-op situations with one driver and one gunner. Even better, if your co-op gunner gets tired, unleash hell on the fields of undead with equipped special weapons like an electrified battering ram. 

One of the very first quests in The Following has players receiving their buggy, so there is no instance when you should leave home without it. 

2. Don't forget about Parkour

Even with the addition of buggies, personal advanced movement is still your best friend in The Following. A staple of the series, this "advanced movement" in the form of parkour has always helped Kyle Crane to outrun the zombie hordes by giving him access to the rooftops. 

Although the rooftops are less frequent, there are still plenty of objects to climb on - both for exploration, and the off-chance you find yourself surrounded by hungry, hungry humans!

Radio towers, elevated pipelines, cliffs, canyons, and scattered farmhouses litter the horizon. Don't be afraid to explore during the day for the best chance at knowing where you can run at night. 

3. Don't Trust the Locals

From the moment you arrive in the Harran countryside, you'll notice that something isn't quite right. There are strange paintings of an otherworldly being, sacrificial pyres and other "religious" artifacts scattered throughout the world.

We don't know for sure, but there's a good chance that these ritual sites have been constructed by the very locals we plan to interact with. Speaking of the locals, they are EXTREMELY reluctant to help the protagonist, and will require a great many deeds done for them before they'll even look you in the eye.

There are some extremely shady characters in The Following, and although the player needs to earn the trust of the locals, trusting them back is something we do not condone. 

4. Play Co-op

Much like the original game, the entire expansion The Following is playable in 2-4 player co-op. If we've learned anything from pop culture zombie survival (The Walking Dead, Left 4 Dead, etc.) it's that strength comes in numbers.

You're far less likely to become overrun when playing with a partner. You can watch each others' backs and divvy up the approaching horde - not to mention the buggy capabilities with partners. One player can drive while the other shoots, or two players can take separate buggies and work together to crush the zombie army. 

5. One word: Crossbow

Last but certainly not least, the newest weapon in the Dying Light world introduces players to a whole new style of combat and gameplay in general. The crossbow provides players with the solution to, "How can I shoot that zombie without all of those other zombies noticing?" 

Ranged stealth gameplay is something that has been missing from the game and a lot of players will certainly love this new feature. But be warned! In a close range engagement, the crossbow could prove less than useful as it can only fire one bolt at a time with an agonizingly slow reload speed.  

There you have it! 5 tips for surviving Dying Light: The Following! Play co-op, use the crossbow, never trust the locals, get good at driving but don't forget your parkour roots! The DLC as well as the Enhanced Edition that includes the DLC hit store shelves - both digital and actual - tomorrow, February 9th, 2016. 

Get out there are start lobbing heads, slugger!