10 years after release Dying Light: Retouched is a nice upgrade for the Techland zombie game

Dying Light (the original) is still one of the best open-world zombie games around, and now perhaps just even better with the Dying Light: Retouched update. This is not a remaster, as Techland have been very firm on what to call it - they say it's just enhancing the existing game.

The main highlights of which are:

• Enhanced Graphics & Performance: Enjoy increased and upscaled texture quality, a new “Ultra” 8k shadow quality level, improved physics based rendering on metallic surfaces and water, and extended LOD ranges. The Retouched Update is about squeezing out even more from the Dying Light you already love. It’s not a complete overhaul or remaster.
• Improved Audio Experience: Immerse yourself deeper with a remastered soundtrack by Paweł Błaszczak, the original composer, who meticulously recreated the retro-tape sound by recording on actual tape. Expect new tracks and ambient themes throughout the game, and improved hit reaction audio for even more visceral combat feedback.

Pictured - Dying Light (Native) on Kubuntu Linux

I've checked, and it appears the Native Linux version of this 10 year old game still runs right out of the box, and it was updated too which is nice to see. You'll still get better performance with Proton though.

As for why it took so long the developers mentioned how working with 10+ year old technology resulted in a "massive amount of manual work". Part of that was keeping it stable, while also not increasing any system requirements to make sure it continues working as it did before. With Krzysztof Knefel, Lead 3D Artist, mentioning "I basically walked through the entire map, looking for assets to be improved. And all of those had to be changed manually by our artists".

Dying Light 2: Stay Human also received a "Summer Update" fixing various problems, adding in a Balatro crossover DLC and there will be various new activities over the next few weeks.

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