You’re out of gas. That’s the first thing that hits you when you transition from the cramped, vertical playgrounds of Harran to the sprawling, sun-bleached fields of the countryside. In the original game, your legs were your life insurance. If a Volatile spotted you, you climbed. You scrambled up a yellow pipe or leaped across a corrugated metal roof. But in the massive expansion known as Dying Light What Is the Following, those parkour skills won't save you from a pack of Virals in the middle of a literal mile-wide meadow.
Techland didn't just add a new map. They changed the fundamental DNA of how you survive.
Most people coming into the franchise today, especially with the sequel out, wonder if the first game's massive expansion is still worth the headache of a buggy-driving mechanic. It’s a valid question. Honestly, the shift from urban parkour to vehicular combat is jarring. You go from being an agile ninja to a grease monkey overnight. But if you want to understand the lore of the virus, or why Kyle Crane’s story is one of the most tragic arcs in gaming history, you basically have to play this.
The Buggy Is Your New Best Friend (And Your Worst Nightmare)
Forget the Grappling Hook for a second. In the countryside, the Dirt Buggy is the star. It starts as a rattling skeleton of tubes and a weak engine. You’ll spend the first few hours scavenging for screws and synthetic parts just to keep the damn thing from stalling out in front of a Hive.
Driving at night in Dying Light What Is the Following is a horror experience that the base game rarely matched. When the sun goes down, the Volatiles don't just chase you; they keep pace. You’re staring at the rearview mirror, watching those pale, jaw-split freaks gaining on your bumper while you pray your UV headlights don't flicker out. It’s stressful. It’s loud. It’s brilliant.
The skill tree for the vehicle is surprisingly deep. You aren't just boosting speed. You’re adding electric cages to shock anything that grabs the roll bar. You’re installing flamethrowers because, well, it’s a zombie apocalypse. The progression feels earned. By the time you’ve reached the endgame, that rattling bucket of bolts is a literal tank. But the cost is high—gas is a finite resource you have to siphon from abandoned cars, often while looking over your shoulder for a Screamer.
A Story About Cults, Gods, and Bad Decisions
The narrative hook here is a weird one. Crane hears about a group of survivors who are supposedly immune to the virus. They don't use Antizin. They don't turn. They worship someone called "The Mother."
This takes the grounded, gritty survival of Harran and tosses it into the realm of folk horror. You spend a lot of time doing favors for the "Faceless," the masked disciples of this cult. It’s a classic RPG trope—do chores to gain trust—but the payoff is a slow-burn mystery that recontextualizes everything you thought you knew about the Global Relief Effort (GRE) and the outbreak itself.
Is it supernatural? Is it science?
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The game keeps you guessing. The atmosphere in the secluded temples and the hushed tones of the believers create this eerie sense of dread that's different from the jump-scares of the city. You aren't just fighting monsters; you’re fighting a belief system that seems to be working. That nuance is what makes the writing stand out compared to the often-generic "save the girl" plot of the main campaign.
The Scale of the Countryside
The map size is staggering. It’s roughly twice the size of the Slums and Old Town combined. Because of that, the pacing changes. You’ll have long stretches of quiet, driving through wheat fields or past abandoned farms.
- Verticality is gone: You have to find new ways to stay safe.
- Crossbows over guns: The expansion introduces the crossbow, which is silent and deadly, perfect for a map where noise brings every Viral within a kilometer straight to your location.
- Environmental storytelling: You’ll find letters in empty houses that tell stories of families trying to escape the city, only to realize the country wasn't any safer.
Why the Ending Still Sparks Arguments
We need to talk about the finale. Without spoiling the specifics for the uninitiated, the conclusion of Dying Light What Is the Following is one of the ballsiest moves a developer has ever made. It doesn't offer a clean, happy ending. It offers choices that are essentially "bad" or "worse."
Some fans hated it. They felt it invalidated the struggle of the first 50 hours of the game. Others, myself included, think it’s the only logical conclusion for a world as bleak as this one. It ties directly into the lore of Dying Light 2: Stay Human, explaining exactly why the world ended up the way it did. If you skip this expansion, the state of the world in the sequel makes significantly less sense.
Survival Tips for the Countryside
If you're just starting, don't rush into the fields at night. Seriously. You’ll die.
First, prioritize the "Offroad Suspension" and "Turbo" upgrades. The stock suspension makes the buggy handle like a shopping cart on ice. You’ll flip over a pebble and get swarmed. Second, get the Crossbow as soon as possible. The silenced nature of the weapon allows you to clear out military checkpoints without starting a riot.
Also, keep an eye on your fuel. Siphon every car you see. There is nothing worse than running out of gas in the middle of a field at 8:00 PM. You’ll be forced to run on foot through tall grass where you can’t see the volatiles coming. It’s a death sentence.
Technical Performance and 2026 Standards
Even years after its release, the visuals hold up remarkably well. The lighting system in the original Chrome Engine 6 is still gorgeous. Seeing the sun set over the mountains while you’re standing on top of a water tower is a vibe that few modern games capture. Techland also released several "Next-Gen" patches that bumped the frame rate and resolution on consoles, making it feel snappy and responsive.
The physics-based combat remains the gold standard. When you hit a zombie with a spiked bat, the way the body reacts—the crunch of the bone, the stumble, the momentum—is still better than most AAA titles released today. It feels heavy. It feels real.
To survive the countryside, you have to stop thinking like a runner and start thinking like a scavenger. Focus on building up your "Trust" rank with the locals by clearing out Freaks of Nature—boss-level zombies with massive health pools found in specific arenas. These fights are optional but provide the best loot and the fastest way to unlock the higher-tier buggy parts. Once you have a fully upgraded ride and a stack of bolts for your crossbow, the game transforms from a horror-survival sim into a power fantasy. Just remember: the night always wins eventually, so make sure you're near a safe house when the watch starts beeping.
Scour the military crates hidden under water or in remote caves for the best weapon blueprints, as these "Experimental" parts are the only things that will reliably take down a Demolisher in the late game. Keep your UV flares equipped in your quick-slot at all times—they are the only thing that will give you a breathing room when your buggy inevitably breaks down in the dark.