Dying Light

Editor's Notes

Xbox One retail disc version reviewed with a focus on the single player offerings.

Introduction

Developer Techland is no stranger to the zombie/action-horror genre, having created the hit game 'Dead Island' and its pseudo-sequel 'Dead Island: Riptide.' When the studio's follow-up was unveiled, it appeared at first glance that the game was the introduction of the tropical zombie basher to the new generation consoles. However, Techland and publisher WB Games surprised gamers by introducing an entirely new IP called 'Dying Light.'

Despite the claim of a fresh experience a new IP brings with it, right off the bat, 'Dying Light' needed more to distinguish itself. With 'Dying Light,' Techland unveiled a first-person action game where the player battles though a zombie-ridden open world using weapons of opportunity, while being invited to collect resources to craft outlandish upgraded implements of mass undead destruction. While this describes both 'Dead Island' games to a T, the developer promised both a new parkour free run first person system and a day/night cycle that ratchets up the difficulty level. These major features were promised as a means to completely redefine a familiar experience. The burning question leading up to release was if those would be enough to separate one IP from another.

The Game Itself: Our Reviewer's Take

I was doomed as soon as the game began. Immediately after a bungled air drop into the fictional Mediterranean town of Harran, my in-game alter ego, Kyle Crane, was overwhelmed by a horde of zombies and bitten. Mere seconds before I came to a premature conclusion, I was rescued by a pair of survivors and dragged to safety within a rundown apartment building called the Tower. The Tower is the game's home base of operations and where I met a ragtag group of survivors who created their own safe, confined world. To fight off infection and the effects of a bite, a drug called Antizin is required. Fortunately, a relief organization called GRE periodically dropped the drug into the Harran quarantine zone, and Antizin acted as the impetus for many of the characters' motivations. Anxious to earn my place, I offered to help the Tower leaders stay alive not only against hordes of undead, but also against a violent contingent of mercenary-like survivors led by the psychopathic Rais.

However, helping the Tower community was not why I really dropped into Harran. Through 'Dying Light's' substantial single player campaign I frequently checked in with my mystery handler via radio, and his directions often forced me to betray my new friends in order to further a sinister agenda. These secretive radio rendezvous provided more story depth than I was expecting from 'Dying Light,' however this part of the game's plot rolled into a fairly predictable twist. Unfortunately, the rest of the game's subplots ended up being standard-issue zombie apocalypse clichés (i.e., protect me while I do this, go there and fetch me that, clear out this area, etc.).

Throughout the entire bloody affair, the one constant was the zombie hordes. While Harran is not the largest open world environment, every corner is packed tightly with a variety of zombies. From the standard walker to the special mutations that spit acid, explode, are slower but stronger, run quickly and otherwise forced me to adjust my combat strategies. Unfortunately, the standard zombie walker models repeated more often than I would have liked and the special zombie breeds were mostly restricted to a single instance or two.

The Horrible Night

As dangerous as every nook and cranny of Harran was during the day, it was fairly tame compared with the slaughterhouse the streets became after dark. One of the two primary ways 'Dying Light' separates itself from Techland's other zombie games is with a focused day/night cycle. At night the game becomes a different experience. After the sun sets, a brutal new zombie type called Volatile begins roaming the environment. Extremely fast and extremely powerful, the Volatile will instantly kill you if he sees you, guaranteed, especially since a second or third are usually waiting in the wings.

The game gives the player a choice to sleep through the night, but doing so is to miss out on some of 'Dying Light's' most tense and thrilling moments. Likewise employing stealth to traverse the night means taking advantage of the doubled Agility and Power experience points that are offered at night, and in turn the nocturnal player can snake their way through the game's impressive upgrade skill trees more quickly.

Hardcore Parkour

The second way 'Dying Light' separates itself from 'Dead Island' is with a new parkour free run system. I was highly impressed by how well this mechanic was implemented and how natural it felt when transitioning in and out of combat. After a brief adjustment period, I was leaping across rooftops and scrambling up walls without a hitch. The vertical structures can be both fun to climb and a potential safe/heaven slash side-track. Whenever glimpsing an open window, some curiosity as to the contents can flash, and the desire to parkour over can become quite strong, at least for a while.

Hand-to-Hand

Running for your life is thankfully not your only defense in the game. The environment is scattered with any number of objects and tools that can used to bash and slash zeds. By collecting blueprints and the proper random objects, these weapons of convenience can be buffed with electricity, fire or poison. Unlike 'Dead Island,' 'Dying Light' allows you to repair and craft weapons without having to hunt down a workbench and no money is required, only the proper parts. Melee combat is an absolute blast. The controls are responsive and precise, allowing me to lop off limbs or bash skulls like a grizzled warrior. The game also contained a couple of extra hand-to-hand combat mechanics which allowed me to counter lunging zombies and throw them into fire, spike traps or off long drops. The variety of ways to take down the undead in 'Dying Light' kept combat interesting after my (seemingly) 800 millionth kill.

The biggest problem I have with 'Dying Light' is ultimately one of aesthetics. In this regard, Techland took a step backward from 'Dead Island.' In 'Dying Light' there are not enough indoor areas to break up the monotony that grew as I repeatedly trod the same relatively small world. One of the most appealing aspects of 'Dead Island' was the game's readiness to take you into a variety of environments (resort, police station, grocery, etc.). Very little of that exists in 'Dying Light.' What's more, this is Techland's third game of its kind to take place in a third-world slum filled with shanties, dirt alleyways and burning barrels. It's time to place one of these games in a more posh setting, which is what hopefully will happen with the Los Angeles-based 'Dead Island 2' later this year.