Dying Light Review

Dying Light
Developed By: Techland
Published By: Techland/WB
Date of Release: January 27, 2015
Price: $59.99

ZOMBIES! ZOMBIES EVERYWHERE! In a world that had never before seen a zombie related videogame this situation would seem quite frightening. Not in our world, where zombie-killfests are a dime a dozen, and a zombie-related game just HAS to do something to stand out from the crowd, otherwise it just becomes another brick in the wall. Dying Light is NOT just another brick in the wall, let me tell you. Fresh from releasing Dead Island 1 and 2, Techland has definitely learned from the shortcomings of their previous undead endeavors, and Dying Light is all the better for it!



Dying Light is however more than a mere Dead Island 2.0. Everything that was good about the previous games has vastly been improved on, and everything bad has pretty much been checked out the window. I know that this is a different game, in a different series, but it really just feels like a complete successor to Dead Island. If only the that series could have been this good. IMO however this is a complete redemption for any past shortcomings. Dying light is just plain meaty, and a blast to play alone or in co-op. And with one character to play as this time, things don;t feel as fragmented.



The crafting system is in full force here, but completely streamlined, much easier to craft what you need this time around. Combat feels satisfying visceral, and this time around we have guns that act like guns for a change, no dinky popgun this time. You fire a shotgun, and it FEELS like a shotgun. Just prepared to be swarmed by the undead due to the noise. Of course you can always climb to higher ground, as Dying Light has adopted a parkour system that seems to be Mirror's Edge meets Assassin's Creed. Though it's slightly clunky, it more than does it's job, and you'll save your own hide many times by taking the higher ground. In a way the clunkiness makes it that much more real, because you WILL have close calls, you're not some superhero athlete. You're a tough guy, who's taken some damage, and this just drives it home.



The co-op mode feels pretty good, with support for four players. It's a drop in/drop out affair, and you keep your gear and progress as you go. A lot of the missions in the campaign feel suited to having extra help, so it's nice to see that co-op was well thought out and not just slapped on for it's own sake. For those who would rather be an antagonist, there's also a "Be the Zombie" mode, where you play a superpowered undead badass trying to hunt down the other players, and it's pretty decent as well. When it comes right down to it, Dying Light is a very good effort, and by far one of the best zombie games to come out recently. So if you like clubbing the bajeezus out of shambling undead hordes, do yourself a favor and pick it up. Just try not to get eaten.