Even though I thoroughly enjoyed my time on Dead Island Riptide there was certainly something missing. It wasn’t so obvious then and the zombie smashing co-op action quickly had me happily distracted. Apart from the swamp area. Techland have decided to abandon their extremely good work on Dead Island and concentrate on Dying Light.
Expect the first couple of hours to be way to difficult for you to have much fun. Even with two players zombies are unreasonably tough in the early game. You will be running a lot because it’s your only real option. I’m glad I pushed through and managed to get past the overly difficult start and slowly but surely you start to feel more comfortable dealing with Dying Light’s creatures.
Leaping from a building can easily put your stomach on edge as you reach for a ledge – unsure if you can reach it comfortably. More often than not you succeed and I very rarely missed a grab even though I still exercise caution even now.
The only occasions I felt let down are when you have to aim the camera at a ledge or grab point to pull yourself up. Most of the time it’s not a problem and you find yourself aiming the crosshair where you’re heading anyway. But sometimes you need to make an effort and move the camera before you can leap or pull yourself up. It really breaks the flow and although very rare does cause frustration in the middle of your awesome parkour skills.
Luckily, running, jumping then eventually rolling and sliding through the city though is a joy. Jumping over zombie’s heads and staying out of reach of the more intimidating enemies is always fun. Games like Assassin’s Creed could learn a thing or two from Dying Light’s free running. It’s a real art to make running away just as fun as combat.
Especially when the combat is this good. Dead Island managed to make crushing skulls, breaking bones and slicing limbs off both (very) violent and fun. You’ve got to love zombies for guilt free violence. And none of those joys are lost in Dying Light. Stabbing with small knifes have a satisfying speed that makes up for their lack of power. Hammers swing a bit slower but their reach and ability to crush limbs makes them satisfyingly efficient.
There’s plenty to choose from between hammers, knifes, swords, sledgehammers, bats and much more. Plus each one comes with a certain amount of upgrade slots so you can modify the weapon’s stats quite significantly. And then you can use a blueprint and really change things up. Each weapon also comes with a limited number of repairs and once the weapon’s durability is low enough it becomes ineffective and you have to repair it using a single abundant consumable and one of the weapon’s repairs. Despite the ability that grants a 50% chance to repair without using one of the repairs it’s incredibly unlikely any weapon will last forever.
At first I was dubious. Having a limit on weapons makes you slightly cautious, making sure you don’t ‘waste’ valuable repairs. But as you level up new items become available so there’s also an incentive to use your good loot before it becomes outdated. Despite my reservations the system works well and knowing you will eventually need to find new equipment keeps things fresh and really encourages you to try new things. Eventually it even encouraged me to use things more to make sure I used the lowest level items before levelling up to a point where they became redundant.
Firearms are exempt from degradation and instead rely on maintaining a stock of ammunition. Ammunition is reasonably easy to find and can even be bought from shops if you need it. Gunplay is satisfying and sounds particularly punchy. It’s a vast improvement from Dead Island and I enjoyed using them a lot, although they never take over from the melee weapons at the core of the game.
Upgrades are split between Survival, Agility and Power. Survival is levelled up based on quest xp and provides upgrades like bartering and other general character abilities. Agility is levelled up from xp given when running and jumping and gives more stamina, rolls, slides and more. Power concentrates on combat and is earned from killing zombies with upgrades to combat stamina, craftable bombs, special moves, etc. Progression is well balanced and the next ability point is never too far away.
Unfortunately the simple plot very quickly becomes a secondary concern and apart from the occasional important scene there is very little added from listening to people talk. It was never going to be Dying Light’s strongest asset and the weak story and ancillary characters didn’t effect me at all, positively or negatively. I simply ignored them and enjoyed the game for what it is.
On the bright side (geddit? I’m so sorry) one thing you cannot ignore is the night time. It’s no gimmick. Getting caught in the middle of nowhere at night time can be a very real problem. Usually running to a nearby safe zone is a good plan. If another player ‘invades’ your game and takes control of the chasing zombie things get really interesting. But honestly the The ‘be the zombie’ mode isn’t really necessary. Dying Light is a solid co-op game and being constantly reminded you can play as the zombie in adverts, box art and even in game is strange. I want to play co-op with my character and a friend, invading someone else’s game isn’t really a priority for me. But if that’s what you want it works well and can at least be a distraction and you can always opt out if it’s not your thing.
The day/night mechanic is at its best when you still have objectives to complete and you can see the sun slowly going down. The panic of the ever-present passage of time is unique and creates a wonderfully frenzied rush that is like nothing I’ve ever experienced in a game before.
And just to round everything off Techland have again excelled themselves by making the environment ridiculously beautiful. Sun glare is a particular speciality but the lighting in general is something special. However my favourite aspect is the motion capture of the zombies. When you see one stumble over a barrier you would swear you were watching an episode of The Walking Dead. Hacking the leg of a zombie on a car bonnet will see it fall, bang its head and then flail on the ground. It’s amazingly, occasionally hauntingly, realistic. It’s all the more impressive given how many zombies appear on screen at once and how massive and detailed the city is.
Dying Light is absolutely the game I wanted Dead Island 2 to be. And even though that’s gone in a different direction Dying Light picks it up and improves on it perfectly. Cooperative not-quite-zombie killing with elaborately modified melee weapons has never been better and it’s clear an experienced team has crafted Dying Light.
There are So many zombies that you’ll never go wanting and each horde has a very genuine look to it. A free running mechanic that actually feels responsive with only the occasional hiccup is almost unheard of and Dying Light’s is almost perfect. There’s a decent level up system that rewards your actions and a massive amount of loot to find. A little more confidence in being ‘just a co-op game’ and a solid story and characters are the only thing missing in this amazing FPS. Dying Light is a beautiful looking, content packed co-op zombie romp that is exactly what it should be.
