Promises Delievered
No matter what games you
play as a gamer, most games will inspire feelings that another game before it brought
on. Playing Skyrim reminds one of Oblivion and Fallout 3, Far Cry 3 has
feelings of Skyrim and shooting out of Call of Duty’s playbook, and so, it
could be said that Dying Light brings back feelings originally found in games
such as Assassin’s Creed and Dead Island, however, if this is all that is said,
the beauty of the game is completely missed.
As of writing this, it should be noted that I haven’t
completed the story, however, that is due the surprising number of equally fun
side quests. Quests in Dying light are typically mundane, with a dull,
dummy-like AI sending the player from point A to B, collect random artifact or
flip switch (es) and then head back to collect the reward. Even though these
piece have been seen in other games as strong elements (the plot-twists offered
in some of Oblivion’s missions were always a joy) Dying Light’s side quests remain
strong due to the game’s well-thought combat and exceptional parkour.
When looking at the game closely, the only complaints
that could be landed are against the characters (who are boring as well as a
pain to talk to) and the repetitive missions. After those two problems are
noted, the rest of the game is open for all of the fun that’s to be had.
Leveling up is a blast by allowing the player to do what they enjoy and using
that to progress (revolutionary, hmm?) this is broken down into movement,
survival and the combat-based skill trees. Movement and Combat are easily
leveled up side by side, as the movement/combat changes in a moment depending
on what kind of loot is to be found in a particular area. Countless times I would
stop to clean out a bus only to then enjoy clearing the zombies that had
assembled outside the doors, waiting for my French Wrench to be implanted in
their cranium. If, however, you lacked a weapon capable of helping you protect
your own tasty brains, there are always rooftops and walls to use as your best
defense. Running is quick, typically easy to perform and a blast once you get
the hang of it. The button layout is odd, but after my hours in Herran it can undoubtedly
be said that thought was put into why each button is where it is.
As you progress through the story you encounter more and
more of the typically boring, not thought out characters. A whiny boy? Check.
An unprepared leader? Check. People relying on substances for survival and
people trying to do “the right thing”? Check and double check. It is a
highlight when the main villain is introduced, however, I can’t help but feel
as though Techland saw Vaas’ success in Far Cry 3 and tried to copy/paste a bit
too much. Insanity is a far better thing to play with in a villain rather than
him being evil because he’s evil as we see in Dying Light’s baddie. This,
however, doesn’t stop the story from chugging along at a “its there if you want
to do it” pace.
Dying Light, as promised, also shines brightly in the
night time. When night falls you become more powered and gain double XP, but
along with you the monsters you face become far more aggressive and able to
destroy you. Sleeping through the night is always an option, but the thrill of
running on the roofs at night is one lacking in games as of late. The fear of
dying is real at night, as the player tries to recover an airdrop, jumping,
sneaking and moving in shadow quickly. If (or almost when) the aggressive zombies
of the night see you, the fight is on. It becomes a rapid race for survival as
you race to find a place to hide. There is the option to fight these
exceptionally-hard foes, which, after trying it a few times, I cannot recommend.
Multiplayer is at its height at night as well, allowing
players to play in CO-OP as well as the insanely edge-of-your-seat “Be the
Zombie” mode, giving players more than enough tools to hunt survivors or, if
you’re like me, try to play the game while being hunted by other players,
proving that I’m defiantly extremely valuable in a zombie-breakout (it’s a
question I ask myself sometimes) The matchmaking went exceptionally well for
me, with more than enough players queued up to hunt me down and abundantly
powerful batteries in my UV flashlight.
In
closing, Dying Light finally feels like Techland delivered the game they
promised; fun, easy to use combat, paired with parkour that is fun to figure
out and use. Co-Op and competitive game modes that are accessible and make
sense, this game is, so far, one of my favorite things about this current
generation of gaming.
Score: 8.5/10
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