Developer: Techland
Publisher: Techland Publishing
Rrp: £34.99 (Gog.com, Humblebundle and Steam)
Released: 9th Feburary 2016
Available on:Gog.com, Humblebundle and Steam
Played Using: Mouse and Keyboard
Approximate game length: 25 Hours
No one knows where it came from or how it got started and to be honest at this point no one really cares. At the moment all we can think about is surviving, where we can find our next meal or safe place to sleep and in some cases the only thought going through their minds is when the medicine that keeps them ‘them’ will finally run out.
Dying Light is an FPS with some RPG elements where the focus is less on shooting and more on melee combat and parkour. The game is set within the Turkish city of Harran after a disease causes a zombie outbreak the city is put on lockdown with nothing entering or exiting the city. You play as Kyle Crane, an agent for an organisation known as the GRE (Global Relief Effort) who’s been parachuted into the city to retrieve a file that was stolen from them. However things go badly from the very instant that you land.
As you play through the game Crane will accrue points in various skills which in turn will give him ranks in one of four skill trees. These four skill trees are; Survivor, Agility, Power and Legend. Once you earn enough points your rank in that skill tree goes up and you can unlock a new skill.
Survivor points are earned by completing quests, helping out other survivors you find in the city and taking part in challenges. This tree doesn’t only unlock skills but also blueprints and equipment you can use such as the grappling hook.
You earn points in agility by free-running, so just climbing and traversing the city will net you points.
Power is all about combat and is earned through, well… combat. Through this skill tree you’ll unlock special moves such as a power attack or performing a dropkick.
Lastly there is legend which is a strange one. The legend tree is only unlocked once you have completely maxed out one of the other skill trees. This tree doesn’t actually give you any new skills but instead allows you to increase the effectiveness of your combat abilities, health and stamina.
Once one of the other skill trees are maxed out all the points that would’ve gone to that tree instead go to the legend.
Another element that has snuck its way into this game is item rarity, specifically how item rarity is shown. Much like an MMORPG or the Borderlands series Dying Light indicates the rarity of weapons and items through colour. Interestingly the rarity of a weapon doesn’t change an its stats, a common machete has exactly the same stats as a rare one. However, when it comes to weapons the rarer the item the more mods that can be applied to it. Common weapons can only have one mod (if that) but a rarer weapon will have more.
That being said the rarer a mod is (because of course they also have rarity) the more potent it will be once attached to a weapon.
On top of modifying the your weapon you can also upgrade it which applies effects such as damage of time or electrical.
You find crafting components within the world, upon the bodies of enemies and in stores. With these items you can make new weapons, mods, medikits and lockpicks etc.
This game is absolutely gorgeous and grotesque in equal measure, the vistas that Techland has created are stunning. However, as much as I appreciate the level of detail that is on display with this game there are some things that I wish they hadn’t included, such as the animation for opening a box, a skip button would’ve been nice. The problem is opening a box locks you into an animation that takes a few seconds, in that time you can still be attacked which then cancels out the animation. However because you can’t interrupt the animation it means that an enemy can get a good hit or two in that you could have avoided.
Throughout the city are multiple safe zones, or rather potential safe zones. It’s up to you to clear out the zombies inside, seal any breaches and restart the defences. Once you’ve done that though you can use these safe zones as a place to take a moments break, sleep to regain health (or sleep the night away) and they also work as respawn points. Occasionally the safe zone will also have a trader set up shop.
There are a variety of zombies that appear in the game, from your common shuffler to fast zombies through to ones that spit acid at you. All of these are pretty easy to handle however when night rolls around the city becomes a much more dangerous place. At night the zombies are more dangerous this is not only due to the low visibility but also because other far more dangerous, dexterous and aggressive varieties of zombie appear. Not time isn’t all bad though, any skill points that are earned at night are doubled, escaping the ‘volatile’ zombies pursuit and this bonus increases the longer you remain outside of the safe zone.
The parkour being shown is impressive, not quite as impressive as those within Mirrors Edge but its not a far cry from it. I also have to say that I swear this game was taking a perverse pleasure in triggering my fear of heights. Which is weirdly something Mirrors Edge never set off for me… not sure what to make of that.
What can I say? It’s a great game, any complaint I have is basically a nit-pick. Sure, it’s got a lot of similarities to Dead Island (which did come out first) but I think this game does more than enough to stand apart from that series. I can say for certain I will be playing the DLC’s for this and likely will get the sequel when it comes out.
If this appeals to you perhaps try;
Resident Evil 7
Dead Island
