Dying Light Reviews
Dying Light is a solid game with a great foundation. The integration of parkour works well and I never really found myself complaining about running around the streets. The combat is hard, especially for beginners, but ultimately it's pretty satisfying getting a slow-motion kill by chopping a zombies head or limb off. There's definitely room for improvement but this is definitely a game that you should pick up if you've been thinking about it.
Dying Light is easy to write off as a Dead Island knockoff, but it is anything but. It has a completely different feel, with intense mobility and speed mixing with far more deadly enemies. It's also more tightly designed and more fun to play and is an overall improvement over Dead Island in almost every way. It still has its flaws, and it doesn't reinvent the genre, but it's just fun. The poor mission structure and occasionally bad zombie design can lead to frustration, but the satisfaction of dropping onto a zombie's head wrench-first makes it all worth the trouble.
Dying Light has its moments. It has a great concept and that concept is executed relatively well, with a few minor drawbacks. I still say the villain seems awfully familiar and the story is just way too predictable, and some of the main missions feature design choices that are definite head-scratchers.
Dying Light is an interesting mix of standard, now over used gameplay features but with a (mostly) well-implemented parkour slant.
Some will love it, others will hate it, but Dying Light is an interesting experiment at least.
The pacing jumps up 10 notches and things become interesting due to the powerful super zombies and the urgency to not stay in a single place kicks in. It breaks up the monotony and it is these moments of originality that make Dying Light stand out from other games of this ilk, and is why it comes thoroughly recommended.
Dying Light is a game best experienced on your own terms and at your own pace. It eschews the excesses of its sibling franchise, Dead Island, but is no worse for it and if you can get past the clunky storytelling and the repetitive missions, you might a diamond in the rough that really empowers you to revel in the design aspects of its zombie-infested sandbox.
Dying Light shares much with Dead Island, some would probably say a little too much, but it cuts away a lot of the septic flesh and binds the wounds with some new (if not entirely fresh) ideas.
This isn't a game of jump scares, but it is one of dread. When you're running from a herd of volatiles, and you look behind you and see them all chomping at your heels, there's a rush of adrenaline.
Dying Light manages to keep its errand-style missions fresh because its world is so rich; even when you're doing something that feels familiar the inclusion of co-op helps rejuvenate the experience. It might not be perfect, but Techland should be proud that they've created something that's ultimately fun to play and really gets your blood pumping.
'Dying Light's parkour mechanics are polished, easy to get into, and quite complementary of the whole fight or flight with zombies experience. The combat is solid with a nice mix of capable zombie fighter and too many to handle aspects. The game can be quite electrifying, and there are impressive details that push the game's sense of immersion forward. What's more, its day/night cycle is exhilarating and, more important, brings with it as many thrills as rewards. Unfortunately 'Dying Light' also suffers several nagging flaws. Chiefly the repetitive aesthetics and uneven graphics quality detract noticeably from the overall fun.
The core experience of Dying Light is a good time. For the most part, I enjoyed my time running from or dodging my way through the undead. But beneath the surface, the game drags itself down by futilely trying to fill a checklist of expectations.
Dying Light blazenly steals elements from other exponents in video games, but the way it implements each mechanic is impressive; the unfortunate thing is that, apparently, the studio lacks ambition to innovate.
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As it stands Dying Light is perhaps the first game of the year, which is not a remake or a remaster, worth getting your hands on. Thanks to strong core mechanics in its combat and traversal it remains a joy to play even when the missions promise otherwise. The zombie apocalypse maybe a setting that's done to death but Techland proves there's still some life in the concept with Dying Light.
In summation though, Dying Light is a gloriously violent take on a tired genre. It might cobble together bits and bobs from its peers, but it attempts enough new to make it genuinely unique proposition. There's absolutely stacks and stacks of stuff to here, and wonderfully little of it feels like filler. You and the zombies take centre stage, and Techland don't overcomplicate things. As a co-op sandbox to tool around it's fantastic fun, one of the few downsides being that it doesn't quite compare when wondering around on your lonesome. Ultimately it's everything you wanted to love about Dead Island with none of the baggage, with the parkour movement making it a unique thrill to leap around its world.
Techland used to elicit a groan, an expectation of being underwhelmed. The game more than redeems their reputation and is a great step in the right direction. There are new ideas that emerge from the old and it is this attitude could spell greatness for the studio. Like your character, all they need to do is keep moving forward.
So if you have motion sickness issues, you should probably pass on Dying Light. But if your stomach is solid and you have no issues with such things, this game offers a solid story wrapped in a cleanly created game that so far has not disappointed me. Hopefully you all will find that Dying Light is the same for you. If you want co-op gaming, Dying Light has you covered with multiple modes of multiplayer goodness. If it's a shooter you want, you can do that too. But beware loud noises and shortage of ammunition. And if you have ever wanted the opportunity to play as the zombie and get some payback for all the head-smashing violence against your kind… Dying Light has got something for even you. The take-home message is that Dying Light has quickly become one of my favorite zombie-killing games and I think I might just be playing this game for quite a while. Or at least until something new happens with Destiny.
Dying Light is a very impressive game that's clearly had a lot of care and attention put into it.
Slick, scary and seriously big
With a bit more narrative care, Dying Light could've been a classic of a zombie game. Instead, it's merely a few steps in the right direction.