Dying Light Reviews
Although the similarities are easy to see, Dying Light is set in a darker, grittier, and more realistic world than the bright and colorful island from Dead Island. Combat lacks limb interaction, but still allows you swipe legs with baseball bats or cave skulls in with heavy items. The game peaks when you are playing with a few friends, either completing missions, challenges or just roaming to uncover all the secrets of Harran. The mission structure leaves a lot to be desired, but throwing additional players into the mix keeps the game from feeling like a chore.
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.
Slick, scary and seriously big
Whether it's free running run one side of a map to the other, traversing great heights or simply making a zombies head explode with a baseball bat, Light offers you plenty of diversity to keep the game interesting.
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.
I would have simply been content with Techland releasing another Dead Island game, as long as it came with some needed polish to help it realise its potential. Instead, we got Dying Light, a surprising mix of old and new, which has managed to once again rekindle my excitement for both the genre and the developer. It may stumble every so often, but Dying Light is still the most fun I've had in a while.
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 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.
If you've been craving for some slaying action since the days of Dead Island I've got some good news - Dying Light might just be for you! Packed full of great content, Dying Light is almost perfect in its execution. Almost.
Dying Light is a massive upgrade from Dead Island. Don't miss this if zombie games are close to your heart.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
I think it's safe to say that Dying Light is one of the most enjoyable zombie based games I've played in quite some time. The game certainly ups the ante a bit by tossing in some solid parkour movement mechanics, four player co-op, and optional, but fun, competitive multiplayer. All of these elements blend in nicely with a more mature narrative when compared to other games in the genre.
Even with a forgettable plot and tacked-on versus multiplayer mode, Dying Light is still a solid open world experience that will satisfy any zombie enthusiast for well over 20 hours.
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.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Dying Light keeps the best bits of Dead Island, forgets to get rid of the bad, but makes up for it with awesome parkour and a tense day/night dynamic.
Unlike Techland's previous titles, Dying Light is an easier game to recommend. Fantastic movement mechanics complement the brutal combat beautifully, and the game on a mechanical level is incredibly engrossing and fun to play. Sadly, there's little else above that to sell. The story and all the characters involved do little to hold your attention, and the mission design does little to surprise.
Although we have smashed sluggish zombies hundreds of times, this convention still has its loyal fans. Thanks to Techland's Dying Light, the list of titles with which they will spend at least a few dozen successful hours has just expanded by another position.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Dying Light is basically zombies on steroids. You're quicker, the zombies are quicker, and an action-packed, adrenaline-fueled rush. It's not without faults, but it's still a good time if you're into the whole zombie thing still.
An Improvement on the Dead Island formula thanks to additions of parkour and organic moments, but won't reinvent the open world zombie genre.