Dying Light: Hellraid Review | For Those with Strong Will and Time to Kill…

Dying Light’s Hellraid is good DLC for die-hard fans of Dying Light and all its offerings, but after I completed my first loop, I was not…

Dying Light’s Hellraid is good DLC for die-hard fans of Dying Light and all its offerings, but after I completed my first loop, I was not gripped at all to return to the same map… to complete it endlessly. I don’t recommend it.

See, the thing that infuriates me with this expansion is seeing the potential for how much BETTER it could have been. I would have enjoyed it so much more if there was a variation in the rooms. Many roguelikes/roguelites can wear the facade of the game's levels feeling different because they generate a random tileset of rooms. I was happy going through the first time, taking in the environment, new weapon and enemy types, and mechanics, sure. But the SECOND I booted right back up at the beginning of the same quest route, through the same maps with minor differences, it immediately lost all value.

Perhaps it’s more of a preference for me, as I’m not entirely sure why the game suddenly felt awful to play after the first loop. I like the combat system. I LOVE the aesthetics. The end-game loot is great, from what I’ve seen in videos and read about in guides. There’s just enough sand in this machine for me to think that continuing to play Hellraid is not worth it. I do not want to play through the same “mission” all over again. It’s too samey. I’ve been graced to play much better roguelites and perhaps that’s where my high standard comes from.

But to be fair, it’s a cool DLC, with lots of fun medieval weapons, and should you play Hellraid enough you can unlock a super special weapon (which, if I’m not mistaken, you have to play through the 2hr long quest at least twice over and that’s if you don’t miss the secrets). It plays as nicely as you’d expect if you’ve been playing the base game already, and the roguelite aspects I think are pretty much all there, except for the location and environmental changes.

I don’t recommend it. I don’t find myself drawn to play Hell Raid and think it’s lacking in its offerings compared to other Dying Light DLC. Maybe I would change my tune if I had friends to push me through my grievances here. If you want more Dying Light to play, what I’d recommend you do instead is buy The Following DLC. The wealth of content within there blows every other Dying Light DLC out of the water. Your money is best spent on The Following, unless you want 100% achievements, or need to iron out the last few levels of your power skill tree.

You can see the care that was put into it, it’s better than other DLCs for other games, and at the time it was released it was probably a great way to tide players over, but here and now, I don’t think it’s worth it. Your time is better spent in other aspects of the game in other pieces of content. Dying Light: Hellraid is only for the hardcore fans!

Originally published May 2022 at https://backloggd.com.