Dying Light Review | Zombie Games Have Evolved
Dying Light is the best evolution of a zombie game you could ever hope to play. Tight combat, crazy weapons, an incredible parkour system…
Dying Light is the best evolution of a zombie game you could ever hope to play. Tight combat, crazy weapons, an incredible parkour system, and a fantastic level-up system, will all keep you very entertained.
What can I say except wow?
I bought Dying Light on a whim over the holidays and didn’t think I would get much into it. From the outset, it looks kind of generic, and in my mind, the zombie genre should have died years and years ago. But wow. It hooked me, and I’ve been very much enjoying what it has to offer.
The parkour and the combat are the biggest and best things about this game. From the slow-mo stuns and kills, to speeding across rooftops, the combination of elements in its gameplay loop is extremely satisfying. I found that when it started to get a little stale, I could just do a different set of missions, craft some monstrosity of a weapon, or vary my play style slightly, and it would be peak levels of entertainment again. The sandbox that they present to you is extremely well done and it was surprising how it continued to offer a great experience hour after hour.
I didn’t like the characters, but I enjoyed the stories that they were presented with, and the scenarios that a zombie-infested quarantine zone would bring. I liked experiencing the story of factions fighting for resources, loved ones sacrificing themselves for their families or their communities, scumbags being jerks and grifting other survivors, people rising into leadership just because they were at the right place & time, etc. I think they did a good job realizing a lot of the human stories that would come out of a real-life zombie situation, and it was interesting to watch those stories unfold.
The breadth of content within Dying Light is HUGE. Main story completion took me about 30 hours, and that’s with completing all the side missions. There are a multitude of DLC packs that I’m just starting to crack into and again, WOW! There’s a lot there as well. The platinum edition of Dying Light is well worth the price because the value of the DLC (that expands the game in several meaningful, game-changing ways) is substantial. At the very least you NEED to get “The Following” which is almost like a sequel with how much new content is in it. It’s practically mind-blowing.
All in all, I think Dying Light is a great game that can be recommended to most people who enjoy First Person Shooters, Open World Sandboxes, Light Crafting Mechanics, and a hint of Nazi Zombies. Or something along those lines paha. Shockingly good and surprisingly deep.