Dying Light part 1 – 28 hours later

Last week I got my hands on a copy of Techland‘s newest release, Dying Light. It’s a first person zombie apocalypse / survival horror / parkour running mash-up with some light RPG elements thrown in for good measure. I’ve clocked well over 30 hours in it so far and it’s still got plenty more to give. Dying Light has been hitting all of my buttons and getting my 2015 gaming started off right. This week I’m just hitting the high points of my initial delve into what this game has to offer so that I can get some more time in and get the rest of my thoughts for you guys next week.

Dying Light has a fairly sandbox feel in that nothing really keeps me on rails in the game. This has translated into me running around and doing virtually everything but the main story. I end up getting back to the actual plot only once all of the side quests have been exhausted and I get tired of climbing over everything in Harran and chasing after airdrops. This hasn’t been a bad way to play the game. In fact, it’s really been helping with leveling up the three skill areas and opening up new abilities for survival, agility, and power. This is one of the most directly RPG elements of the game because it allows me to directly influence the way my character plays as I make my way through the game. So sometimes, even without actual missions guiding me, I’ll spend an hour running through the city, tracking down supplies, helping citizens, or just fighting thugs to gain experience and improve my dude.

I was never a really big fan of first person melee in games. I’ve been coming around on the concept lately and Dying Light is certainly continuing that trend for me. Swinging a table leg, pipe, wrench, machete, or whatever’s handy has a good arc that thankfully means I don’t need precision to at least land hits. Of course, aiming properly can stun when hitting with blunt objects or straight up dismember when using edged weapons. So combat definitely rewards accuracy, but even someone like myself can get by just hacking away at the nearest undead. However, gaining levels in the agility and power trees grants access to a lot of new abilities that make combat far more acrobatic. Vault, for example, allows me to run at enemies and then use them as a jumping point to gain some serious air. I like to use that to then spin around and hit them from above. Though, that’s not always the best option when the zombies start to congregate in hordes.

Dying Light Blowtorch Cleaver

Running for my bloody life from the terrifying undead masses is sometimes the only way to stay alive in Dying Light. Thankfully, the game is well structured in that regard and nearly any surface can be climbed on. It can even be a rush when I’m fleeing (especially at night) and hit the button that slows time down and allows me to look over my shoulder at pursuers. Most times, scaling a building is good enough to get out of trouble when dealing with the more mundane zombies. Hell, jumping up onto the roof of a van is often enough to thwart their shambling asses. However, some varieties are just as agile as my character and freaking fast to boot. Others can do things like spit acid, so just getting on top of a car isn’t always good enough. (Editor’s note: I think Reddit hit the nail on the head with this image – it hearkens to the days of being a kid and you can’t touch the floor because of reasons [lava]) 

Weapons are fun and can be customized through the blueprint menu. I’m still scouring the city for more blueprints, but when I find them and have the proper materials I can do things like add a blowtorch to the end of my pipe (can set enemies on fire) or wrap electrified wire around a baseball bat. However, the one thing that kinda bugs me is that weapons break down with use. I understand that it’s a mechanic that reinforces that feeling of scavenging to survive in a zombie-filled town, but sometimes it doesn’t feel very realistic and pulls me out of the fantasy. I mean, I don’t have any hard data about how many human skulls a pipe wrench can bash before it breaks, but I’m going to guess it’s a fuck ton. Steel versus bone is an area where I’m guessing steel wins every damn time. Wooden bats and table legs I get, but some of these weapons seem to fall apart way too quickly. Still, that’s just me being picky and trying to argue reality in a world infested with mutating zombies.

I know I haven’t really talked much about the story so far, but that’s because I’m only about 20% of the way through it. (I just can’t ignore an exclamation mark on my map.) I’m holding off my judgement of that until I get a little bit farther into the game. What I will say from this first impression is that I would recommend this game to anyone that wants a zombie game that does more than give you a chainsaw and a mall full of undead targets to chop up. Dying Light is visually stunning, very frenetic, and well worth playing. It can be a bit heavy on the gore and some of the sound effects have been on the verge of stomach churning, so be warned if that’s not your thing. There will be viscera flying everywhere. Otherwise, this is an exceptionally solid action game that people are going to be talking about a lot in the future. Until next week, good night and good luck.