Dying Light Reviews

The day/night cycle, widely touted by Techland to be a game changer isn’t quite what it’s hyped to be but it’s still a lot of fun. Night only lasts 7 minutes, but during early levels 7 minutes feels like an eternity, as the game turns into a pseudo-stealth genre. Volatiles come out at night, and they are possibly the toughest enemies in the game, able to sprint indefinitely after you and capable of killing you with a few swipes. Avoiding them is essential during early levels, and even in max levels they require a tremendous amount of effort and strategy to bring down. Playing at night was something I avoided at the start, as I wasn’t strong enough to last more than a couple of minutes, but soon enough it became less terrifying and very fun. Skill points are doubled at night, and when you hit high levels you need those extra points to level up. Starting a pursuit, luring volatiles and infected to a trap and setting it off nets thousands of points, and it’s very satisfying to survive a full night.

“Dying Light can be great, but it doesn't understand its own strengths.”

Dying Light 2 was my first contact with the series and it can certainly be an exhilarating open-world game. Its gorgeous city, intense chases, fluid parkour, and visceral, meaty combat are well worth experiencing. Although they never completely overshadow its accomplishments, boring gear, repetitive side missions, and a story that never finds its focus do, unfortunately, keep it away from greatness. But, if you keep some of your expectations in check, all these missteps can easily be drowned ...

Editor’s note: We thought Dying Light was bloody brilliant when it was first released last year. To celebrate the launch of its The Following DLC, we’ve updated our original review with the Stuff verdict on its new expansion.

Doom buggy.

To zombie or not to zombie? That is the question.

In the 30 plus hours I spent playing Dying Light, I completed the main story, a large chunk of side quests and a handful of challenges. Nearly all of the hours were enjoyable, but some issues did frustrate at times such as the game’s reliance on gunplay in lots of its later story missions, the lack of fast travel, and the inadequacy of the in-game map. I also found the game’s final confrontation to be a huge disappointment due to a pretty anti-climactic quick time event. Despite all this however, I wholeheartedly recommend Dying Light to anyone that enjoyed the Dead Island games or the action/adventure genre. Combining frenetic action, a surprisingly synth-heavy soundtrack and beautiful visuals, Dying Light is a game that you can easily get absorbed in and lose hours of your time.

Although a sound game, Dying Light just falls short of greatness. Compared to its predecessors it looks stunning and has picked up a raft of new and interesting ideas. Several hours in, however, and a familiar sense of fatigue will inevitably set in. Unless roaming Harran with friends in tow, Dying Light isn’t one of those games you can comfortably sit and play for hours on end. Zombie enthusiasts are still in for a treat though, as well as anyone looking for an unconventional first person action game.

An Improvement on the Dead Island formula thanks to additions of parkour and organic moments, but won't reinvent the open world zombie genre.

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 a cavalcade of zombie ultra-violence that's hard to put down. The parkour can be a little sketchy at times, and it's not without its flaws, but whether you're playing alone or with a squad of Kyle Crane clones, you simply can't fail to have fun amid Harran City's zombie apocalypse. If this is how the world ends, count me in.

Unfortunately, Techland is still unable to deliver a story worth telling. I didn’t feel any emotional attachment to any of the characters, nor did I care if they ended up surviving or not. The addition of an overall weapon durability was also something I could have done without as I prefer to cut down my enemies without having to worry whether or not my weapons will disintegrate in my hands.

It's a little backhanded to say that it's only when something truly illogical or restrictive happens while you're playing that you realise exactly how atmospheric Dying Light can be. Backhanded or not however, it's a fair comment. Every time you start really getting into the game, something happens to pull you out. There's a lot of potential here, both realised and unrealised, even though the two things the game mixes together – parkour and zombies – are only slightly less passé than catapulting winged animals at pigs in army helmets. Some will love it, others will hate it, but Dying Light is an interesting experiment at least.

The other multiplayer offering is the Be the Zombie mode. In it you play as a suped up version of a zombie that will invade the games of other players. Killing other players and protecting your nests will net you XP that you can then use to purchase new skills for your zombie character. When playing singleplayer you can even pick what time you can be invaded or turn it off entirely. It’s a really neat mode if you can actually manage to connect to someone.

Dying Light is a really enjoyable game. The atmosphere is absolutely spot on and the game world is a joy to traverse with your parkour skills. It has issues with its mission structure and confusion in the direction of its protagonist, but you’ll likely be having too much fun to care.

However, because Dying Light features a very disappointing trial and error ending it’s clear Techland never quite understood what would make its game fun to play. They took a fairly cliché story as Dying Light’s base and then piled different mechanics on top of each other, with seemingly little idea if the concept worked. There’s some fun to be had, and maybe even a solid game packaged within Dying Light, but the game requires so much sifting to get to it. Dead Island fans will enjoy Dying Light, but anyone who found those prior games unappealing won’t have a change of heart with this one.

If you're a Dead Island enthusiast, zombie addict, or free running connoisseur, Dying Light is the game for you. Its parkour is addicting and the way it eases your character into power is something other games can learn from. But if you're looking for a story that isn't frustrating, weapons that don't break after ten swings, and basically anything else that makes a game great, you're better off keeping your wallet in your pocket.

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Techland originally introduced the Dead Island franchise using an emotional reveal trailer that showed a family being affected by a zombie outbreak. The finished product, though fun, had a campier vibe than that somber announcement trailer. With Dying Light, Techland comes closer to capturing the feeling of that trailer better than any entry in the Dead Island series.

Unlike a zombie bite, Dying Light gets better with time. You'll feel a little underpowered during the undead-'em-up's opening exchanges, but as you gradually cross quests off your multiplying mission log and sink your teeth into the title's story, Polish developer Techland's parkour-inspired escapade really comes into its own. This is essentially Dead Island with the budget required to do it justice – and while it's not exactly the most original outing ever made, it will get its claw into you if you allow it.

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Dying Light often boils down to “Zombies: The Videogame,” but it’s fun to flip around like a ninja and cause havoc while you shuffle from one mission to the next. For many of you out there, that’s basically all you’ll need.

A more polished and focused game than their previous effort in open world zombie games, Techland marries graceful parkour and chaotic combat in this sandbox scavenger's fever dream.

Techland's newest game, Dying Light, isn't nearly what it was expected to be after several hours of gameplay, although it does contain great mobility and graphics.

Beginning as a furtive, desperate survival-horror experience, Dying Light gradually and gratifyingly evolves into a fast, hyper-violent celebration of vertical freedom and zombie destruction. Its main story is unspectacular, but the memorable side quests and sheer fun of exploring its world do a fantastic job of offsetting that, making Dying Light one of the most engrossing open-world games – zombie-infested or otherwise – I've played in a while.