Dying Light is yet another zombie game to be released in an already over-saturated genre. There are a ton of zombie games released each year, and they are all becoming repetitive. The zombie genre is starting to feel more repetitive than the yearly call of duty releases. That's saying something. However, Dying Light tries to introduce some new mechanics to the zombie genre. In this way, Dying Light succeeds with the fantastic addition of the free-running. Along with this new mechanic, there is a lot of fun to have with Dying Light. Unfortunately, the game is held back by a dull, cliche, story that can be truly frustrating at times.
Story - 6.0: A game doesn't need good a story to be great. There are plenty of amazing games that have very little, if any story, at all. However, when a game focuses so much on a dull story, it does hold the game back. The story is a basic, recycled, zombie game story with a recycled, non-interesting villain. The game throws numerous characters at you, but it never makes you care for them. I only cared for one character, but I knew exactly what was going to happen to that character. The story is painfully predictable. There were no surprises provided by the story. The character you play as, Crane, is fairly interesting, but he's not interesting enough to carry the plot of the entire game. None of the characters are. They are just there. There really isn't much more to say besides the fact that it is boring. The game doesn't really give you a reason to care. You just want to get back to the action.
Gameplay - 8.0: Dying Light gives you not one, but two large open maps to explore. Both of these maps are distinguishably different from each other providing some variety to the existing formula. This is truly the case with the free-running system. It is so fun to run around the map, climbing buildings, and running away from zombies. What's great about it is that it is actually challenging to use at times. It may seem unfair at times, that you might just fall to your death because you weren't looking at right angle. That's what makes it feel real for me. You have to run as fast as you can sometimes, but if you are not careful, you might just fall to your death. Assassin's Creed's free running system has become to easy and simple to use. You just hold a button and the character does the work for you. You are actively a part of the climbing, forcing you to be careful. Climbing is that way in real life. The free-running will hopefully carry over to future zombie games, provided that they don't ruin it. The combat system is really basic. Right trigger swings the weapon. That's more or less all there is to it. You can side step too, but it still feels simple. In the early stages in the game, don't even bother fighting. Just don't. Your weapons will take forever just to kill a single zombie. Then you try fighting people, and you are probably going to die. The combat can be really frustrating at times. However, combat is very enjoyable once you acquire great weapons and have more blueprints and upgrades to play around with. I made a katana that I used to cut four zombies in half in one swing, and they all bursted into flames. It was so cool that my friend and I were laughing like crazy. Guns are okay in the game. Useful for sure, but they don't provide the same gratification as a flaming sword. The night provides a totally different experience. Rather than fighting your way through zombies, you must sneak past the various zombies who will viciously kill you if you are spotted. If they see you, you must run for your life! They are fast and deadly. These were the times that I accidentally died while free-climbing. I was running so fast that I was being careless. Sure, you have the option pretty much only play during the day-time, but the game provides a very compelling reason to take the risk at night. All your experience points are doubled while playing at night. However, it actually isn't that difficult to avoid detection especially in the later part of the game. Some specific missions are tricky, but for the most part I just ran around every where at night while avoiding detection. It's not actually that challenging. Now, this game can be insanely frustrating at times. There were a countless number of times where I was unfairly killed by some random explosion that I could not control at all. There was one mission where I blew up one second after respawning. I still don't know what killed me. The game is filled with those moments. When I die because of my own stupidity or because of my mistakes are fine, it's when I died without any control that frustrated me.
Graphics/Performance - 7.5: The game looks good for the most part. However, the game is filled with numerous glitches. Plenty of pop-in and saturated colors. Most of the time, the game runs smoothly. Unfortunately, there are some game breaking glitches. There were times where I somehow ended up underneath the city. I had to restart my game, of course. As far as graphics go, they look fine but are simply average. They don't stand out from other games nowadays.
Verdict - 7.0: Dying Light is a fun game for sure, but it isn't the essential zombie game that you may be hoping for. If you are a fan of the zombie genre, you will enjoy this game for sure. If you aren't a fan of the genre, you may enjoy it, but I doubt it will change your opinion of the genre.
I hope my review was helpful. What do you think of Dying Light? What is your favorite zombie game? Please comment below.