New zombie game - Dying Light
Discussion
I'm generally enjoying this but I'm chugging through it at the moment, I've got a lot of games on my plate!
First of all, the way this was sold in the previews was a much darker, more serious experience than Dead Island. It is frankly no different in tone. Silly characters, awful voice acting, boring lead, sketchy story. If it were not for the night cycle and the free running you'd think it was a Dead Island game. The developers said this was the game they always wanted to make but really, it's just another Dead Island in all but name. Not that I don't enjoy Dead Island, rather I expected something a little different from this.
The free running aspect is good in that it works well and the level design is much improved with more verticality and indoor areas. The open world map is fun to navigate though the design is a little samey in places. However, the fun to be had scaling the levels doesn't extend to the dull climb up Infamy Bridge at night, an experience cheapened by the exploding zombies on the other side of doorways high up on the structure. Take some throwing weapons, and switch off your torch so you can see which UV bulbs are working, then jump left off the platform next to the sleeping bag to get the achievement for jumping from the bridge. Don't forget to grab the collectible next to the sleeping bag before you go!
The weapons and combat is generally fun, but it really needs on screen damage stats. Often you'll apply elemental damage to weapon but you've no idea of the real difference it makes because there are no numbers or health bars to work from.
The night sections are alright. They look fun and with care, getting around shouldn't be an issue. Be wary of tackling indoor missions at night as getting trapped indoors with the elite zombies chasing you is no fun at all.
First of all, the way this was sold in the previews was a much darker, more serious experience than Dead Island. It is frankly no different in tone. Silly characters, awful voice acting, boring lead, sketchy story. If it were not for the night cycle and the free running you'd think it was a Dead Island game. The developers said this was the game they always wanted to make but really, it's just another Dead Island in all but name. Not that I don't enjoy Dead Island, rather I expected something a little different from this.
The free running aspect is good in that it works well and the level design is much improved with more verticality and indoor areas. The open world map is fun to navigate though the design is a little samey in places. However, the fun to be had scaling the levels doesn't extend to the dull climb up Infamy Bridge at night, an experience cheapened by the exploding zombies on the other side of doorways high up on the structure. Take some throwing weapons, and switch off your torch so you can see which UV bulbs are working, then jump left off the platform next to the sleeping bag to get the achievement for jumping from the bridge. Don't forget to grab the collectible next to the sleeping bag before you go!
The weapons and combat is generally fun, but it really needs on screen damage stats. Often you'll apply elemental damage to weapon but you've no idea of the real difference it makes because there are no numbers or health bars to work from.
The night sections are alright. They look fun and with care, getting around shouldn't be an issue. Be wary of tackling indoor missions at night as getting trapped indoors with the elite zombies chasing you is no fun at all.
God this game is mediocre. All I can think when playing it is "Isn't this supposed to be fun?". Everything feels like such a chore. Having come from playing Dragon Age: Inquisition, a game that feels like it was made with a bit of love and craft, playing Dying Light is a stark contrast. It's graphically impressive but feels pretty joyless.
I picked this up and only 15% through the story so far I've enjoyed all of it, I agree with some of the above that no indication of the zombies health is frustrating, and I think they forgot to give us the ability to climb back down buildings/ledges where no ladders or bins are available to use as taking fall damage is annoying.
I do and don't like the fact weapons only get a set number of repairs but it does add a twist to the game always looking for the next best weapon.
I have fallen through the map twice now which on a next gen platform shouldn't be happening, hopefully this is temporary and a simple patch will fix what ever bug has caused this.
Great game over all an improvement on other similar games I've played but nowhere near perfect.
add me if you want to smash some Zombies up add that your a PH member
PS4 Player milner993
I do and don't like the fact weapons only get a set number of repairs but it does add a twist to the game always looking for the next best weapon.
I have fallen through the map twice now which on a next gen platform shouldn't be happening, hopefully this is temporary and a simple patch will fix what ever bug has caused this.
Great game over all an improvement on other similar games I've played but nowhere near perfect.
add me if you want to smash some Zombies up add that your a PH member
PS4 Player milner993
I'm just grinding on with this now. It's a fairly long game, I've played for 28 hours and done 48% of the story and 75% of the side missions. I've travelled through to the old town now, which is more aesthetically pleasing than the dumpy slum the first part of the game is set in, but the free running mechanic doesn't work as well there.
I expect tomorrow or the day after, I'll have completed all of the side missions and the story, then it'll be getting traded. My enthusiasm for it has largely faded now and I just want to see the end as a return for the hours I've put in. It has certainly put me off getting Dead Island 2. There is only so much dodgy zombie RPG that one man can take!
Also, who signed off on the shooting missions in Old Town? The ones where you raid the enemy bases to clear them out. Absolute rubbish. The guns are crap, the AI is dreadful, those two missions are just complete dog turd and should have been left out under 'if it's not fun, bin it' rules.
I expect tomorrow or the day after, I'll have completed all of the side missions and the story, then it'll be getting traded. My enthusiasm for it has largely faded now and I just want to see the end as a return for the hours I've put in. It has certainly put me off getting Dead Island 2. There is only so much dodgy zombie RPG that one man can take!
Also, who signed off on the shooting missions in Old Town? The ones where you raid the enemy bases to clear them out. Absolute rubbish. The guns are crap, the AI is dreadful, those two missions are just complete dog turd and should have been left out under 'if it's not fun, bin it' rules.
smithyithy said:
I've put this aside for the past few days as I haven't been able to peel myself away from Abe's Oddysee - New 'n' Tasty 
I loved the original on Playstation, and was close to buying this from the PSN store when it appeared on PS+ for free this month!
Well worth a download!
Free you say?! Need to cancel all my plans for the week. I loved the original on Playstation, and was close to buying this from the PSN store when it appeared on PS+ for free this month!
Well worth a download!
Well, I finished Dying Light tonight. What a slog. I wasn't blown away by the game to start with and kept wondering if it would pick up, but it rapidly descends into an utterly joyless slog. You know when you start feeling a bit sick of a game and make a big push to get it finished? I started that about a third of the way through.
The pacing at the end is just so wrong. The game feels like it's reaching some sort of climax as you conclude events in the slums. Then you get dragged to the Old Town section and the game hobbles on for a while longer. It's somewhat jarring. When you go to the museum, it really feels like the game is about to end. Sadly, you end up getting dragged further on to the lab and then back to the slums to climb the tower and kill Rais. It's a bit like the end of Lord Of The Rings III, where you're certain the credits are about to roll but it drags on, unwelcome, for another 40 minutes.
And man, was that end section awful. The sewers are poorly signposted (use your tracker at all times to head for the objective) and a nightmare to navigate. Then the climb up the tower, man, that was awful. All to see a crappy quicktime event and a conclusion to the deeply dissatisfying story. It's so hackneyed, and the irony is forced on the player ("you don't care about this Crane, this is just a job to you!"). The whole 'cynical hero finds himself' bulls
t is so played out. One part where irony wasn't heeded was as you're climbing Rais' tower and Crane says "I liked you more when you didn't speak", yet we're still made to suffer more of Rais' inane ramblings. Rarely have I ended up hating a game so much by the end. It might have been more bearable if it wasn't so long. I love long, high quality games but they've got to be of sufficient quality not to feel like working shifts down a mine. Grinding out the last few hours of this awful turd of a game was like being at the coalface.
Edited by Baryonyx on Tuesday 10th March 11:07
FFS - last night I must have died 20 times on the first night mission where you have to sneak home under the cover of darkness having got to the airdrops. No matter what I do I get spotted by the virals or blunder into a regular Z which creates sufficient commotion for a viral to come. I can't kill the virals and outrunning them works about once in 4 times. I'm clearly missing a trick somewhere???
Oh it doesnt help probably that I played the preceeding segment while 'refreshed' so safehouses etc between here and there are still hostile....
Oh it doesnt help probably that I played the preceeding segment while 'refreshed' so safehouses etc between here and there are still hostile....
Gassing Station | Video Games | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff