By Rob Dolen
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Despite the titular statement, “Dying Light” is the perfect example of how the zombie trend is still alive and well in popular culture. “Dying Light,” produced by Warner Bros. Interactive (“Batman: Arkham” series) and developed by Techland (“Dead Island,” “Call of Juarez”) is an open-world (optional co-op) zombie survival game based in the fictional location of Harran.
You take on the role of Agent Crane, an undercover government operative sent in to the quarantined Harran to recover a file regarding the zombie virus.
The player learns that the government you are working for wants to destroy Harran via air strike, killing the zombies as well as the innocent humans, so you have to convince them that there is a cure being made by one of the scientist’s research in Harran.
The story is a little run-of-the-mill and cliche for an action game, but that’s made up for by the addictive gameplay that “Dying Light” provides. The combat in this game is very reminiscent of Techland’s “Dead Island” roots, but it’s a refined version of the classic, clunky swing-left-swing-right-with-your-weapon style paired with some skills that you learn over time as you gain experience.
As your character levels up, fighting becomes more fluid and unique as skills allow for varied fighting styles. Fighting zombies during the day starts to become natural or easy, but at night the situation changes due to the stronger and more volatile zombie types that only come out at night.
Despite the adaptive fighting techniques not all fights can be won, especially when it becomes nighttime and you’re outnumbered, so you need to run.
Parkour/free-running is the mode of navigation for the player; most of the game play consists of making leaps and bounds from the rooftops of the slums to the high-rise buildings of Oldtown.
Navigation basics are simple to learn — movement actions are bound to as few as two button presses and the analog sticks for console gamers — but fluid navigation is difficult to master because in most situations you’re obligated to be running at full speed to escape death, while also being mindful of your surroundings and using them to your advantage.
Night game play provides a good adrenaline rush with the faster “volatile” zombies chasing after you at top speed. This feature forces you to be quick with reactions because sporadic movement through the game world is key to dodging volatiles.
The game world itself is huge, broken into two districts, and offers plenty of opportunities for movement and scavenging for resources through the buildings, abandoned cars and assorted rubble.
In all, the expansive and thrilling experience that “Dying Light” provides the player more than makes up for its okay storyline.