Dying Light: from excitement to annoyment
Good morning, zombie and parkour lovers!
Today, I'll attempt to, while preserving my sanity, describe my feelings about a game that was once highly anticipated by me. You probably know the Dead Island games: the first part, Riptide, and the newest part 2. So, Dying Light was created by the same developers and has similar gameplay. As a big fan of the Dead Island franchise, there was zero chance I would pass up on Dying Light. Perhaps one day, we will make a comeback on Banoi, but for now, let's focus on discussing Dying Light part one in this article. So, let's make some noise.
Something called plot
Dying Light is an action-packed game centered around killing zombies and navigating the city using parkour techniques, so I didn't expect a strong storyline. Our protagonist is Kyle Crane, a special agent hired by GRE to retrieve a crucial file stolen by Rais, a local warlord known for his sadistic and murderous tendencies a character intriguingly distinct from the others. Early on, Crane is bitten and must use Antizin to stave off the zombie virus that has overrun Harran. In a short period, Kyle is saved by local survivors who inhabit a skyscraper and fight for survival using their parkour and agility skills. Crane forms close bonds with the local leader Brecken and Rahim, the brother of his savior, Jade. Soon, Kyle realizes that GRE is hypocritical, prioritizing saving face over protecting the people of Harran or developing a vaccine.
Dying Light: Kyle Crane, savior of Harran
At one point, the protagonist is tasked with confronting Rais himself but is betrayed and thrust into a difficult situation where he must make a challenging choice. The local doctor, Zere, is close to creating a cure, but Rais kills him and steals his research. In an epic showdown in the arena, Kyle severs the warlord's hand and makes his way to the Old City. Unfortunately, Rahim is bitten, forcing Crane to kill his newfound friend. When Jade discovers this, she leaves for the Old Town. Through the chaos, the main character reaches a new location, determined to put an end to Rais's tyranny and transfer the data to another local physician, Dr. Allen Camden, who can develop a cure from the plague.
During the process, Jade sacrifices her life to save Crane, enabling him to engage in an epic battle with Rais. As a GRE helicopter arrives, Crane makes the decision to remain in the town and work with Dr. Allen to create a vaccine.
Dying Light: Jade The Scorpion
While I wouldn't say it captured my heart or piqued my curiosity with every twist of fate, there were indeed a few standout moments in the main storyline. However, much of it felt forced or contrived. The characters, for the most part, were forgettable, and what's more, they seemed to constantly blame Crane for their own problems. The main plotline could easily be speedrun in a single day, especially if you skip all the side quests. However, it's the side quests that add depth and complexity to the game. The side characters are often more intriguing and enjoyable than the main cast. I particularly enjoyed the protection missions where you must assist survivors in reaching safety at The Tower or their desired fishing spot.
Dying Light: Rais - local warlord
These missions often lead to wild and absurd stories, some of which make little sense in a city overrun by zombies, but the survivors are unfazed they simply want to pursue their hobbies, like fishing, regardless of the circumstances. Additionally, I found the missions where you must eliminate zombies using special weapons quite entertaining. One memorable quest involved Crane starring as the main hero in a movie. Overall, some quests were genuinely enjoyable, while others were at least amusing. If I recall correctly, there were a total of 34 side quests scattered throughout the map.
Gameplay which make you happy and then miserable
Let's dive into one of the most important and controversial aspects: gameplay and experience grinding. Initially, I was quite excited. Running across the city, navigating obstacles, evading zombies, and engaging in combat provided an adrenaline rush. There's a thrill in outsmarting zombies with explosions or impaling them on sharp spikes. Exploring shops, houses, and closed-off areas adds an extra layer of intrigue. You may stumble upon various resources for crafting new weapon mods or equipment, such as bombs or throwing weapons. Occasionally, you'll encounter locked chests that require lockpicking to access, containing valuable treasures and weapons.
Dying Light: Nightmare of the night
The RPG system, leveling, and gear are categorized by colors: white, green, blue, violet, and orange. While rare, you might stumble upon a golden weapon, although my luck didn't seem to favor me in that regard. Despite playing on hard difficulty, I found it odd that after 20 hours of gameplay, I only came across three or four orange weapons. This raised questions about the game's balance.
I sensed that as the main character progresses, so do the zombies. In contrast to Dead Island, where I could wield several ultimate melee weapons and effortlessly dispatch hordes, even a few common zombies in Dying Light posed a significant threat. On harder difficulties like Hard and Nightmare, lingering in one area for too long prompts the game to spawn fast and aggressive Runners. These agile zombies can climb walls and relentlessly pursue you, leaving you with few places to hide. Despite maxing out your health, even the weakest zombies can kick your ass with just a few punches. The thought of facing special zombies is daunting, considering the challenges posed by regular ones. I've had my fair share of heart-stopping moments, like opening a door to find a Bomber waiting in the dark. My instinctive reaction often leads to a fatal explosion, resulting in Kyle's demise once again.
Dying Light: My worst enemy in Old Town
One of the main features of this game is the changing day and night cycle. When night falls, gameplay becomes even more hostile. Most zombies become faster and more sensitive, and you'll encounter the iconic monster known as The Volatile. These creatures can swiftly overwhelm you with just 2 or 3 hits, and attempting to escape onto a roof will only prompt them to unleash their vomit-like projectiles. The first few nights are genuinely terrifying, inducing a sense of fear that leaves you hiding and sweating in cold anticipation. However, after spending around 5 hours in the game, you'll find yourself eagerly awaiting the night, primarily because of the special nighttime bonus: doubled experience points.
Dying Light: Good night and good luck
The game is primarily focused on melee combat and parkour, offering Crane three ways to level up: Survival, Combat, and Parkour. Successful zombie kills contribute to Combat experience, while performing jumps, climbing towers, and executing different parkour tricks earn Parkour experience. However, despite being relatively easy to accumulate, the bonuses granted by these experience trees are minimal. In my opinion, the Combat Tree offers about 30 perks, but only 3 or 4 of them are genuinely useful, with the rest being either pointless or optional. The same applies to the Parkour Tree, where I found only two perks to be useful.
The most crucial and challenging tree to level up is Survival. To gain experience in this tree, you need to collect Emergency kits, survive outside safe zones at night, and complete quests. The perks in this tree provide valuable knowledge, increasing damage, survivability, and more. However, the downside is that every time you die, you lose a significant amount of experience from the Survival Tree. This aspect frustrated me immensely towards the end of the game. Despite playing at night, collecting all the necessary kits, and putting in considerable effort, experiencing two or three deaths in quick succession could obliterate all my progress. Reaching level 25 in Survivability required a staggering 400,000 points, which felt incredibly daunting. Therefore, when repeatedly killed by mutants in the Old City, I ultimately gave up on trying to max out this tree.
Dying Light: Legend skill tree
Ah, yes, I almost forgot about the Legend Tree. It becomes available once you reach the maximum level in any of the basic trees, and it has a level cap of 250. All experience earned after reaching the maximum level in the basic trees is collected in the Legend Tree. However, similar to the Survival Tree, if you die, you lose all the experience accumulated in the Legend Tree as well. The perks in the Legend Tree passively enhance various aspects such as damage, health points, healing, and so on. By the time I finished the game, I had only managed to attain 4 points in the Legend Tree, which felt rather underwhelming and disappointing. It's frustrating to lose progress in this tree due to deaths, especially considering the significant investment required to reach higher levels. Overall, while the Legend Tree offers potential benefits, the risk of losing progress makes it a challenging aspect of the game to fully utilize.
How do I feel after the game was over?
Comparing my initial feelings when first exploring the Slums, I must admit that the game looked great. I wasn't dying as frequently, and the storyline felt alive and interesting. However, the characters in the game were not its bright side. While characters like Crane, Rais, and a few secondary characters could be called interesting, the majority were forgettable as soon as they left the screen. Additionally, the drama surrounding certain events often felt unnatural and simply stupid.
One thing that bothered me was how Crane seemed to try to handle everything on his own, almost like a Superman figure. He was portrayed as the savior of Harran, but why did he become so sentimental? In my opinion, he should have been portrayed as cold-headed and closed-hearted, especially considering the circumstances surrounding his mission from GRE. They made a wrong choice sending him, and it often felt like Crane was trying too hard to be the hero.
The second part of the game, when we entered the Old City, left me feeling tired and honestly, I wanted to give up halfway through. There were too few side quests, and most of them felt repetitive, like ones I had already completed in the Slums. The main story also took a nosedive in quality. Kyle's search for Jade felt forced, as if he had some sort of romantic or sexual attraction to her, or as if the allure of the Scorpion was too strong for him to resist. The story felt too short for me to truly believe that Crane cared about the people in the city, especially since he didn't seem to have a clear reason for why he should save their lives. It felt like he was just going through the motions because that's what he was supposed to do.
As for the DLC, "The Following," I simply didn't have the mental or physical strength to go through it all again in a location twice as big as the previous two combined. It was just too much for me. Enough is enough.
Conclusion
Well, Dying Light is a good game overall. If you're looking to take a break and smash some zombies with pretty good graphics, then it's worth buying. You can spend several evenings jumping across the city and trying things you'd never do in real life. However, if you're aiming to complete the original game, find all the secrets, and max out your Legend Tree, well, I'll light a candle for your soul in church. Compared to Dead Island, I'd say the old classic is simpler and easier to play. You don't feel as tired while playing through it. Maybe by the fourth act, you might feel a little fatigued, but I've played the first part of Dead Island three times and Riptide twice, and I don't recall any negative feelings.
Dying Light: Kyle starts DLC The Following
Dying Light, on the other hand, frustrated me in the middle and left me with no emotions at the end. So, the best moments to play Dying Light are probably the first five to seven hours in the first location. After that, it becomes an annoying experience grinding machine.
Dying Light: Jade and Crane in an alternate universe
I hope to find the time and strength to play the second part and try Dead Island 2 in the future, but it won't be anytime soon. I've had my fill of zombie meat for now, but I think I'll give these games another shot sooner or later. That's all for today. Stay safe and good luck.
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