Before Dying Light, most people probably remembered developer/publisher Techland for the Call of Juarez and Dead Island series'. Though vastly different from one another, each one brought fun, innovative gameplay and captivating stories to the table. Though neither really hooked an audience quite like Dying Light. Into its fifth year, this title has proven to be a wrecking force in the open-world zombie survival genre, as it still has a large active playerbase thanks to the swath of new events, DLC, and updates that it receives. It also reels in those that have a love for co-op, as it supports up to 4 players at any given time; though solo play is equally as entertaining in its own right.

The city of Harran has been subjected to a sudden and mysterious viral outbreak that has turned most of its residents into aggressive, zombie-like creatures; ones that continue to mutate and evolve as time goes on. The plague gets worse when night falls, as the most frenzied and deadly of the infected make their presence known then. As with most zombie infections, the disease is spread through bites, and there is currently no known cure. An agency known as the Global Relief Effort (GRE) is helping survivors stay alive just a little longer by airdropping supplies, though the number of uninfected is dwindling by the day. Despite their best efforts and good intentions, the GRE are being blackmailed by a rogue operative who stole a file containing sensitive data. To retrieve this information, the company sends in a highly trained and skilled mercenary known as Kyle Crane. When his deployment goes awry, he finds himself ambushed by thugs, then bitten and subsequently infected only minutes after arriving in ravaged city. Surrounded by zombies, infected with no cure in sight, and alone, Crane must find the other survivors, the rogue operative, and the file before his time runs out.

Despite how simple and uninspired the story sounds in text, the playable translation worked out well. The main premise of going into an infected city for some file for a global company sounds a tad ridiculous, but it offers up the chance to meet a lot of interesting characters along the way. Soon the plot becomes focused on them and their survival instead of the data file. The world and story of Dying Light is incredibly immersive, and made all the better by the wonderful voice acting, creative dialogue, fun missions, random encounters, and rewarding challenges that players will face along the way. There's never a time where the game starts to feel like a boring romp through a typical zombie wasteland scenario; something is always happening to push Crane's objectives further, and there's always some colorful character to help out. Even the fetch and kill side-quests are masterfully disguised so that they are entertaining instead of tedious. It also helps that the graphics have stood the test of time; they were cutting-edge at release, and they've aged exceedingly well since. The synthwave soundtrack is the icing on the cake.

Techland carried over much of the same survival system from Dead Island, but they cleaned it up a lot to make it fun this time around. Instead of weapons just straight up breaking and becoming useless, they can be repaired a few times before needing to be discarded. Overall and for those unfamiliar, the survival system is light; it's focused mostly on crafting and weapon durability rather than making players worry about a plethora of stats. There are dozens of blueprints for weapons strewn all throughout the game, along with dozens more for elemental modifications that can be applied. Ever fancied an electrified wrench that can also burn enemies? It's here. How about a machete that can cause bleeding effects and barbecue your foes? Done and done. The mix and matching is far-reaching, and taking the time to explore Harran serves gamers with better weapons with better stats. Much like hack n' slash ARPGs like Diablo and Wolcen, the weapons in Dying Light have colored tiers to them; common, uncommon, rare, exceptional, legendary, and the ultimate... gold, which is nearly impossible to find and only available at night on certain difficulties.

On the flipside of the gameplay, there's also the parkour element. Unfortunately, this falls somewhat short of perfect for a variety of reasons. To jump and grab a ledge, Crane has to be looking directly at it. This leads to a lot of missed grabs, and it makes the pace of the game become slower when players realize that they have to really scrutinize the area around them before running and jumping all over the place. This is of course combined with a really harsh fall damage system that will see Crane dead at its lowest tier (as it can be upgraded through leveling the Agility stat) at a fall from a ledge that even a grandmother could survive. This complaint is really the only one about Dying Light, but it does impact the gameplay quite a bit. However, veterans and those that spend long enough playing the campaign will grow accustomed to these two hand-in-hand quirks.

Perhaps one of the most appealing features for this game is its 4-player co-op. Those with friends will rejoice in being able to explore such an expansive and interactive environment together. It also makes surviving a lot easier, especially at higher difficulties, and specifically at night when the more horrific creatures, known as Volatiles, come out to play. The added bonus of constantly changing events and new timed rewards also adds an element to the addictive gameplay that has made players continue to come back to this title even five years after its initial release. Furthermore, the leveling system is another added addiction, and one that makes Crane go from feeling completely feeble to incredibly powerful by the end of the campaign. The leveling system is absolutely addictive, the sense of scaling is immaculate, and the addition of what are essentially prestige levels adds even more reason for players to come back over and over again.

If you haven't yet experienced Dying Light, there's no better time than now. If you hated Dead Island, rest assured that Techland have learned from their mistakes and have fixed up the weapon durability system in this release; letting items be repaired a set number of times before they become useless is one of the best things they could've done for their crafting system. This title is one of the most immersive games that I've ever personally experienced, and I found myself completely drawn into the lives of the characters and the story overall. Like a good book, it's hard to put down, and you'll find yourself losing hours deep into the night in the city of Harran. There's easily 40-50 hours worth of content here, so the base price is justified even for an older title; but it on sale for a steal.

The Horror Network Curator | Group Click for Gore

Before Dying Light, most people probably remembered developer/publisher Techland for the Call of Juarez and Dead Island series'. Though vastly different from one another, each one brought fun, innovative gameplay and captivating stories to the table. Though neither really hooked an audience quite like Dying Light. Into its fifth year, this title has proven to be a wrecking force in the open-world zombie survival genre, as it still has a large active playerbase thanks to the swath of new events, DLC, and updates that it receives. It also reels in those that have a love for co-op, as it supports up to 4 players at any given time; though solo play is equally as entertaining in its own right. The city of Harran has been subjected to a sudden and mysterious viral outbreak that has turned most of its residents into aggressive, zombie-like creatures; ones that continue to mutate and evolve as time goes on. The plague gets worse when night falls, as the most frenzied and deadly of the infected make their presence known then. As with most zombie infections, the disease is spread through bites, and there is currently no known cure. An agency known as the Global Relief Effort (GRE) is helping survivors stay alive just a little longer by airdropping supplies, though the number of uninfected is dwindling by the day. Despite their best efforts and good intentions, the GRE are being blackmailed by a rogue operative who stole a file containing sensitive data. To retrieve this information, the company sends in a highly trained and skilled mercenary known as Kyle Crane. When his deployment goes awry, he finds himself ambushed by thugs, then bitten and subsequently infected only minutes after arriving in ravaged city. Surrounded by zombies, infected with no cure in sight, and alone, Crane must find the other survivors, the rogue operative, and the file before his time runs out. Despite how simple and uninspired the story sounds in text, the playable translation worked out well. The main premise of going into an infected city for some file for a global company sounds a tad ridiculous, but it offers up the chance to meet a lot of interesting characters along the way. Soon the plot becomes focused on them and their survival instead of the data file. The world and story of Dying Light is incredibly immersive, and made all the better by the wonderful voice acting, creative dialogue, fun missions, random encounters, and rewarding challenges that players will face along the way. There's never a time where the game starts to feel like a boring romp through a typical zombie wasteland scenario; something is always happening to push Crane's objectives further, and there's always some colorful character to help out. Even the fetch and kill side-quests are masterfully disguised so that they are entertaining instead of tedious. It also helps that the graphics have stood the test of time; they were cutting-edge at release, and they've aged exceedingly well since. The synthwave soundtrack is the icing on the cake. Techland carried over much of the same survival system from Dead Island, but they cleaned it up a lot to make it fun this time around. Instead of weapons just straight up breaking and becoming useless, they can be repaired a few times before needing to be discarded. Overall and for those unfamiliar, the survival system is light; it's focused mostly on crafting and weapon durability rather than making players worry about a plethora of stats. There are dozens of blueprints for weapons strewn all throughout the game, along with dozens more for elemental modifications that can be applied. Ever fancied an electrified wrench that can also burn enemies? It's here. How about a machete that can cause bleeding effects and barbecue your foes? Done and done. The mix and matching is far-reaching, and taking the time to explore Harran serves gamers with better weapons with better stats. Much like hack n' slash ARPGs like Diablo and Wolcen, the weapons in Dying Light have colored tiers to them; common, uncommon, rare, exceptional, legendary, and the ultimate... gold, which is nearly impossible to find and only available at night on certain difficulties. On the flipside of the gameplay, there's also the parkour element. Unfortunately, this falls somewhat short of perfect for a variety of reasons. To jump and grab a ledge, Crane has to be looking directly at it. This leads to a lot of missed grabs, and it makes the pace of the game become slower when players realize that they have to really scrutinize the area around them before running and jumping all over the place. This is of course combined with a really harsh fall damage system that will see Crane dead at its lowest tier (as it can be upgraded through leveling the Agility stat) at a fall from a ledge that even a grandmother could survive. This complaint is really the only one about Dying Light, but it does impact the gameplay quite a bit. However, veterans and those that spend long enough playing the campaign will grow accustomed to these two hand-in-hand quirks. Perhaps one of the most appealing features for this game is its 4-player co-op. Those with friends will rejoice in being able to explore such an expansive and interactive environment together. It also makes surviving a lot easier, especially at higher difficulties, and specifically at night when the more horrific creatures, known as Volatiles, come out to play. The added bonus of constantly changing events and new timed rewards also adds an element to the addictive gameplay that has made players continue to come back to this title even five years after its initial release. Furthermore, the leveling system is another added addiction, and one that makes Crane go from feeling completely feeble to incredibly powerful by the end of the campaign. The leveling system is absolutely addictive, the sense of scaling is immaculate, and the addition of what are essentially prestige levels adds even more reason for players to come back over and over again. If you haven't yet experienced Dying Light, there's no better time than now. If you hated Dead Island, rest assured that Techland have learned from their mistakes and have fixed up the weapon durability system in this release; letting items be repaired a set number of times before they become useless is one of the best things they could've done for their crafting system. This title is one of the most immersive games that I've ever personally experienced, and I found myself completely drawn into the lives of the characters and the story overall. Like a good book, it's hard to put down, and you'll find yourself losing hours deep into the night in the city of Harran. There's easily 40-50 hours worth of content here, so the base price is justified even for an older title; but it on sale for a steal. [h1]Rating: [b]5.0/5.0[/b] - An astonishing achievement, this game must be played.[/h1] The Horror Network [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/28221963/]Curator[/url] | [url=http://steamcommunity.com/groups/thehorrornetwork]Group[/url] Click for Gore