Gamersledge First Look: Dying Light

This Zombie-ridden post-apocalypse survival horror title is set to release early next year. With many FPS zombie games on the market, you may ask yourself, “Why? What does this game do different that sets it apart from its competition?” in a word – Everything.
Interview aside (you can see the interview on the site, the developer we interviewed was awesome and gave us a bunch of info, make sure to hit it up) I got a chance to play the demo of this game, each one timed into a bite sized piece. There are a ton of things that spring to mind that make this a unique experience, I am going to try and hit a couple of the high points.

run, RUN RUUUN!!

Zombies – Yes, like other Zombie-apocalypse games, this game has zombies, and during the day (the game has a day/night cycle) they are fairly docile at a distance. If they see or hear you, it can draw them in, otherwise they just kind of…stand there. During the night shift, the population changes, zombies that were indoors start making their way outside, and they are far more aggressive. There are also more unique zombies that come out at night, and even some types that we were told you just don’t fight. You run away. There is also a Night-stalker type of zombie, but I will get to that a little later. Lets talk zombie physics for just a moment. I wanted to see in the demo how they reacted when seeing food, so I found a good spot, rounded up like ten, and got them to follow me. I stood behind a metal road guard (like the ones that keep cars from careening off of cliffs). I wanted to see what their reactions would be. I really wanted to see if such a meager obstruction would stop them, they did have little in the way of manual dexterity or measurable agility. They folded. When I say they folded, I mean, the huddled masses pressed into the road guard and they fell over the top of the road guard, more and more pressed into the front ones, who also folded at the middle, over the road guard, and fell over it. They all piled over onto each other, making a large, writhing mass of undead meat that attempted to each find footing and standing up. I wasn’t going to take that chance. I watched for biters near the bottom of the pile, and started to take out zombie-addled fury with a spiked bat. This part was as you might expect. Heavy bat, very visceral, destroying zombies as they tried to stand, only to collapse back onto the pile and eventually roll off as others struggled to stand. It was a surprise, then, when one of the zombies that had been at the bottom of the pile, instead of trying to get out by standing up, instead crawled out from under the pile until their torso and arms were out, and bit my leg. I hadn’t expected the zombies to act this way. Other games in the genre would just have the zombies all trying to stand up, not moving in unexpected ways to take a bite. I stomped that one’s head, and was more careful from then on.

The ground is never a safe place to hang out.

Parkour – One of the things we were most impressed with was the level of free movement available in this game. If you see an obstacle ahead of you, try and climb it. Pull yourself up onto a roof, run and jump to another and another. Climb over cars, jump over fences, whatever it takes to get away from the (un)living dead. This was one of the first tactics I tried. The demo had us with melee weapons, so no sniping here, but I was able to jump down from a roof and take out a zombie with little fuss. I was able to jump across rooftops, climb barred windows, and be far more effective at trying to survive. This is a definite advantage against the ‘Biters’ or slow moving undead. We know there are also other types of undead that can climb too, undead that you won’t be safe from just because you are quick. I can’t wait to get my hands on this game to see just how much free running we can do through the corpse filled streets.

The Free-running I saw really did look amazing, and it was really fun!

Multiplayer – What’s infinitely better than playing a horror survival game against hordes of the undead? Playing with friends! This game is going to support a four player drop in, drop out co-op, flush with smooth transitions and stunning graphics. You will be able to take on hordes of the undead with all the strategy and grace under pressure that you can manage. There is another multiplayer aspect of the game that pushes this game even further up the bar, and that is the hunter mode. The hunter mode will take affect at night, when you are trying to fight off the more aggressive and numerous forces. Someone (could be a friend or stranger, depending on your settings) could enter your game as a special type of Zombie, and activate a mini-game within your game. This won’t have any effect on the game you were currently playing, but acts as a dynamic event where the living have to combat the dead and destroy several ‘hives’ while the hunter picks off the living. It is a really unique way of adding a random challenging element to an already great looking game!
From what I saw and played, this should be definitely be on your list if you enjoy the genre, make sure you don’t miss it. We will be continuing to provide you with as much coverage as possible in the coming months.

Here is our Gamersledge Exclusive Interview, enjoy!