DYING LIGHT Hands On Impressions - E3 2014
Good night. Good luck.
What would happen if you combined Mirror's Edge and Left 4 Dead? You'd get something a lot like Dying Light.
Your objective is to activate a radio tower to alert other survivors. Everything you see, if accessible, can be climbed on. This automatically gives the game a very Metroidvania feel, as there are a ton of different paths to a single objective.
As you run to the radio tower, multiple side objectives appear. One is a random encounter in which you can save a fellow survivor, another is an airdrop full of supplies. If you don't get to the airdrop fast enough though other survivors will steal it.
Melee weapons are the main form of combat and you're armed with a rusty pipe and a baseball bat. Your weapons can break though after a great deal of use so it smart to reinforce it every now and then. Combat was difficult yet satisfying. Every hit is spot specific. So if you hit a zombie's leg, the leg will be break but the zombie will shamble with its arms. All dead zombies can be searched for supplies. The animation when searching though is very odd, you just pat air.
Among your inventory you have firecrackers, which can be used to distract enemy hordes giving you some breathing room when running. Everything you do, whether combat or free running or climbing, gives you some sort of experience. You then are able to level up and get new skills.
You finally make it to the radio tower only to find that its been overrun by bandits armed to the teeth with guns. You make your way to a safe area where you go to sleep and wait for nightfall.
You wake up, the bandits are no longer at the radio tower but something far worse litters the streets. Some zombies at night are incredibly powerful having the ability to kill you with one swipe. You should probably avoid them at all costs. You accidentally alerted a horde and an incredibly intense chase ensues. You make it to the radio tower though and lost the horde in the process. You kill a couple a zombies then activate the tower.
The demo then jumps to later in the game. You are now a more experienced runner aided with a grappling hook which greatly increases the speed of your climbing. You also have a metal bat with nails and an electrified axe. The game features on the fly weapon crafting and weapon modding.
Dying Light was very impressive. They took two genres and made them work almost seamlessly together. With the promise of four player co-op and the ability to invade other players' worlds as zombies, on top of the incredibly variety of enemy types, this game will most definitely keep you entertained for a good while when it's released February 2015 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and PC.