Previews

There’s no shortage of zombie survival games, and almost any player can name half a dozen titles featuring the undead. With this in mind, Warner Brothers hopes to put a spin on the survival horror genre with the upcoming release of its first-person adventure, Dying Light. At first glance, Dying Light may remind you of Dead Rising 3, but as soon as you dive into the game, it becomes clear that it's much different from anything you’ve experienced.

Dying Light allows for free-roaming movement that includes running, walking, sliding under or jumping over objects, and a variety of other slick parkour moves. You can go almost anywhere and do almost anything within the game world. For example, you can climb up to the rooftop of a random building, then jump to the adjacent telephone pole and slide back down to the ground. There are few limitations in place that prevent players from interacting with the open world around them.

Side quests are a welcome distraction

While Dying Light uses mission-based gameplay, there are a large number of side quests that take you away from the main campaign. Time is a factor, so in many cases, you'll need to abandon a side quest and get back to the main objective, but the option to roam around and explore, as well as play through various quests is always an option.

In one of the main missions, two supply drops parachute down thanks to a friendly plane that passes overhead. Your mission is to make your way to the drop zone before anyone else. As you traverse the city someone calls for help. At this point, you can continue toward the drop zone, or investigate the side quest. If you head toward the side quest, you'll find a scared little girl. Your companion during the game, Jade (who is in constant contact with you), will agree to help her, allowing you to go back to your original mission and head to the drop zone.

As different as night and day

One aspect that sets Dying Light apart from other survival horror games is that your play style must change based on the time of day. During the daytime, you'll come across the infected (zombies in Dying Light), but it's relatively easy to avoid them with diversionary tactics and weapons that make noise. You'll always have the option to fight the infected, but during the day it's not mandatory, especially if you need to complete your current mission as quickly as possible.

When night falls, the Volitiles appear alongside the infected. These new monsters are faster and considerably more powerful than the infected you see during the day. They're so dangerous that Jade is constantly in your ear, telling you to take cover or get back to base as soon as the sun begins to go down. To fight off these Volitiles, you can use a unique pulse ability, which helps locate the enemies so you can easily avoid them.

This unique aspect of Dying Light puts a refreshing time limit on each mission and adds a sense of danger that you don't always feel in other survival horror titles. You can stay out on a mission as long as you wish, but if the sun sets, things get considerably more dangerous.

Armed and dangerous in this post apocalyptic world

There are over 100 different weapons in Dying Light, including the ability to combine items to create new and more powerful instruments of death. For instance, a baseball bat and a machete combine to form a machete bat, or a hammer and an electric sword produce a shocking device. All of these weapons come in handy to take down the infected, and you’ll need to constantly gain the advantage. These aren't your typical slow zombies. Some move very fast, so you need to be on your toes. There are also enemies known as the Viral, who are infected people who’ve yet to fully turned into Volitiles.

In addition to the various zombies in the game, there are armed humans. In the supply drop mission, these armed threats wait at the drop zone. At that point, you had the option to fight them or abandon the loot at the drop zone and head to the second area in the hope that no one else claimed the supplies.

On top of that, the game looks outstanding. The city features all sorts of debris and attractive architecture, while zombies look menacing up close, with rotting flesh and ripped clothing. This makes tearing them to pieces especially satisfying, as blood sprays in multiple directions. Suffice to say, you should buy the game for Xbox One, PS4 or PC to maximize the graphical effects.

So far, Dying Light seems to be a solid addition to the popular survival horror genre. The game was recently delayed to 2015, but keep a close eye on the title as more information becomes available.