Dying Light is a first-person survival horror game developed by Techland and published by Techland Publishing. The game is set in a fictional Middle Eastern town of Harran, where an outbreak has turned the people into feral creatures. The player controls agent Kyle Crane who is sent there to investigate. The game’s mechanics focus on action, traversal and upgrading the player character.  Dying Light received positive reviews from critics.  

Open world gameplay

The action of Dying Light is set in Harran, a town in the Middle East, ravaged by a mysterious outbreak, which turned the citizen into zombie-like creatures. The game features a night and day cycle, which affects the behavior and strength of the enemies – they are weaker and idle during the day and stronger/more aggressive at night. Weapons in DL can be crafted from resources and blueprints found throughout the game; firearms become available later in the game.

The player moves around the town on foot, employing a variety of parkour moves. They can also use a grappling hook to access elevated areas on the map. In-game actions yield different types of skill points: power, awarded for killing enemies, agility – for elaborate parkour moves, and survival, for completing missions and side quests. The points can be spent on upgrading the player’s skill tree.

Survival horror story

Agent Kyle Crane is sent to the town of Harran, searching for a rogue politician, whose knowledge could jeopardize Crane’s employer. Upon arrival, he discovers a mysterious outbreak, which turned the people living in Harran into monsters. As the entire area has been quarantined-off, Crane can only rely on himself and whoever he can trust within the town to find out who released the virus and decide whether to focus on his task or help other survivors.   

Reception

Dying Light for PC was met with a warm critical reception. Reviewers praised the gameplay mechanics, including intuitive parkour, advance crafting system and engaging combat mechanics.

Key features:

• Open world urban environment.
• Over a 100 of craftable weapons.
• Diverse traversal mechanics, including parkour and grappling hook maneuvers.
• Day and night cycle which affects the combat difficulty.
• Multiplayer mode with a variety of features.