PixlBit

As per usual, my plan to blog more often is thrwarted by a number of things: work, exhaustion, distractions, shitty weather, napping and high school basketball. None of these things are interesting (no matter how I try to prove otherwise) so I won't waste time with that. Instead, I'll talk about Dying Light, which has dominated my spare time in both its campaign and The Following DLC.

As the basketball season finally died sceaming in a burning car going off a cliff last night, I am finally free to talk about this game. Initially, I had my doubts about a survival horror title as I generally avoid them like the plague. Dying Light had enough good reviews and buzz to at least warrant a rental. What hooks you is the presentation and the parkour and combat mechanics. Initially you're not powerful enough to handle every zombie encounter but for the longest time I felt that I had enough skills to at least make it through most tasks/missions through the day. The day/night feature is another element of the game where in other titles, it would've scared me off completely. I can remember within the first few hours of play that I didn't know whether or not I wanted to continue playing the game; not because I wasn't having a good time but because I didn't want to be stressed out or find the setting too oppressive.

The more and more that I played, I was starting to think that Dying LIght could be my gateway title in the survival horror genre (the only recent title I've bothered with is Alien: Isolation and I haven't revisited that since the beginning of last year). The game can stress and scare you when it really wants to. At night, the mad dash you make for the safe zones were true adrenaline rushes; there's nothing quite like running down a dark street and looking up at the upper right map hub to see that there's a viral/volitale right on your ass.

The plot isn't anything special but its foundation is strong enough. Lots of fetch quests. A lot of NPCs that exhibit "survival of the fittest" or "everyone for themselves" attitudes/philosophies. The main character doubts the intentions of the agency he works for. Yadda yadda yadda. The fetch quests would truly be unbearable if it wasn't fun to just traverse the map, finding new ways to maneuver around buildings and zombies (in some cases fighting them or avoiding them).The grappling hook is a serious game changer (think the hookshot from Legend of Zelda games)

I spent a good deal of this game playing solo even though I set my network settings to public. Not all of the drop-in players were truly cooperative (and rarely wore a headset) but the few that did made the co-op experience absolutely wonderful. I met a UK player with the handle IAmMcLovin (or something like that) and he turned out to be really helpful as well as a good conversationalist. I'm hoping to meet more like him.

I finished the campaign mode a few weeks ago and have jumped into The Following DLC when it was released earlier in February. I love that your experience and loot carries over. You don't have to have completed the main game to play the dlc (you do need to complete the prologue part of the campaign) but I think being familiar with the game's mechanics and story helps with making your way through The Following's massive countryside environment. A good thing that you get a buggy.

However, while it can be so much fun running over zombies with the buggy, you have to keep monitoring the vehicle engine systems (breaks, tires, fuel, suspension, etc.) which will deteriorate with wear and tear, just like your weapons. You can purchase blueprints (or find them) which will enable you to craft better versions of the buggy's systems so that they're more durable. You can also upgrade your buggy with defensive systems (battering ram, UV lights, electrified casing, flamethrower). As long as you make sure those basic engine systems are repaired, you'll be fine.

Here's some things I didn't know which made the first buggy-related mission so hard to finish:
- Stay on main roads as much as possible. Running through fields put wear and tear on your tires and other systems so only go offroad when you need to (or have the parts to craft repairs just in case). Main roads and railroad tracks won't hurt your vehicle at all.
- If you get your car stuck somewhere (and I have got it stuck in some weird places: drove it into a river, fell into a chasm, flipped the buggy over), you can't flip the vehicle or get it out immediately. You have to make it to the nearest safe house and find the radio that enables you to recall the buggy to your safe house. Annoying but what can you do. Watch where you're going because there are plenty of ways to wreck your buggy or get it stuck somewhere.

Last time I played, I was at the 78% mark but there are plenty of side quests to do. I haven't bothered with the multiplayer arena mode but I'll save that for last. If there is anyone here who is playind Dying Light on PS4 (or plan to), please hook up with me. Playing this together is the best way and I can show you some locations for good weapons (like this bad-ass machete that can kill most zombies with one swipe). Also the game is less stressful when someone else is there to carry the burden.