Dying Light
Dying Light is an open world, action horror game. It takes place in a zombie apocalypse environment, similar to the Dead Island games by the same developer. The game is set in the large city of Harran, with influences of ancient Turkey, overrun by a mysterious epidemic. The protagonist is Kyle Crane, an undercover GRE operative sent inside a quarantine zone. His initial mission is to neutralize the rogue GRE operative Kadir Suleiman, but he can also choose to focus on helping the survivors instead, freely exploring the city using parkour and freerun mechanics. The game has a dynamic day and night system – during the day, zombies are less aggressive, so players can gather supplies and weapons to craft items and prepare for the night, when the infected become stronger and more dangerous.
Just like in Dead Island, the focus is on melee weapons and various materials can be crafted into weapons by gathering supplies. Also borrowed from that game is the stamina bar that prevents the character from continuously hitting with melee attacks. Guns can also be used, but the sound of gunshots will attract other enemies in the vicinity. By progressing through the game, the character's abilities can be leveled up by spending points in three skill trees respectively focused on agility, power, and survival. There are often large groups of zombies that can be taken out from heights, by pushing them off, using projectiles or triggering traps. Instead of stealth, there is a greater focus on evading direct encounters using parkour mechanics. Unlike games such as Assassin's Creed, parkour requires precise timing and aim to grab ledges and combine slides and jumps into fluid movement.
Progress through the city is furthered by unlocking safe zones where zombies cannot enter. During the day, Crane mainly needs to scavenge, locate and save survivors, explore, set up traps and retrieve air drops. At night, the slow zombies become much more agile, dealing more damage, being able to sprint, and chasing after Crane. Among them are Volatiles, a special type of infected that only goes out at night and proves to be extremely fast and deadly, changing the game's pace with more focus on stealth as these enemies can easily catch up. While the game becomes harder at night, experience points are also doubled compared to daytime. Aside from traps, sound and distractions, UV light can also be used to slow the infected down. Additionally, the game features a dynamic weather system.
Dying Light offers an online co-op mode for up to four players. There is also a "Be the Zombie" mode featuring asymmetrical multiplayer where one player-controlled powerful Night Hunter can invade another player's game at night and up to four players can work together to defeat it.
On 9th February 2016, the game was updated for free to an Enhanced Edition version for all platforms through a patch, effectively replacing the default version of the game.
