Dying Light (2015 Video Game) User Reviews (27)

Dying Light: Pure adrenaline rush

[Platypuschow · 9/10 · 1 November 2017]

I finally got round to finishing Dying Lights incredible campaign and finally feel able to judge it fairly. From the game, to all the dlc Dying Light is an astonishing feat.

This first person free roaming zombie epic was often criticised for being a Dead Island imitator, but the truth is they simply used that formula and perfected it.

The storyline is solid, the multiplayer is great and the execution is flawless.

Free running around the fictitious city of Harran is seamless, leaping from roof to roof, climbing pylons and outrunning hordes of the undead is an exhilarating experience.

The combat is unusual in that melee rarely works in first person but is the backbone of Dying Light and works perfectly. Add to that some great gunplay in a world where ammunition is highly limited and you have a great combat system.

The enemies are highly variable each with strengths and weaknesses, the appearance of one can change your entire play style from your generic slow zombies to the fast Virals and the annoying Spitters.

The difficulty balance is ideal, the amount to do outside of the main campaign is decent and the added dlc expands on an already vast experience.

Graphically Dying Light is stunning, not only are the environments and character models great but it all looks so very smooth as you're hurtling through the streets. But that's nothing until you start to climb, at a height being able to see across the city during various weathers and daytimes the beauty is near flawless.

To accompany this we have the score which you simply don't expect in a game like this. Not only is it extremely well made but it's haunting and very retro. The music in the background of certain sections are a true homage to the 70's/80's zombie classics.

Dying Light is a unique experience and I hope we see a sequel, in these uncertain days of video game developers however I question the likelihood.

The Good:

Graphics

Score

Infinetly playable

Incredible adrenaline rush when being chased or stealthing during the night

The Bad:

Some dodgy AI on zombies sometimes

The animation often shows you missing a jump before pulling yourself up

Final boss was an anti-climax

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

All fat people explode when they become zombies, it's the law of zombies in video games

You can fall from an infinite height just as long as you have a pile of garbage bags to land on

Breaking the necks of babies is fine if they're undead

Run, Crane! Run!

[Kop_Reaz · 8/10 · 5 February 2015]

Sick gameplay, awesome graphics, haunting score and a nice story.

Graphics: 9/10. Excellent graphics. Awesome animations, specially the slow motion zombie decapitations. A brutal depiction of a doomed city, both the poorer and the richer sides. The visuals are beautiful.

Gameplay: 8/10. The gameplay is the best part of this game. But unfortunately it didn't felt original. With proper upgrade, you could get a grappling hook. After then it's felt like Just Cause 2. In the beginning everything is scary. But by the end of the game we lose the sense of hostility. One thing I have to mention is the day-night circle. Now this game has a sick day-night circle. During the day the zombies aren't much problem. But if you don't find shelter before sunset, you'll learn the true meaning of panic.

Sound and musical score: 8/10. For AAA game Dying Light has fair sound effects. It's been long since I've heard a haunting musical score in a horror game.

Story, screenplay and characters: 8/10. Dying Light has a compelling story line. You play as GRE agent crane, who has landed on zombie infested Hakkan to steal some files from some sort of psycho war lord. You get to meet some very interesting characters. But unfortunately the game focuses way too much on the protagonist who is probably the weakest part of the game. So an anarchy raising villain doesn't get the proper chance to live up to his potential. Other than them, the side characters and influential npcs are really charming. Makes you feel for them. The children melts you heart. I loved the screenplay very much.

Final ratings: What starts as an excellent (9/10) game, ends as a very good (8/10) one. So my final rating is 85%.

Ultra fun

[boris_kolarov · 8/10 · 7 December 2015]

By Techland, the developers of Dead Island, comes Dying Light, another zombie game of them. I haven't played the Dead Island games, though this didn't stopped me by enjoying Dying Light for PC. Let's start with the good thinks the game has to offer (or at least some).

1)The game looks excellent.

2)Vibrant colors.

3)There is a nice day cycle. During night you gotta be more careful. The nights may be long 7 minutes, but in-game they don't feel that short.

4)The plot was interesting - not the best, but solid.

5)Some likable characters. From the campaign - Jade, Rahim, Crane, Bracken, from the side quests - Gazi, Jeff, Alfie, Fatin and Tolga.

6)The main quests are fun to do. The final level is awesome.

7)The side quests are also fun to do.

8)The parkour works excellent. You can climb almost everything you want.

9)Climbing antenna towers felt dangerous.

10)The game gets additional pluses for the final mission, when you're parkouring around.

11)Unlocking new skills rewards you. There isn't a skill, that feels unnecessary.

12)Climbing the bridge in the Slums is awesome.

13)The two main areas - Slums and Old Town do feel different from each other.

14)The dropkicks are awesome.

15)Plenty of weapons.

16)Killing zombies is a lot of fun.

17)Variety of enemies.

18)Lots of blueprints. I like their descriptions.

19)Throwing molotovs at zombies is really fun.

20)Throwing grenades at the zombies is also really fun.

21)The safe houses are different from each other.

22)It is fun to unlock new safe houses.

23)The battle journals are surprisingly worth collecting. They give you interesting tips for the game.

24)The notes are also a nice collectable.

25)Voice mails are also worthy to collect.

26)Entering some buildings made me feel kinda sad about what happened to the people trying to survive there.

27)Smooth gameplay.

28)I replayed the game more than once and I had lots of fun.

29)Huge fun factor.

There are probably more positive thing about the game. But why don't I dive into the things I don't like.

1)The overall AI, especially the human AI.

2)I wish more time could have been spent with characters from the main story like Brecken and Savvy.

3)I dislike some of the voice acting.

4)There was an arc of side quests where the quest givers were the brothers Tolga and Fatin. I was disappointed by the last quest.

5)I also disliked the end of the quest, where you do the Bozak challenges.

6)Some of the voice acting.

7)Some game mechanics.

Overall Dying Light is a super fun zombie video game. It has its flaws but from Bad 1 to Excellent 6 it gets VERY GOOD 5.25 - a little bit more than just VERY GOOD 5. I sure am trying Dying Light: The Following when it comes out.

Good night and good luck

[851222 · 10/10 · 30 January 2015]

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Dying Light" (2015) is amazing game. It has everything a true zombies / RPG / FPS / Open World fan could ever wanted. It was worth the wait.

Amazing graphics, tons of interesting and addictive quests, huge open world to explore, big set of skills, hundred of weapons, crafting, creating, killing - if you like this stuff, you will love "Dying Light". And thats what you get in the day time, but when the sun comes down, at 20:58 - everything will change. Literally i have never had such an intense 15 minutes (thats how much time in-game night time lasts) in VG game before. You have to play it at least couple of times in the night - superb / scary and intense stuff. Creators have truly outdone themselves in this aspect.

As much as i love "Dead Island" series (except for awful "Escape from Dead island") - "Dead Island" is going to have one tough competitor from now on.

Superb game.

Best zombie game

[bullettooth-66409 · 10/10 · 31 August 2020]

Hand down, the best zombie game I've ever played. A gripping and compelling story from start to finish. Smooth controls and graphics the whole way through.

this is a masterpiece

[fordnick-77769 · 10/10 · 21 July 2020]

This is one of the best games I have ever played in my entire existence of gaming.

GAMEPLAY:

the zombies and action packed parkour is beautiful, just running up a wall, dropping down on a zombie 20 feet above and slicing it is just awesome. leveling up is the most satisfying thing I have seen, but when you get the grappling hook from leveling up enough the fun sky rockets to a whole new level. although waiting 10 seconds or so waiting for the grappling hook to pull back all the way can get really annoying. and the competitions can be really fun sometimes

STORYLINE:

The storyline was written together perfectly. The only flaw for me was how short the story was, it was so short that I finished it in only about 3 days.

So dying light is a 10/10 for me

Fast Paced

[viperfreak456 · 9/10 · 27 January 2015]

For a zombie game, this is a fast paced, parkour game while surviving a zombie outbreak. Its at the same scary in some situations where you are cornered or running from the hunters in the dead of night. very scary when the sun goes down and the zombies get more fierce. I for one am a huge fan of zombies games and from the company that created the dead island series I love their new title. Its a more realistic, very well- designed game that was worth the time to create for the gamer's. Wide variety of weapons and intense situations of capturing the air-drops. Overall its an awesome game to play and fun to play online.

Good Night, Good Luck.

What Dead Island should have been

[codykempen · 9/10 · 15 March 2018]

This game is fun and challenging. It actually has a decent story whereas Dead Island, while a fun zombie-killing game, lacked any sort of real story. The free-running in this game is actually surprisingly smooth and fun, and the world is FULL of infected. It makes you use the free-running a lot in order to evade death. If you liked Dead Island, you will likely never play it again once you play Dying Light. Awesome game.

Amazing!!!!!!

[atgooder · 10/10 · 14 November 2021]

I have always been someone who was picky about certain games and on how good I found them. I absolutely love Survival games and zombie games and I'm a huge fan of games that take place in a post apocalyptic environment. Dying Light exceeds all of my expectations in a Survival post apocalyptic zombie game. It contains everything I looked for in a zombie game. You can search almost every building for supplies to craft and enjoy weapons of many different kinds that range from blunt weapons to rifles, you can parkour almost anything in the city and use the environment to your advantage. The gameplay mechanics are smooth, the story of Dying Light is very entertaining and the environment is so dark and terrifying which makes the gameplay all the more terrific. And the best part of it, the entire story of Dying Light can be played WITH YOUR FRIENDS in a group of up to four players. If you want a true zombie experience, this is the way to go. So grab your three closest friends and sit back and prepare for the ultimate survival challenge. With the city of Harran as your playground and the infected out for your blood, it is up to you to survive the horrors that lurk inside the city of Harran and find a cure in hopes of restoring the city to its former glory. But be warned, come nightfall, the horrors that roam the city of Harran may prove to be much more terrifying than you expect.

Too boring

[tvcarsd · 27 February 2021]

Just watch the youtubes of pro's playing the game instead and you can forward through all the tripe that isn't worth your time. It is the best way to experience a lot of these movie like games anyhow (max resolution, full settings on, etc). After 21 whole mins of playing there was still no actual gameplay insight and I decided to spend my time on some L4D2 gameplay instead as I wanted to shoot the zombies or something. Anything really, just give me something the fight, shoot and stuff.

Messy

[GABAELIZ · 6/10 · 27 January 2024]

Filled with so many convulted game mechanics that they forgot to make the game fun.

As a Live service game meant to be played in co op, if you play it years later you can't find anyone to play with, and with the difficulty tailored to have partners, it leads to a very dull experience.

Every task feels like a chore, from killing a zombie, to leaving safe zones, to lockpicking.

The DLC is no better. Advertised as having double size map than the base game, it all comes down to doing one quest on one corner of it, to have to turn it on the other corner, with a vehicle that's constantly degrading.

They nailed the zombie invasion vibe absolutely right, by making the most oppressive game available.

Try Dead Island Riptide instead.

Awesome game!

[Analog_Devotee · 8/10 · 4 August 2021]

This is how you make a zombie game, folks. All developers should study this game if they ever plan on making one of their own. This game is a blast from start to finish, whether you're playing alone or with friends, or whether you're darting through the main story or taking your time and doing all the side quests and collectables. The world/environment is a treat to explore, the combat is incredibly fluid and the story definitely has an enjoyable pulpy feel to it. The nighttime aspect is also a genius addition -- you'll know what I'm talking about once you play the game...

A must-play for both fans of open-world and/or horror!

If you want weapons that last more than 10 hits to a zombie, you're out of luck

[ctmcobra · 5/10 · 16 December 2015]

While the graphics are good and the story line is decent I have to say that the game play could have used a little more improvement. First off, and most importantly to me, the weapons...will only last up to around 10 hits to a zombie. This makes me beg the question of what the point even is then. Along with that the zombies are unreasonably difficult to kill, even with weapons with full health. Along with this is the fact that the weapon can still physically be in your hands and can still swing and look like you're actually doing damage to a zombie, but it in fact will not, which still begs the question of what's the point. For example, if I was using a metal bat and the health bar went all the way down after so many swings then it would be virtually useless and just for show. To the many people who think dying light is a fairly realistic zombie game might not understand that a metal bat, in fact, does not need more "metal pieces" to "fix it". Same thing applies to a weapon such as a rebar. The game is just trying to be realistic to the point where it's not.

Fun and Scary at the same time

[natesandlhauser · 10/10 · 28 April 2021]

This game is a total time killer, I'll be playing at 1:00 and next i know it's 4:30. The game is violent but when you busting zombie heads and kicking them off buildings you feel like a total badass. The story is good and the characters are cool and controls are easy to adapt to.

Best game of 2015

[dylanrandall-30969 · 8/10 · 29 September 2019]

Soundtrack The soundtrack for this game is incredible, it works so well for the game and the only complaint I have is it keeps playing the same sound off a zombie breaking out of somewhere but it isn't actually there and it always annoys me. 9/10 Story I thought the story was great but one thing I have wrong with is it seem liked it ended really quickly. At the end after you deliver the cure to Doctor Camden it seems like he might have asked you to do something like to go to somewhere and find a microscope or something but you immediately get called by Rais and you kill him and the game ends really quickly. So I'd rate the story 7/10 Graphics for 2015 the graphics are amazing, you see all the cuts in the zombies skin and they look really realistic like the bomber zombies look impeccable, the intestine coming out of their stomach but I don't like how bad the explosions are because its just a blood cloud. So for graphics I'd give 6/10

Excellent Apocalyptic Adventure

[BadgerStorm4345 · 8/10 · 23 April 2020]

Dying Light is a very fun zombie game. With horrifying zombies and a good human villain, this world feels dangerous. Brutality is very present in this game and adds to the survival atmosphere. Death is handled very well. Weapons, Music and Gameplay also add a lot to the game. My one issue is that the open world is not very dense with loot and that a lot of times searching will lead to nothing. Besides this one gripe, dying light is one of the most fun zombie games I've ever played.

Most intense game I've ever played.

[Jdmaxgaming · 10/10 · 28 January 2015]

Techlands brand new First Person/Open World game Dying Light is zombies at it's best! Intense isn't even the word I would use to describe how I felt playing through this game. Every second has you at the edge of your seat, and once you hear your partner Jade call you on your phone and tell you "It's getting dark, find a safe house" your in a consent panic. Night Hunters are ruthless foes that stop at nothing to kill you, and by the time one of them find you, you know your dead. It's a zombie experience like no other. Also, they do an excellent job at making you feel immersed into an infected world. Zombies are as scariest as they can be. The world feels real and the voice actors give an amazing experience. Overall, Dead Island doesn't even touch how good this game is, and Dying Light is easily my favorite game at the moment. If you do end up getting this game, and get immersed into this thrilling zombie experience...all I can say is Good Night, and Good Luck.

Best zombie game ever

[dollemannetje · 10/10 · 10 August 2022]

Just the best zombie game I have ever played.

It really gives a realistic zombie apocalypse vibe.

And the music is really good too it's has like the same vibe as a zombie game. One of my favorite games ever played.

Turkish zombie

[vadtemer · 10/10 · 4 September 2022]

If someone told me that I would spend almost 70 hours on this game, I would not believe it!

I liked everything, although at first I was not given parkour, but then I realized what an interactive environment thanks to him. Yes, and I'm afraid of heights, but there are so many places) pros +Sound +Open world, lots of zombies, survivors can infiltrate, etc. +It's not empty (the world) either.

+ An extensive cold arsenal, from the open (which can still be thrown) is supplied with the elements of firearms and little things: molotovs, c4, firecrackers, firecrackers.

+ There are a lot of recipes in the game (since I bought a platinum edition mb because of this, I had a lot of recipes open from the very beginning) + The plot gives us different situations.

++ A big plus is a cooperative for 4 people. Live cheerfully and cheerfully + The atmosphere of a true zombie apocalypse is conveyed in my opinion perfectly!

+ Also, the nights in this game are extremely dangerous, just as beautiful, and there is also a change in the weather.

+ The last mission will take a steam bath) The villain did not want to die from the first fate) Minuses -No Russian voice acting.

My third favourite game I've ever played

[bobbycarroll-82335 · 10/10 · 20 January 2024]

This is a masterpiece zombie survival game the story to the map to the gameplay is incredible I loved everything about this game the game mechanics are also amazing and the graphics still look so good for a game that is like nearly 10 years old I loved playing the main story with my friends the and the co-op is amazing and the characters are well written this is literally the best zombie survival game I've ever played in my life and the following is even more amazing and the soundtrack is perfect they did such an excellent job on this game no I see why my friends recommended this and if you're a fan of zombie survival games this the game you should buy.

Definition of Overrated

[chriswyo6 · 4/10 · 3 May 2022]

With most people saying this was the best zombie game they ever played, I had to give it a try. I loved the simplicity yet challenging play of left 4 dead 2 and was expecting a lot from this game. While this game looks pretty, the story and gameplay fall flat. The protagonist has no personality, and instead of developing characters, the story sends you on random tedious missions that are uninteresting. The gameplay isn't much better and is more of a parkour game than a zombie game. You start out with garbage weapons that take 10 hits to kill a zombie, so it is better off just running and completing missions. You do not get attached to any characters, and the gameplay is too boring and tedious to make up for it. I value story almost as much as gameplay, and honestly this game doesn't shine in either area.

Slow starter, but worth it!

[goriknak · 8/10 · 15 June 2021]

Gave up on it initially, but picked it up again during covid. And man am I glad I did... The game starts off slow with zero firearms and having to mow down countless zombies with pipes and wrenches can get quite boring. But stick with the game until you reach level 9 and firearms becomes available, then the game really takes off...! Really enjoyed it, a must play zombie survival game!

intense and thrilling.

[merem1 · 8/10 · 21 February 2022]

This is excellent. The parkour and combat, really cool. The story is solid. The main character is awesome. The game looks really good. It has aged well. The way the game makes you think about how to handle a situation is cool. The day night system is great. It really makes you feel tense when night is coming. Good night and good luck. This is a zombie game is definitely worth playing.

An original game, but gets old fast.

[pokeyallred · 5/10 · 25 June 2015]

Dying Light is hands down one of the greatest first person parkour zombie game to come out this past year, but as a game, it really wasn't that capable at keeping me entertained for a very long period of time. The first several missions were fresh, and full of preprogrammed scare moments, and it worked, really well. After that you would think that they would add something new to the game, but they don't, its filled with the exact same moments over and over again, it just becomes boring and repetitive.

you can find one path through the town, and that one path is going to be able to work for you throughout most of the game, just stay on the roof tops and avoid fighting any of the zombies.

There is also a plus side to this game, the part where you get to go and wait out the night. sure they give you the option to go to bed inside of your nice little safe zone, and they actually do recommend that you do. or you can go out and about in the world, fighting the zombies in the pitch black of the night. one of the other fun things that you can do in the game is go and fight with a small group of rival humans, which happens a lot less than the zombie encounters do, but they really are fun, and I recommend that you do them if you so do get the chance.

one of the other major problems that I have come across with the game is the control set up is extremely awkward and difficult to use, it is not set up like most of the other games that you have grown accustomed to playing. I'll admit that I haven't actually finished playing the game yet, but it does not seem like there is very much hope of it getting any better...

Why best score I can give this game is a 1.

[jackhuntermtl · 1/10 · 25 March 2016]

This is a very mediocre title at best. This includes The Following Xpac.

First of all main reason it gets a 1 instead of a 5 is because they CHOSE not to fix a game ending bug. I bought this game twice. Once early on, and then when I got to around 60% game completion this game ending bug reset me to 22%. So, I read up on forums, fix was incoming, whatever, never came, I traded game off.

Fast forward maybe 2 years and I pick up Following Edition with all the bells and whistles. I start from beginning, get again to around 60% ... again game resets itself to 22%. This is on a different computer, different edition of the game, so that means they simply chose not to fix the issue.

I'm out $120, and they, Techland, are out a customer forever. I'm never paying a single dime for another one of games this company makes. If I really feel I must play something they make, I'll play, but I wont be buying. I vote with my money.

It has some of the WORST writing and story I have ever seen, and I have been a hardcore gamer for over 30 years. Characters are even less likable than in Dead island. Thats epic achievement. To create world full of people I'd happily murder ... problem is that instead my character is a gofer, a slave, an idiot really, who has extremely low IQ to a point that his moral compass is as if hes high on crack or meth.

In one side quest main character is complaining about a guy who I feel deserves Father Of The Year Award and siding, for no sane reason, with stupid, worthless, mother who would have killed her own child because of her own cowardice.

In most of the other side quests point appears to be how unfun can you make player feel. Like endless climbing up, only to find out that getting back down was not something they thought of, so I guess they expect you to suicide repeatedly. If I climb UP something, then climbing DOWN should be similar experience. Instead there is no game mechanic to drop down safely. You can jump UP to grab a ledge, but jumping DOWN to grab a ledge ... just is not there.

Its like whoever designed parkour in this game never actually tried it. Oh, I'm sure they had someone demonstrate few moves, but the SPIRIT of it, its not there.

Overall, this games novelty factor is entirely in parkour. And if that wears off as fast for you as it did for me as I do it IRL and I found it badly done here, then whether or not you experience same game stopping bug I did, there is really no reason to play this garbage.