Dying Light review (Xbox One): Dead Island improved, but not perfected

Release Date: January 27 (Download, North American retail), February 27 (European retail)
Platforms available on: PS4, Xbox One, PC
Developer: Techland
Publisher: Warner Bros
Genre: First-person action

It might disappoint you to hear that Dying Light shares many a similarity with Techland's Dead Island, a game that failed to keep pace with a hype machine fuelled by THAT emotionally engaging reveal trailer.

Players are once again forced to explore a zombie-ravaged open-world environment, running errands for various factions while scavenging for makeshift weapons to stave off the undead.

Fortunately, however, Dying Light does have some tricks that it can call its own, including a speedy new navigation system and a tension-inducing day and night cycle.

While these new elements most definitely improve the overall experience, a few enduring flaws rear their ugly head.

The game takes place in the fictional Middle Eastern city of Harran, which is closed off from the outside world and in danger of extermination thanks to a deadly zombie outbreak.

Everything in Harran is designed to be vaulted over, slid under and climbed on, which makes getting from A to B that little more interesting.

Players assume the role of Kyle Crane, an American who's dropped into the city to recover a file that could endanger the Global Relief Effort (GRE), an organisation with a noble title, but suspect motives.

Despite a supporting cast that includes a host of irritating eccentrics and a stereotypical pantomime villain - all of whom speak with ham-fisted Middle Eastern accents - I actually found the story somewhat intriguing.

It's obvious that the GRE is up to no good, but I liked the way this ulterior agenda is drip-fed to you while making private reports, and the fact that you're forced to perform dubious actions that appear to undermine the city's survival efforts.

With the ultimate aim to secretly recover a missing file, the game also provides a logical context to cosy up to the city's morally diverse factions, without abandoning or ignoring your own character's sense of right and wrong.

Whether threatening old timers for protection money, destroying medical supplies or opening new communication avenues throughout the city, Crane feels like a consistent, well-rounded character, albeit one that's lacking a little personality.

Fortunately, however, while some characters lack personality, the city of Harran is brimming with it.

Fishing villages, shanties, high-rise flats, communication towers, power stations, lakes, caves, factories, freeways, trainyards and tunnels - Harran is full of interesting little pockets that are a joy to explore.

Everything is designed to be vaulted over, slid under and climbed on, which makes getting from A to B that little more interesting.

Admittedly, we would have liked the option to tweak the controls (swapping the parkour button with the sense skill) but once we got used to it, the game's smooth free-running element becomes a real highlight.

It's a good thing too, because Techland has really upped the ante when it comes to the game's enemies.

Single zombies pose little threat, but groups of them can be a real handful (as it should be), which makes those parkour skills increasingly important, either for escaping from packs of zombies or for taking the higher ground and planning your next move.

As we found out much to our chagrin in an enclosed power station, making too much noise while dealing with enemies will attract deadlier variations, such as aggressive runners, exploding monsters and bile-spewing zombies.

The action also intensifies at night, as faster, deadlier zombies come out of the woodwork and actively hunt players outside of safe zones. Seeing the sun go down is genuinely unsettling, especially if you're far away from camp.

With limited weapons, a variety of traps, different vantage points and unlockable abilities ranging from head stomps to discounts - which are arguably as important as each other - Dying Light is a game that constantly forces you to think and plan, which makes the experience much more engaging.

That said, we're still not completely sold on the melee-focused combat system, which feels a bit too samey - especially in the early stages, regardless of your weapon of choice.

Bashing zombies around the noggin is more satisfying than ever - thanks to meatier sound effects and better animations - but it takes too long for the more desirable weapon varieties to come into play.

The missions are also another major point of contention. There's no getting away from the fact that you feel like a glorified errand boy, rushing off to fetch materials, fix items and make deliveries.

While these new gameplay elements most definitely improve the overall experience, a few enduring flaws rear their ugly head.

The journeys are much better thanks to improved navigation and better enemies, but you'll still spend most of your time going from A to B and back again. It becomes increasingly tedious as the game goes on.

Still, if you're able to organise a co-op game with a friend, Dying Light's mundane missions become less so, thanks to a multiplayer mode that strikes a nice balance between co-operation and competition.

It doesn't feel half as repetitive when you're engaged in a competition with a friend to see who can kill the most zombies, or experimenting with new strategies where one player acts as bait while the other sets traps.

There's also an asymmetrical multiplayer mode called Be A Zombie, which pits four players against one human-controlled super zombie.

Perhaps we haven't mastered the intricacies of the game mode, but it felt like a nice bonus and little else. It's all a bit short-lived and lacks the same levels of strategy that would make it an enduring feature.

With Dying Light, Techland has most certainly improved on Dead Island's melee-focused, open-world formula, but it still hasn't perfected it.

Improved enemies and better navigation mean that while the journey from A to B and back again is more exciting this time around, it's a trip you'll be making far too frequently.

Dying light