I was pretty excited for Dying Light, another zombie game built for next-generation consoles that could hopefully break the boredom of cookie-cutter zombie games. It looked phenomenal, a world you could stop and stare at in wonder that this dilapidated disaster zone could look so beautiful, and it’s got parkour! It should have been amazing, a game that would make people return to the jaded zombie genre with enthusiasm. However, it doesn’t really accomplish that. Although I had a great time with it, it didn’t last, and ultimately, it falls in the same pit with The Walking Dead and other zombie games like Dead Rising. It gets boring way too fast.
Goodnight, Good Luck
I look for new things in zombie games, well, all games really, and the most important thing in a game for me is story and game play. And Dying Light absolutely needed a compelling story. It certainly had the potential. You play as Kyle Crane, a secret agent tasked to recover a sensitive file from a rogue agent hiding in the zombiefied streets of Harran, Turkey. And that’s… it. Other than that, you just run around doing chores for anybody asking and you never make your own choices. There was the perfect opportunity to give the player a choice, side with the government objective, or help the people survive. The choice is made up for you. I’d love to blur the line between helping both government and people, but you never do. The only choice you have is how you want to bash zombies’ heads in. The Walking Dead game gave you choices around every corner, and when you spoke to your mates about them you’d hear totally different stories. You won’t get that in Dying Light.
There is so much potential in the zombie genre, and even though it seems that we should abandon hope altogether, we shouldn’t. I’m convinced someone out there is going to bring back life to this genre, and Dying Light could have been that game. At first, it looked good. There’s a great sense of terror when playing. You’re pretty much helpless, without much skill or power and generally you’ll be running more than fighting. And there are the same kind of special zombies that come expected, like bloaters, biters, big dudes and the more misshapen ones. The Walking Dead didn’t have any of those, unless you count the bloater in the well in series two. It’s just so annoying that the story plays it so safe. There must be a better story out there somewhere to do with zombies, something that breaks the line of mediocrity and makes us care about zombies again. Or maybe that time is gone. Maybe we should bring dinosaurs back!
There is so much potential in the zombie genre, and even though it seems that we should abandon hope altogether, we shouldn’t. I’m convinced someone out there is going to bring back life to this genre, and Dying Light could have been that game. At first, it looked good. There’s a great sense of terror when playing. You’re pretty much helpless, without much skill or power and generally you’ll be running more than fighting. And there are the same kind of special zombies that come expected, like bloaters, biters, big dudes and the more misshapen ones. The Walking Dead didn’t have any of those, unless you count the bloater in the well in series two. It’s just so annoying that the story plays it so safe. There must be a better story out there somewhere to do with zombies, something that breaks the line of mediocrity and makes us care about zombies again. Or maybe that time is gone. Maybe we should bring dinosaurs back!
Farewell, We're Over
There is one game out there that does bring something new to zombies, something different, funny and interesting. Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare. Or for a better description, zombies in the Wild West. It was awesome. You’d play as a cowboy searching the frontier for a cure to save his infected wife and son, and on the way you’ll find undead animals, the Four Horses of the Apocalypse, mythical creatures and people to save, and villages to secure and graveyards to cleanse all in an effort to stop the spread of the plague. Sure, the story’s not totally original, but the setting is, and that’s something different. Dying Light is pretty much everything we’ve seen before, and not to mention its cast isn’t that great either. There are only two women in the story, and one only shows up once or twice for a medical chat. The other, Jade, is your standard ‘shut-up-and-kill-zombies’ character similar to Walking Dead’s Michonne, only she doesn’t do a whole lot. It’s just lazy, and downright annoying.
Diversity is the key I think. Shake up the stories, mix up the characters and throw in new things to keep it interesting. Make us care, make us fearful of losing characters like how Game of Thrones does with every episode. Make us have faith there is a cure, and make the zombies scary. Never make the characters confident against them, and ensure there is always danger. Maybe that’s too much to ask for. I want to see that show. I’m still hopeful for a new zombie story, I just hope I’m not alone.
Songs of the Week:
Diversity is the key I think. Shake up the stories, mix up the characters and throw in new things to keep it interesting. Make us care, make us fearful of losing characters like how Game of Thrones does with every episode. Make us have faith there is a cure, and make the zombies scary. Never make the characters confident against them, and ensure there is always danger. Maybe that’s too much to ask for. I want to see that show. I’m still hopeful for a new zombie story, I just hope I’m not alone.
Songs of the Week:
- 'Arrival' by Halo 4 Soundtrack
- 'Awakening' by Halo 4 Soundtrack
- 'Green and Blue' by Halo 4 Soundtrack
- 'Requiem' by Halo 4 Soundtrack
- 'Legacy' by Halo 4 Soundtrack
- 'Anywhere but Here' by Rise Against
- 'Everchanging' by Rise Against
- 'Shyer' by London Grammar
- 'Nightcall' by London Grammar
- 'Unleash' by Anaal Nathrakh