First Glimpse of Dying Light Gameplay Footage

I love killing zombies. I don’t know what it is that makes it so much fun, but I never get tired of it. My friends and I have spent hours talking about the different types of zombie games we would like to see implemented.

Near the top of every list is a game involving running from and fighting zombies while using awesome free running skills to traverse the environment. Turns out Techland (developers of Dead Island and Call of Juarez) have been making our dream game. The game is called Dying Light and it has definitely caught my attention. Today, a video with twelve minutes of gameplay from Dying Light was released on IGN, and is the first anyone has seen of this game in motion.

The footage shows gameplay that very much resembles a mixture of Dead Island and Mirror’s Edge, but unlike Mirror’s Edge, nearly every surface seems intractable in some way. Nearly every object provided a new method to cover ground, be it jumping from roof to roof, scaling walls to escape zombies, climbing telephone poles, or using a zombie as a boost to get to a higher location. The freedom of movement shown in the video is rather impressive.

As far as weaponry, you have your usual collection of bladed and blunt weaponry. It also seems like weapon crafting will be returning from Techland’s previous zombie brawler Dead Island, if the electric knife in the video is anything to go by. It also looked like there were some throwable weapons to distract zombies, adding more layers to planning how to take on each new group of zombies.

The most interesting part of the video is definitely the end, where we get a sneak peek at what happens when night falls in Dying Light. Once night comes, the gameplay takes a drastic change. The zombies become faster and more dangerous, requiring you to take a more stealthy approach. If the zombies spot you after dark, be prepared for a serious chase through dark alleyways and rooftops.

For pre-Alpha footage, Dying Light looks really good. I’ll be watching the news on this one with bated breath. Dying Light will be available for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, Playstation 3, Playstation 4, and PC sometime in 2014.