Month: March 2015

I felt a little empowered after Dying Light, when i made my first few steps into Far Cry 4. This was after a friend bemoaned not having anyone to play the Co-Op with. I frequently have these problems and in an effort to counter my own misfortune I agreed to join him. So it was last night when I stepped my first feet among the Himalayas and used my slightly used knife to kill a guard and take his gun.

These weren’t zombie’s and my weapons weren’t about to break. So I gutted him, took his gun and shot his mates.

Mind you, these were radical extremists under the leadership of a madman. Or so I’m told. I didn’t care, I just wanted a gun.

It’s a shooter as shooters go. Just a bit of RPG with crafting and exploration and loot to collect. The controls on vehicles feel a little squirrely but hey, they can’t all be Warthogs.

Gunplay is easy, the weapons sound good and generally feel like they have authentic stopping power. I find myself assaulting encampments with 80’s Action Movie strategy. From on high, with guns blazing. The main character is voiced and carries a good level of uncertainty; This isn’t an action hero, he isn’t the veteran of 3 campaigns and hundreds of kills. Me? I was in the dusty streets of Harriban killing zombies. This guy is from another place and another time and just wanted to bring his father’s ashes back home.

And I’m going to do that, just after I find a rocket launcher.

Far Cry 4, well recommended if you liked the previous games, enjoy shooters but want more plot than Call of Duty and personally I suggest it if you liked Skyrim but want guns and trucks instead of bows and horses.

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I found my place in Dying Light. I battled my fear and was able to spend nights running around the city avoiding acutely aware monsters. I taunted them from rooftops and I bathed them in handmade fire.

As I near the end I felt I should give you my thoughts, announce my victory.

I’ve enjoyed the character work on the main protagonist. His vocalizations when things aren’t going his way, his expressions of annoyance or fatigue are excellent and justified. This is a man who spends days without a shower, hot meal or a comfy bed. In fact, when standing before one safe-house in particular he comments on how comfy a particular sleeping bag looks. As I near the end, yes.. that does in fact look comfy.

All of the quest and dialog work is rendered in voice, there’s no corner cut on what side quest is you staring at an animated goon while a wall of text is presented. No, this sniveling human who -needs- a candybar is telling you in his sniveling voice. I don’t know I’ll stick around much past plot-completion. As it is I’m already looking at my next project. In fact you’ll hear about it later this week.

That said, Dying Light is a fun game with well done acrobatics and an interesting position on the zombie genre. You’re not some lone-wolf stoic veteran of six campaigns lugging your every worldly possession into the wilderness. You’re an operative with ‘some skill’ and you get better as you progress. This isn’t plot-locked progression, you actively improve with every jump, climb and zombie you club.

I haven’t delved into the numbers but this looks like a 20-hour game outside of side content. There’s co-op so you and your pals can team up to punch zombies together.

Check it out and if you’re a fan of Far Cry, Batman: Arkham City, Assassin’s Creed and Fallout 3.. well, then there’s a little of something in Dying Light for you.

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