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Parkour enthusiasts shall inherit the Earth, or what’s left of it, at least. In Techland’s latest zombie romp only motion truly matters and standing still means death.
Starting out amongst the sun-cracked slums of an unnamed shantytown, the unfortunate denizens of Dying Light’s debut trailer are on the hunt. Their target: a supply drop located somewhere inside the city. Dispatching the undead by day turns to ghoulish retribution at night as the pack of humans withers with worrying speed. By daybreak only one man remains alive; soon to die within spitting distance of his own salvation.
Dying Light isn’t messing around.
Techland doesn’t want players getting too comfortable inside its new open-world apocalypse. The latest game from the developers behind Dead Island, Dying Light first appeared on our radars a fortnight ago, promising a “portentous day-night cycle” as well as a new Mirror’s Edge-alike approach to movement.
While free running antics appear freely throughout the game’s first trailer, it’s impossible to tell just how the studio intends to combine them with instances of frenetic combat. In one scene our GAP-clad protagonist is shown spinning into a graceful wrench-wielding assault. The disorientating move might look slick in cinematics, but will players be able to replicate the attack without losing their lunch?
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As for the weapons themselves, one sewer-based escapade finds the now-electrified wrench going to work on a slavering Zed Head. Just how zany these crafting contraptions will get remains to be seen, though Dead Rising’s chainsaw-strapped paddles are unlikely to make the cut.
Peril comes in many flavors where the modern day zombie is concerned, and in this respect Dying Light is no slouch. Brief flashes of specialized flesh-eaters include one particularly nasty looking chap, a double-jawed freak-show complete with rippling, skinless muscles. Techland has already hinted that these opponents will be wholly consigned to the night, though, whether regular enemies also become empowered after sundown is unknown.
Following the mild-controversy that greeted Dead Island’s debut trailer two years ago, it’s good to see Techland embracing a more appropriate, action-heavy style this time around. While the video itself offers up nothing of the game’s actual gameplay, what is shown ought to be enough to incite players' interest. Expect Techland to reveal more on Dying Light, and its array of garish ghouls, at E3.
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Dying Light chows down on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, and PC in 2014.