WELCOME TO HARRAN
As a “dad gamer” with limited time, my first impression of Dying Light was that “Dying Light just gets it”. There’s no 45-minute cutscene or cinematic prologue. I’m dropped from a plane into a city swarming with zombies, and the game rushes me straight into gameplay, a welcome change from so many modern titles. With its heavy use of lens flares, the game’s visuals feel like a B-movie pulp action flick from the mid-2010s, which is a perfect fit.
The plot, however, also feels like a badly written 80s action movie. An anonymous voice, a Dr. Moneypenny type, delivers my mission brief while I’m still parachuting in. My task is to locate a mysterious person who may have changed their name and is likely leading one of the two major factions. One of the faction leaders is named Rais. Thirty seconds after I land, I’m jumped by three thugs who want to take me to Rais. I don’t need to “Scooby Doo” this plot any further. This Rais character is probably the same as this rogue agent I’m chasing.
Despite the cheesy plot and dialogue, my initial thoughts were positive. The combat felt good, and I was eager to explore the progression system. The game’s premise held up, and my first hour felt no different from a game released last year.
Brutal and Unforgiving Gatekeeping
However, the second and third hours changed everything. The game became extremely frustrating. The initial clunkiness of the parkour isn’t just a starter phase; it feels like a deliberate punishment. The game expects you to endure a low-level grind. Movement is difficult, and combat is even harder. You’re forced to spend a lot of time outdoors, especially at night, just to gain experience. The combat isn’t “clunky” or “clumsy” so much as it is intentionally punishing for a new player. Your weapons break quickly, they aren’t very strong, and most zombies can easily kill you while you’re bashing the same zombie for three minutes. I spent my first hours frustrated, dying multiple times just to reach the next checkpoint. I’m sure the later stages feel amazing once you’re a superpowered anti-zombie hero, but the early game is designed to make you suffer for it.
This is where the game’s difficulty becomes a form of gatekeeping. As a dad gamer, I get maybe three hours a day if I’m lucky. Do I really want to spend my limited time slogging through this brutal landscape, slowly leveling up, only to die right at the mission objective and respawn hundreds of meters away? This isn’t a challenge; it’s a punishment.
Final Thoughts and Verdict
The game is brutal. I highly recommend spending time running around, evading zombies, and looting the city before you progress through the main missions. Trying to play the game “normally” and just following the objective marker only ended with me getting killed repeatedly. I haven’t progressed very far into the game after only three or four hours, but the question is: Does it hold up?
Yes, absolutely. The game’s mechanics, progression, combat system, and graphics all hold up against modern games. With titles like Helldivers 2, Escape from Tarkov, and Dark Souls at the forefront of gaming, audiences are clearly embracing difficult, unforgiving experiences. Players can easily lose themselves for hours in Dying Light, working toward helping the people of this island and taking down the big bad. I only wish the game were a bit more forgiving in the early stages, but it’s clear this was a deliberate creative choice by the developers.
After six hours of gaming, I finally looked at the subreddits and YouTube videos to see if I was missing something. Nope. The game is punishing at the start for a reason. You’re supposed to feel weak and inexperienced. You have to learn how to navigate a brutal landscape and properly fight the zombies that populate it. I only wish they had sent an agent who was actually trained in hand-to-hand combat and long-distance running.
Does it hold up? Absolutely. The game still feels and plays like a modern release.