So about that Dying Light
Dead Island was a massive hit for Techland, due in part to the massively misleading trailer for the game. Having played through it with a co-op partner, I found some enjoyment out of it by way of the multiplayer element, but it was a buggy mess that I wouldn’t recommend to anyone.
Dead Island: Riptide was basically more of the same. Before that, Techland handled a bunch of shovelware on top of a few big games like Call of Juarez: The Cartel, which was also a mess.
So why is there so much buzz for Dying Light, which is set to drop later this month?
Outside of the typical “it has zombies” marketing, I haven’t seen anything to warrant the excitement this game has gotten. Having played a bit of it, the free-running element is kind of neat, but so many games have adopted that style since Mirror’s Edge that it’s hardly a unique trait.
To make matters worse, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has proven time and time again that they are on the cutting edge of digital sleaze, so the fact that Deep Silver is out as a publisher is even more worrying for this particular project. I really have no idea what to expect from the newly minted Chrome Engine 6, but I’m not hopeful. Dead Island 2 on the other hand is now in the hands of Yager Development (the folks who did Spec Ops: The Line), so there’s a chance that will be good.
As always, I’m willing to give any game a shot despite its pedigree and assess it on its own merits. Studios have turned themselves around before and surprised us, and depending on who you talk to, Dead Island was that turnaround already for Techland. But how about you? Do you trust Techland at this point in terms of a “day one” purchase? Will you buy Dying Light sight unseen, or wait for a few opinions first?
