Dying Light: Definitive Edition

Genre: First-Person Open-World Action-RPG

Players: 1-5 Co-Op / Team Competitive (Local Wireless / Online)

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in the Dying Light: Definitive Edition & Call of Juarez: Gunslinger bundle, which also contains Call of Juarez: Gunslinger.)

Dying Light is a zombie-filled First-Person Open-World Action-RPG released on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2015. This game later got multiple pieces of DLC content leading to the release of a Platinum Edition on multiple platforms that included this content, which seems to have since been rebranded as a Definitive Edition. This Platinum Edition (and then Definitive Edition) was released on Nintendo Switch in 2021.

Of course as with ports of more graphically-intensive modern games to Nintendo Switch, there have inevitably been a fair number of cutbacks – the framerate is dropped to 30FPS (which occasionally shudders when things get particularly intense), the resolution is 1080p in docked mode and 720p in handheld mode, there’s noticeable detail pop-in, and some heavy use of dithering that becomes even more pronounced during darker portions of the game.

Yet despite these numerous issues, the Nintendo Switch port of the game is quite impressive, presenting players with a stunning, detailed open world filled with impressive-looking characters (human and Zombie both) and intricately-crafted architecture. And as with other versions of the game, this is supported by strong voice acting, and a tense atmospheric soundtrack. In short, while the Nintendo Switch version of Dying Light may not hold up to other versions of the game, it still holds up quite well in its own right.

For those who aren’t familiar with the gameplay in Dying Light, this game plays like a First-Person Free-Running zombie game, where players are encouraged to stick to rooftops and avoid conflict as much as possible. Standard zombies in this game aren’t very threatening combatants on their own, but you will mostly be using melee weapons, and it can sometimes take a little while for you to beat them down. In the meantime, players not careful about picking their battles can find themselves swarmed, or attracting the attention of one of the more dangerous zombie varieties.

In a fashion similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Dying Light also has a weapon degradation system, meaning you won’t be using that length of pipe or board with nails in it very long before you’ll have to repair it or discard it for another weapon. This gameplay element makes sense as someone constantly scavenging for parts and materials needed to survive, but it can still feel frustrating to have to constantly be cycling through an inventory of weapons to get to one that’s not busted – a pain Breath of the Wild players know all too well.

This also leads to one of my biggest complaints about the game. While I love the idea of scavenging for supplies in an Open-World zombie apocalypse, the supplies you find seem too few and far between. When even a small bit of string or metal scraps can potentially be useful for crafting, it’s frustrating to find yourself stumbling into apartment after apartment finding there’s nothing worth grabbing there. The tougher zombies I mentioned earlier are also frustrating – these brutes can often take an absurd amount of punishment before going down, and these fights frequently feel less like a challenge and more like an exercise in tedium.

However, what the game gets right is placing the focus of the gameplay on traversal through the game’s sprawling urban environment, with players able to grapple their way around the game’s structures and jump from rooftop to rooftop to avoid conflict, and the emphasis on this element makes much of the game about being able to look over the environment and parse what the best path is likely to be. It is when players are putting their energy into this that the game is its most rewarding.

I should note that this game does support gyroscopic motion controls, but during my time playing the game they never seemed to kick in. I can only guess that these controls only work when using a gun or a bow and arrow, weapons players don’t get until well into the game.

I should also mention that this game has a selection of multiplayer modes, including drop-in co-op and even a competitive mode where players can opt to play as a superpowered zombie stalking survivors. In theory these modes are a great addition, but in practice I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the proper way to play an effective zombie, and when it comes to co-op play I kinda’ preferred to go at my own pace anyway.

Still, despite is flaws, and despite the graphical downgrade, Dying Light is nevertheless an excellent Open-World game, and a superb port to Nintendo Switch. There are definitely areas that seem like they could do with improvement, but overall this is an excellent addition to the Nintendo Switch library, and a game that should satisfy both fans of open-world games and those looking for a great zombie game.

tl;dr – Dying Light is First-Person Open-World Action-RPG that has players trying to climb and scavenge their way around a post-apocalyptic metropolis filled with zombies. This is a visual downgrade from other versions of the game, but still looks quite nice on Nintendo Switch, and while the scavenging elements aren’t quite what they’re cracked up to be, traversal is excellent and truly enjoyable. If you’re looking for a great open-world Zombie game on Nintendo Switch, this one is definitely worth a look.

Grade: B+

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