Before I get started with my review, I would like to start things off with a quick preface/disclosure about this review. It was around the same time last year when I received my first official review code as thegamingbuddha.com. The code was for a game called Dying Light and the PR firm that was in charge of distributing codes was a company by the name Evolve. Ever since then I have been getting all sorts of games to review, from triple A games like The Witcher 3 to indie titles like Victor Vran, Blood Bowl 2 and many more. While Evolve wasn’t the only firm that I’ve worked with over the year, they were the first and most consistent. Why does this matter? It matters because without them I would have barely any content to show or talk about. Yes, I would still be doing these same things even without them, but at a slower pace because I would have to provide the games myself, and that would put a huge financial strain on me in the form of keeping the site up and running. Gaming can be expensive, especially when money is tight. With Evolve and the help of their staff I was able to experience a ton of games that I wouldn’t have been able to on my own.
So I want to say thank you to Evolve. I know it may look weird and sound strange to be thanking a PR firm before a review, due to what happen in the past two years with GamerGate. And I do believe that there should always be disclosure (hence the purpose of this preface) and that relationships between journalists and the PR reps should be kept professional. But I think that we sometimes forget that they work just as hard as the developers in order to get as many people to know about it as possible. Their tactics can be sketchy at times, but that’s what we are here for. To make sure that things are legit and help you the consumer make the best choice possible. So thank you Evolve. Thank you for taking a chance on an upstart like me and helping me grow as a reviewer and as a content creator. With that out of the way, here is the review for Dying Light: The Following Enhanced Edition.
Welcome back to deadly paradise
Fixes several bugs/glitches found in first game- The original version of Dying Light is massive. The devs took what they have learned from Dead Island and crafted a bigger zombie infested open world. However as in the case with most open world games, the bigger your playable areas are, the more likely you will run to bugs and glitches. These glitches include zombies walking on air, through walls, clipping through various objects, not registering that I am right in front of them hacking away at them, zombies making their way over safe zone walls, grappling hook not always grappling on ledges and several other glitches. WIth the Enhanced Edition of Dying Light, a majority of these bugs and glitches are fixed and even changes have been made to help game run better.
The Following expansion adds in more story and expands world through The Countryside- The Following not only expands the size of the original game, but it also adds in more story elements. The Following expansion picks up right where the base version of Dying Light picks up. A seriously injured man is found by Crane and taken it for healing and questioning. As the medic tries to patch him up he starts to ramble about how out in the area called The Countryside the people following the local cult are immune to the virus, even after getting bite. Dangerously low on Antizin and without any other options, Crane goes out to this Countryside to see if there is truth to the man’s words and try to convince the cultists to share how they are immune to him so he can help the rest of the survivors that are still trap in Haran.
Dying Light The Following Enhanced Edition replaces original game, offers Enhanced Edition free to original owners of game, The Following is DLC expansion pack- Now this is going to be needing a bit of explaning due to the fact that the developer doesn’t really do a good job of explaining what’s what. First off all of the extras and the fixes that the Enhanced Edition offers is free for all who own the original base version of Dying Light. Now much like Bozak horde, The Following expansion pack is a part of the base game’s DLC Season Pass. So if you have the Season Pass you already have access to The Following. Now there are many people who might have missed out on Dying Light last year and decided to wait for a GOTY version. While it’s not a GOTY edition, Dying Light The Following Enhanced Edition is the updated version of the base game with the Enhanced Edition fixes, all of the previous DLC, The Following expansion pack, and new additions to Be the Zombie mode and a new Legendary skill branch.
Additional side quest content to Haran portion of game- WIth The Following expansion, Dying Light has more than enough content to keep players busy for months. But what about those who only have the original version of the game? As I mentioned a while ago, those who just have the base game will be able to get the Enhanced Edition content for free. This includes several new side quest in Haran and bounties that test your skills.
New Legendary level added- Wondering what to do now that you have maxed out one of the three skill trees? With the Enhanced Edition update, players are able to upgrade their skills to legendary status with the Legendary skill tree. This skill tree furthers developers Crane up to 250 levels by boosting up damage, stamina and much more. This is great for those players who have already beaten the main portion of the game and either want to test their skill in Nightmare Mode or feel brave enough to wander in the Countryside, where The Following expansion takes place.
Dune buggy upgrades and missions- As I said many times in this review, The Countryside is twice the size of the city of Haran. Yes you can run, but you can only go so far before tiring out as the zombies run you down from behind…..and from the sides….and from in front….you know everywhere. In comes the dune buggy for all your off-roading needs and zombie ramming fun. The buggy can be upgraded through a new driver skill tree and Crane can build parts for it as he completes races and finds buleprints scattered all around The Countryside. However much like the weapons in Dying Light, the dune buggy’s parts will deteriorate overtime and when ramming and crashing into objects. But as you level up your driver skill tree your dune buggy will be able to take on more and more damage before having to replace parts.
Empty wide fields just as scary as narrow streets- If you look at every single zombie game that has been released, what do most have in common? The answer would be their settings/location. Most zombie games take place in areas that are confined and narrow, either due to structural decay or the end result of humanity descending into chaos. Being alone in a narrow street with a horde chasing after you at night can be pretty scary, but can also be easily avoided by ducking into a near by building and climbing up. But what if you’re dropped in the middle of vast field with zombies rambling all around you and its night? Dying Light’s The Following expansion takes place in an area called The Countryside and is twice the size of Haran. Players no longer can count on the safety of tall buildings to escape the horde, as the majority of the area is flat lands, wooded areas and wet lands that lead to small lakes and rivers. Make a sudden sound and zombies within a 360 degree radius of your location will lumber in your direction, run if you happen to be out in the field when night time falls. You do gain a dune buggy early in the game (more on that in a bit) but like in all horror movies there’s a chance that the vehicle will break down and you are forced to stop and scavenge. By the time you do get the buggy up and running, you’re surrounded on all sides with even more zombies on their way. And if you do try to run, where will you hide? There are no tall buildings to climb up on and the closest safe house in about 600 meters, with fields surrounding you
As ugly as Volatile road kill
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t type of ending- The only thing that I really didn’t like about The Following Expanded Edition of Dying Light is the ending. I will not spoil the ending, but as it plays out you are given two choices. One of the choices is passive and ends the game on a hopeless note, while the other choice is aggressive and leads into a final boss battle. Once the boss battle is over, you may think you have won, but you didn’t. There’s no resolution to the outbreak in Haran, save for the passive choice and no resolution for Crane either. To me it feels like a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” type of ending which is a cop out. You would think Techland would at least end the game on a cliffhanger or something of the sort. We’ll just have to wait and see since they have promised to support the game for at least another year.
One of the many tools that video game publishers love to use to try to get more money out of a franchise is to release a complete edition or GOTY edition or something along those lines. With Dying Light, Techland and WB Games went with the phrase enhanced edition and for once this is true. Dying Light The Following Enhanced Edition is an enhanced version of the base game that came out last year. It feature improvements made to the base game, additional side quests and fixes bugs and glitches. What makes this version of the game better than last year’s is that it comes with all of the DLC that was release last year and the new expansion The Following. Combined with The Following, Dying Light adds in at least 50 plus hours of gameplay, extends the story and adds in a dune buggy for a new mode of transportation. Techland could have easily just rehashed assists for a quick buck, but instead of that they when back into the game and tried to fix as many bugs and glitches as they could, and at the same time found time to create new content. If you already have vanilla Dying Light, I suggest that you also get The Following expansion pack as well. If you skipped over Dying Light because you knew this was going to happen, you should pick this up. Dying Light The Following Enhance Edition is definitely one of the best zombie games of the year so far.
