Dying Light is a game that I just can’t seem to stay away from. I’ve beaten the original game twice, watched my brother play through the story, currently watching my girlfriend play through the story, and I beat the expansion The Following. After dozens of hours spent in this world, I still have not gotten bored of decapitating zombies. Dying Light: The Enhanced Edition is the best version of Dying Light yet by far.

You can read my original reviews of Dying Light and The Following edition here. They will give you all the in-depth knowledge you need on the two main games. This will be a brief review of the new Enhanced Edition and what it has to offer.

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For those that don’t know the story of Dying Light, you work for the Global Relief Effort (G.R.E) and dropped into the fictional city of Harran. A zombie outbreak has occurred leaving the city isolated and stranded. You aren’t there to help the citizens but retrieve a stolen file that holds great importance. Naturally, things don’t go as planned.

The story still remains one of the weakest elements in Dying Light. The villain is cartoonish, the characters forgettable, and the protagonist as generic as they come. It may keep you interested until the end, but it won’t be the motivation for completing the game. That comes from the fantastic gameplay.

Take Mirror’s Edge and mix it with Dead Island and you have Dying Light. Only, so much better than either of those two games. I hated Dead Island (still do) but I love Dying Light. It learned from the experiences of Dead Island and the added parkour elements make city traversal a real joy.

The combat is a little slow in the beginning but it only improves as you level up. You’ll gain more stamina to fight longer, new abilities to take out zombies in new ways, and more parkour abilities. Smashing a zombie in the face to see the game slow down and show an X-ray view of their skeleton breaking is something Mortal Kombat will be proud of. All the gory goodness never tires when fighting through mob after mob of zombies.  

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Running on fetch quests can still be annoying, but they are far more entertaining when you are running across a thin fence with a horde of zombies below you. That isn’t to say all of Dying Light is fetch quests, but there is a lot of running around and that’s a good thing. Harran is a big place and exploring every nook and cranny is part of the fun.

I constantly loot any building I go into. You can craft items from the parts you find and buy items by collecting enough cash. Lockpicks, med packs, and more are all hidden among the world. I lost count how many times I rejoiced finding a candy bar to give my health a little boost.

The beauty of Dying Light was – and still is – how frantic it can be. I was scavenging a room like normal when I was suddenly grabbed from behind. I missed a zombie. I panic and jumped out the window… landing in a horde of more zombies. I fought my way through and dashed over a fence to face another five or six zombies. I kept running until I climbed up to safety and could finally get a breather. It’s these spontaneous moments that continue to make Dying Light fun even on the third playthrough.

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My absolute favorite mission in Dying Light still holds up as my favorite where you are tasked with destroying a zombie nest. You are given three minutes to get in and get out. There are zombies everywhere, the rooms are confusing, and stopping for a second will only get you surrounded. I sprinted through the whole area relying completely on my reflexes dodge any attacks and climb my way through. It’s an exhilarating moment in a great game filled with these frantic moments.

The real reason Dying Light is so well received and loved by many is the day/night cycle. Zombies during the day are pretty docile, minus a couple mutant ones that explore, spit acid, or sprint at you. It’s when the sun goes down that things pick up. Almost all zombies start running at you and can even see your flashlight. This means you’ll often turn it completely off and be in the darkness hoping you weren’t seen. The sound design only adds to the terrifying effect as you hear all the growls and screeches around you.

Then there are the Volatiles that emerge only at night. These crazy creatures are near-indestructible and will chase you more efficiently than other zombies. You can avoid their sight-lines, which often causes you to use your reflexes to their full extent, and find creative ways to get past. The gameplay at night differs drastically from during the day. But, you get double experience for everything at night so it’s a tempting reward to try and be risky staying up past your bedtime.

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Few things in games still give me the stress of being mid-mission when my watch started beeping. Nights coming. I need to get somewhere safe, but I’m almost done with my mission. I’m constantly faced with one of two outcomes. Race as fast as possible to get somewhere safe before night officially arrives, or get stranded in the middle of the night and do my best to survive. Either way, I’m left with a wonderfully frantic feeling and immense satisfaction when I survive.

The biggest issue with Dying Light still is the human enemies. They are never fun. Period. They are a chore to deal with without the fun or intensity zombies give you. The gunfights are always a drag. The gunplay isn’t horrible, but it’s definitely not where Dying Light excels. You’ll often spend way too much time popping up and down behind cover, wasting the incredible parkour system that you should be utilizing instead.

There are a few main difference that make the Enhanced Edition officially the best version. There is the graphical improvement you expect, and some other minor tweaks here and there to improve the overall game. What really sells it is how The Enhanced Edition comes with all the DLCs and The Following Expansion. That alone makes this package the better one to pick up. It also adds Legendary Skills (though I believe this is a free update if you already own the original game). After you completely max out one of your skill trees, you start earning experience for this Legendary Tree instead. Every level lets you add to one of your stats like more weapon damage. You also unlock new weapons and outfits. This isn’t something that would be my main draw, but it’s very nice to have more progression to strive for after a ready completing the main skill trees.

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Dying Light: The Enhanced Edition is not something you necessarily need to buy if you have the original game. If you don’t have any DLC or The Following, maybe it could draw your eye. This is really for people who have never played Dying Light and are contemplating if they should finally get it. The answer is yes. It was a great game originally that still is equally as good but now only has more bang for its buck. Dying Light is a fun game whether you love being scared at night, crafting cool weapons, or brutalizing hundreds of zombies. Now is the time to put down some cash and get this awesome game.

This review is based off a review copy of the Playstation 4 version of Dying Light: The Enhanced Edition developed by Techland and provided by Warner Bos. 

Still Brutally Fun | Dying Light: The Enchanced Edition Review
Overall Score8.5
Positives
  • Same Great Game as Before
  • Comes With All DLC and The Following
  • Day/Night Cycle Terrifying, Frantic, and Awesome
Negatives
  • Story Still Cartoonish and Boring
  • Fighting Humans is a Chore
  • Some Fetch Quests are Tedious
8.5Overall Score
Reader Rating: (0 Votes)
0.0

About The Author

Neil has had a passion for video games ever since the Atari entered his life so many years ago. He's been writing about them for over two years and sees no end in sight. Reach out to him on twitter @nconnors13