Review
Dying Light was one of last year’s surprise hits, revitalising the zombie themed action genre with exhilarating parkour traversal and gruesomely satisfying melee combat. Now, a year later, The Following expansion looks to breath new life into the game; calling veteran zombies slayers back to the fray with new challenges and tempting new comers all the same. And thanks to some superb storytelling, and new additions that remarkably don’t feel out of place, The Following is looking like a winner.
The Following introduces you to the rural area outside the city of Harran where the original game took place. This new area is largely made up of large open spaces with scattered locations of interest, all of which are running alive with zombies. You parkour skills, therefore, are less useful here, instead you’ll need the aid of a dune buggy to make your way safely across the fields.
The huge new area is ideal for the dune buggy, offering an enormous amount of space to drive through as you knock over the undead, smash through fences and launch yourself over ramps. Better still, this new rural map stays intriguing with a generous scattering of interesting locations to visit and explore. Moreover, a great story involving a cult who are immune to the zombie infection drives the experience forwards and is wonderfully expanded on through the side missions on offer.
It’s certainly a good setup with it’s intriguing new tale, locations, and dune buggy shenanigans, however, the story is over with fairly quickly, with the side missions offering up padding. But this is certainly a case of quality of quantity and it’s easy to forgive. And thanks to a great cast of characters, which are exceptionally well voiced, it’s easy enough to while away hours of your time searching for loot and completing side quests.
In addition to the new area and traversal option, The Following also adds a new skill tree for the dune buggy, encouraging you to complete challenges such as hitting ramps and running over enemies. further challenges are also offered in the form of bounties, which range from simple ‘kill X enemies’ tasks you can complete at your leisure, to timed daily challenges and accumulative goals for the community. It’s a great way to encourage replay and give those looking to play some cooperative sessions more objectives to complete, however, the MMO grind of it all has the potential to turn some people off.
Dying Light The Following is a great expansion to a great game, offering a new experience and story within the same zombie filled world. And with all the other DLCs and patches included in this enhanced version it’s a great package for those yet to try this delightfully gory and intense zombie smasher.
Thanks to Xbox and Techland for their support
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