Gave Generation Zero a go. Wish I hadn't. The sound is pretty fucking good and that's about it. It's skeleton of a game- and even that skeleton isn't much to look at. Made me wish I was playing Sir, You're Being Hunted instead. So I flung the imaginary BR through the window and got onto something else in the same ballpark- kinda.
Thus, Left 4 Mirror's Edge, aka Dying Light. Zombies again? Fuck off. Eh, this parkour is shitty. The movement sucks, Far Cry's was better. Call these idiots characters? Another fucking teeny-bop "resistance"?
And then night came. A cutscene ends and I regain control in the shithole tenement of the shithole part of a shithole city. And it's pitch fucking black. The zombie groaning in the background kicks up a notch, the music swells and you hear a distinct wail. And it's close. I start getting "
hunting chimeras in Stalker" flashbacks. And I run (Iran is so far away). Into mobs, into cars, into fuck knows what while slapping the spacebar as fast as I could as I'm being pelted and losing health from fuck knows what. The only thing visible is the sky, outlining the buildings in front. Gotta get higher. Gotta heal. Gotta keep running. Gotta go f- not doing it. Suddenly a light. A green house in the minimap. Safety? Fuck, just run towards it. "PURSUIT EVADED". Sweeter words have never popped up on a screen. So I look back for the first time in a while as this bipedal abomination slinks into darkness. And the stars align. I reach enlightenment. My chakras have shed their falafels and achieved post-chtulhusness- Dying Light finally makes sense. Those were the best 2 minutes of playing in months (that's what she said).
It's far from perfect. The AI is kinda broken, as in they managed to get zombie runners (and volatiles) to follow you near perfectly, but everything else is crap- regular shamblers are supposed to be but others aren't- the bad guy's armed goons will often stand looking at each other as you pick them off with arrows, especially in open areas; in interiors, one of them sees you, all of them know exactly where you are; spitters will stand their ground as you close distance and stab them in the face instead of trying to reposition; those rebar-swinging hulks are truly figures of despair- stoically standing in place as you put arrow after arrow in their sad faces. What else? Ah, the inexplicable absence of a stamina bar. Why? No fucking clue. There's one for attacks in a game not about fighting. There's one for air if you're underwater in a game not about swimming. But one for running in a game that's about parkour? Nope. Expect to get tired when you least need and with it a couple of stupid, preventable deaths. Terrible inventory menu. How about a sort button? How about breaking up blueprints by type instead of rarity? Plot has some shitty moments, of significance is a death that really stings- partly to the game's credit in establishing the character, partly because unless I'm forgetting something, the MC is shown in a cutscene taking something that could've saved that person, which I don't remember him ever using. Oh and looting is a chore. If you only looted for money, fine, you could always cheat engine your way out of it. But you need the loot as ingredients for several items. Expect to see the MC's hands fondling everything in sight from zombie asses to trunks to backpacks and anything in between.
What good is there in it though, is really good. The maps (2 of them, different parts of the same city) are pretty fucking well designed. Planks that lead to railings that lead to rooftops that lead to overpasses that lead to poles that lead to lighting fixtures- virtually everything is climbable and virtually everything is placed so you can jump from one thing to the other and keep moving. With it, the grappling system is a gem. There's no wall that doesn't have 3 protuberances you can hang on to and even jumping blind and holding space will most often ensure you do although you are expected to time your jumps as well as your grabs to ensure you grip/land where you intend to- Assassin's "hold forward to traverse map" Creed this is not. Neither is it Mirror's Edge. However, one might think it unfortunate, but with the added problem of zombies and the bigger focus in combat, this parkour system is pretty much as complex as it needs to be. There's also a main character with a personality, for a fucking change. Of note is the (unfortunately not common enough) colour commentary that is surprisingly on point- had me chuckling a fair few times when the character told himself exactly what I was thinking (bonus point for telling the big bad to STFU when big bad attempts big bad banter during the final story mission). The grappling hook is impeccably implemented- strong enough to get you out of a jam but you only get two uses, after which it needs a recharge. But the best might be that one retarded Techland employee. Yes, that guy that's weird even by polack standards and who other Techland employees avoid. I love that guy. I love him because at one meeting he went "You know what this game needs? A dropkick." Someone went "That's retarded". Someone else went "This game is about movement, why the fuck would you have a move that renders the player immobile?". And then he threw an autistic fit and forced the team to put the dropkick in anyway. And the Lord said unto the zombie: "Thou shalt be dropkicked off the top of the roof and the people shall be merry". They were. And it's still amusing 30-40 hours in. It's retarded but it never fucking gets old.
On the whole, it's probably the unofficial ME sequel I never knew I wanted. Because fuck the official sequel. Two soles up.
