Dying Light is a 2015 survival horror video game developed by Techland and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The game's story follows an undercover agent named Kyle Crane who is sent to infiltrate a quarantine zone in a Middle-eastern city called Harran. It features an enemy-infested, open-world city with a dynamic day–night cycle, in which zombies are slow and clumsy during daytime but become extremely aggressive at night. The gameplay is focused on weapons-based combat and parkour, allowing players to choose fight or flight when presented with dangers. The game also features an asymmetrical multiplayer mode (originally set to be a pre-order bonus), and a four-player co-operative multiplayer mode.
The development of the game began in early 2012, after the team completed the development of Dead Island. The game's parkour system puts emphasis on natural movement. To implement that, Techland had to abandon most of the story elements and construct them again from scratch. To create a story that would suit the taste of the American audience, the writing team collaborated with Dan Jolley. The story was inspired by both Heart of Darkness and The Plague. Announced in May 2013, it was released in January 2015 for Microsoft Windows, Linux, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game was once planned to be released on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but these versions were cancelled due to hardware limitations.
At release, Dying Light received positive reviews from critics, with praise mainly directed at the combat, graphics, co-operative multiplayer, navigation and the day–night cycle, while receiving criticism regarding the story, difficulty, and technical issues. The game was the best-selling title of January 2015 and broke the record for first-month sales of a new survival-horror intellectual property. The game was a commercial success, amassing more than 17 million players by the end of 2019. Techland committed to supporting the game, and released downloadable content packs, content drops and free updates for the game several years after the initial launch. An expansion, titled Dying Light: The Following, was released in February 2016. A sequel, Dying Light 2 Stay Human, is set to be released in February 2022.
Plot[]
Undercover GRE agent Kyle Crane is airdropped into Harran to retrieve a sensitive file stolen by Kadir Suleiman, who is using it for blackmail. Crane is bitten by an infected, though he is rescued by Jade Aldemir and taken to a survivor sanctuary called the Tower. Crane is introduced to Rahim Aldemir, Jade's younger brother, who then teaches him the basics of parkour. Crane learns that the Tower is being harassed by a gang of bandits led by a warlord named Rais who steals and hoards supplies from the GRE airdrops. This includes Antizin, a drug that slows the process of infection and suppresses its symptoms. Crane is tasked with reaching an airdrop containing the direly needed Antizin but the GRE instructs him to destroy the airdrop and instead buy the drug from Rais in order to confirm his identity. Crane reluctantly complies and lies to the Tower that the supplies have been looted.
Upset, Tower leader Harris Brecken tasks Crane with negotiating a deal with Rais. Upon meeting Rais, Crane is able to confirm that he is indeed Suleiman. Crane carries out a series of unethical tasks for Rais under the assumption that he will be rewarded with two crates of Antizin, but Rais betrays him by only giving him five vials. He later severs relations with the GRE when they halt the supply drops and refuse to help the Tower. Desperate to obtain Antizin, Crane and Jade raid Rais's storage facility but they instead find a cache of plastic explosives. Rahim attempts to use the explosives to bomb a Volatile nest, despite Crane's objection. Rahim is wounded, and Crane executes Rahim's plan and destroys all the infected in the nest. However, when he returns, he discovers that Rahim was actually bitten and had turned into an infected while Crane was gone, forcing Crane to kill him.
Meanwhile, a scientist at the Tower named Dr. Imran Zere, who was attempting to develop a cure for the virus, is kidnapped by Rais. Crane attempts a rescue but is also captured. Rais reveals that the file he stole contains proof that the GRE intends to weaponise the virus rather than develop a cure. In the process of escaping, Crane cuts off Rais's hand. Dr. Zere is killed after telling Crane that he had tasked Jade with delivering his research to scientist Dr. Allen Camden. As Crane searches for Jade, he learns that the Defence Ministry is planning to firebomb Harran in an effort to eradicate the outbreak, claiming that there are no survivors. Working with the Embers, a survivor group in Old Town, Crane tries to alert the outside world by setting off bombs in an apartment building in the pattern of a sad face, but a jet fires a missile which obscures the pattern. Crane then reactivates a radio tower and successfully alerts the outside world of survivors in Harran, thwarting the Ministry's plan. In a desperate effort to evade scandals, GRE contacts Crane to retrieve Dr Zere's research for them so they can convince the public they are working on the cure, in exchange they will extract him safely from Harran.
Jade is captured by Rais, who steals Dr. Zere's research. Crane begins to succumb to the virus as he searches for Jade at a museum; when he reaches her, he finds that she was also bitten and will soon turn into an infected. Watching from a distance, Rais offers Crane one dose of Antizin to save either himself or Jade. Jade sacrifices herself, injecting Crane at the last minute, and protects Crane from Rais's men. Jade then succumbs to the infection and turns, forcing Crane to kill her. After killing Rais's second-in-command, Crane delivers the tissue samples to Dr. Camden, who believes that he is close to developing a cure, but needs the rest of Dr. Zere's data.
Crane discovers that Rais is giving Dr. Zere's research to the GRE in exchange for extraction from Harran. Crane assaults Rais's headquarters and battles him atop a skyscraper, just as a GRE helicopter appears. Crane throws Rais off the building and narrowly recovers the research data; he decides to give it to Dr. Camden, and stays in Harran to help the remaining survivors.