Screenshot: Dying Light: Platinum Edition
I absolutely loved
Dying Light back when it released. I played through the base game and
The Following DLC a couple of times, showing different friends the zombie survival plus parkour action game. When I heard about the Nintendo Switch port, there was a bit of skepticism, but after running through
Dying Light and its huge amount of DLC on Nintendo’s handheld, I’m pretty impressed.
Dying Light is a first person action game with an emphasis on movement. You play as Kyle Crane, and agent for an organization for the GRE. Your job is to brave the zombie infested streets of Harran, fighting zombies, modifying weapons, and using your parkour skills to survive as you hunt down a man named Rais. The
Platinum Edition on Switch also comes with a whole load of DLC (13!) that adds an entire game’s length to
Dying Light’s already extensive campaign; with “The Following” (arguably) better than the game’s OG campaign.
Screenshot: Dying Light: Platinum Edition
Zombie survival and parkour go together like spaghetti and meatballs. As Kyle Crane, you’re a parkour demi-god, as you (mostly) tirelessly jump over cars and even scale buildings in seconds. Zombies can be chopped up with ease with a number of melee weapons you can find and upgrade with all sorts of outlandishly strong chemical, fire and electrical effects. It’s incredibly fun to jump into a group of zombies with upgraded weapons and just wreak havoc.
The zombies in
Dying Light are mostly docile during the day—though they can pose a threat in large groups. At night, zombies become more aggressive, and you have to contend with hard to kill volatiles that are only able to be stopped early on with the liberal use of UV lights. There are even “special infected” variants to keep zombie fighting interesting.
Screenshot: Dying Light: Platinum Edition
While there is a ton of DLC included in the Platinum Edition, the most substantial
Dying Light DLC has to be
The Following. This mode adds an entire new area to Harran, and includes vehicles. These buggies can be upgraded with several different components, and you can even weaponize them — or at least, make it easier to drive through hordes of zombies.
The Following moves away from the base game’s emphasis on parkour just enough to make it something fresh.
The biggest question I had when I found out about
Dying Light being ported to the Switch was: how good will it look, and how well will it run? The answer to both of those is “surprisingly good,” even when you consider the inevitable graphical downgrades.
Dying Light has certainly looked better, but especially when played on the small screen of Nintendo Switch looks pretty darn good. And it runs great too, with a bearable (and mostly constant) frame rate.
Screenshot: Dying Light: Platinum Edition
Dying Light Platinum Edition on Nintendo Switch is a great package, but that’s because it includes the essential DLC
The Following. The rest of the DLC packs are mostly cosmetic, or lackluster (like the disappointing
Hellraid.) Dying Light is a surprisingly good fit for the handheld hybrid Nintendo Switch, and the
Platinum Edition is a great way to experience the complete
Dying Light package.
Dying Light: Platinum Edition is
available on Nintendo Switch now.
