The game “Dying Light” hit stores on January 27 offering an immersive gameplay experience unlike another popular zombie themed game, “Dead Island”.

Since the creation of the mythical undead walkers known as “zombies”, the movie industry and gaming industry have brought forth many zombie titles.

Dying Light happens to be the newest edition to the zombie gaming franchise with mechanics that its predecessors didn’t have.

The story of this game takes place in Harran a fictitious city in the Middle East. This city is the epicenter of a dangerous viral outbreak causing those infected to mutate into flesh-eating zombies. Everyone in the world has set their eyes on Harran for months and many survivors still live in this quarantined nightmare.

The player comes in as Kyle Crane, a special agent hired by the GRE (Global Relief Effort, a fictitious CDC) in his endeavor to retrieve a confidential file on this viral infection. Of course, nothing ever goes smoothly for the protagonists in any dire situation; upon parachuting in, Crane is mugged by Rais’ (a feared warlord during the outbreak) thugs. He’s saved by the survivors of The Tower known as Runners and finds himself in a situation where he is their only chance for survival.

I don’t want to give away the entire story, so let’s focus on the game’s mechanics.

Dying Light offers a movement system that resembles the fluidity of another famous game, Mirror’s Edge. It offers its players a first-person perspective while also providing you the ability of parkour. For those who do not know, parkour is a sport that lets people vault, climb, slide and flip their way across random terrain. This game’s parkour system is phenomenal and allows its players to get out of even the worst situations once they master it.

Combat in the game resembles that of Dead Island but is far more difficult to master. The player (upon prerequisite completion) is handed an array of weaponry to mutilate zombies. Gas pipes, table legs, kitchen knives, sickles, pickaxes, katana’s, sledgehammers-you name it and it’s there. While out on your missions or free-roaming, the player can also find weapon modifications for any weapon. Who doesn’t want a flaming baseball bat? In order to properly fight with ease, one must utilize each and every combat ability to gain the edge against a horde of zombies.

Zombies during the daytime are no-brainers to kill, but once the sun sets, you must prepare to fight for your life. There are many types of zombies that the player will encounter in this game. Each comes with its own unique ability and dangerous skills that the player must watch out for. The most dangerous of them all are the volatiles (also known as night hunters). These fearsome zombies only emerge during the night and are faster, stronger and fiercer than any other zombie encountered. The smallest noise during the night-time can trigger their pursuit and it’s your choice to either get to a safe house before they eat you or fight for your life.

The game also features many side activities for players to enjoy. There are side missions from in-game NPC’s (non-playable characters), securing safe houses and air drops can be scavenged for rewards.

Cooperative play is also available for players and there is a player versus player game mode called, Be The Zombie, where three players are pitted against another player controlling a night hunter.

Skill trees in the game fall under three categories: survivor, agility and power. These three are self-explanatory and determine the difficulty of the game’s AI. Leveling these three trees are essential and results in unlocking Crane’s new abilities.

“Dying Light” only has a few minor bugs that its developers are working hard to fix. Of course, none of these bugs cause any major issues for the player.

Since its release, Dying Light definitely lives up to the expectations set by its incredible CG trailer and developer hype.

If you have an infatuation with zombies or you actually want to have dreams (nightmares) that you can remember, then you must buy Dying Light available on Playstation 4, Xbox One and PC. Good night and good luck runners.