Dying Light Night Time Gameplay Trailer Shows A Lot Of Promise

Gamers, we've been burned a lot of times before. We see one of those AAA games and their fancy trailers and we think “Man that looks awesome!” only to find that those really awesome moments are scripted sequences that don't really reflect the actual game *cough*Aliens: Colonial Marines*cough*. Well, Techland wants to go in the opposite direction as far as game promotion goes, showing only what's actually working and possible in the game and none of the stuff that would result in a class action lawsuit.

The latest trailer from Techland features direct gameplay representation, so everything you see is actually what's in game. Things start off fine as the player is tasked with activating some traps around the town and rescuing survivors, but then things take a nasty turn as the dying light births dangerous results.

GamerSyde posted up some new screenshots and clips of the game, where we get to see just how dangerous things become at night, and how that theme fits in perfectly with the game's title.

There are definitely a couple of things to note: the zombies becoming more aggressive at night really add to the atmosphere. My only slightly problem is that they aren't active until players get within their view-cone. So a lot of times we see in the video where the player runs into a part of the map where he's quite apparent but the zombies are standing around waiting until they're “triggered”. I do admit that it's a little less organic looking than the zombies in Dead Rising 3, who seem to move around and react even when players aren't in their immediate vision.

I do like the voice acting. I'm glad studios are starting to mix it up; getting people with accents or quirks or something. I like Troy Baker and Nolan North – they're both excellent actors, no doubt – but it's nice to finally have a little bit of change-up in the main character's voice. I liked that.

In addition to the above point, I like that the characters acknowledge the dangers of the situation. This is a perfect way to help players get immersed into the game's world and atmosphere. Too often in games the main characters (or side characters) don't seem to properly fear all the horror happening around them. I found that to be somewhat off-putting in games like Dead Space where it seemed people didn't quite fear the very possibility of a necromorph. I'm sorry, but most people would be pissing their pants at the mere thought of such a thing. The fact all the characters acknowledge the horrors and dangers of a dying light situation makes the game feel a lot more authentic.

I'm still curious about what happens when zombies crowd the player-character and if it's possible for them to knock players over while they're engaged with another zombie? Or if they can ankle-grab you and trip you up? Or if they can crowd you and hold you down? That sort of stuff is what will make or break the new-gen gaming experience, as those sort of features were absent in games from the previous gen.

We'll see how well Dying Light evolves as Techland and Warner Bros., continue to roll out additional footage and media of the game.