Dying Light

**- Slogan officiel** | ”

***Dying Light*** est un jeu vidéo de survival horror en monde ouvert et en vue à la première personne, développé par Techland et édité par Warner Bros. Games. C'est le successeur spirituel de la franchise Dead Island.

Le jeu est publié en Amérique du Nord le 27 janvier 2015, sur PlayStation 4, Xbox One et Microsoft Windows, et le 28 janvier 2015 en Europe et en Australie.

**Articles liés :**

* Personnages
* Factions
* Lieux
* Armes
* Zombies

## Histoire

Devenez un héros légendaire dans un monde ouvert post-apocalyptique infesté par des zombies assoiffés de sang. Parcourez une ville dévastée par une mystérieuse épidémie. Partez à la recherche de matériel, fabriquez des armes et affrontez des hordes d'infectés.
 **- Site web officiel** | ”

### Présentation

Le joueur incarne Kyle Crane, un agent sous couverture envoyé dans la ville d'Harran, une ville en quarantaine, afin de récupérer un fichier en possession d'une importante figure politique rebelle. Cette mission risquée va l'amener à s'interroger sur ses objectifs et sur sa capacité à aider les survivants de cette ville, dans leur lutte contre la population infectée.

## Gameplay

Set in a zombie-apocalypse-themed open world (similar to South American slums and cities), players travel through an expansive urban environment overrun by a vicious outbreak, scavenging for supplies, and crafting weapons against the growing infected population with a primary focus on parkour mechanics, allowing players to climb ledges, leaping off from edges, sliding, jumping from roofs to roofs and zip-lining. Parkour mechanics also apply on combat such as drop-kicking when engaging combat with enemies.

Combat in the game is mostly melee-based with the majority of fighting is done using melee weapons. There are more than a hundred weapons can be used and are more than 1000 weapon possibilities when players have the option to craft new weapons. Melee weapons have limited durability and can be eventually degraded if the player uses them for a long estimated time, however players can repair their weapons a limited number of times. Crafting weapons require ingredients such as metal parts and blueprints, which can be scavenged or purchased from a shop. Firearms are also featured in the game, but players only gain access to them in the latter half of the game. Even so, ammo is often very scarce.

*Dying Light* contains a dynamic day and night cycle. During the day, the player has to go out and scavenge for supplies to send back to the safe zones. They can also set up traps, save random survivors, and make their way to airdrops. The infected are slow, apathetic, and easily visible, allowing the player to simply make their way past them, but their danger grows in numbers. Players can also use environmental traps, such as spikes and electrified fences to kill the infected. Daytime will last for approximately 64 minutes, while night time will last for approximately 7 minutes. The game also features a physics-based lighting system and a dynamic weather system, which includes a variety of conditions such as fog, rain, and wind.

During the night, the infected transform into something much more dangerous and become more active and dangerous. Without daylight, the senses of the infected become more acute and accurate. They gain the ability to sprint after the player and have increased damage, as well as the ability to jump and climb buildings like the player. New enemies are also introduced at night, challenging the player to survive, introducing the new playing aspect of the hunter becoming the "hunted". In order for the player to avoid contact, they need to use their survivor sense to locate infected in the dark to stay out of their way. If spotted and trying to escape their pursuers, the player can use distractions and the traps to lower their numbers. Players can use sound to lure the enemies. The player's main defense against the infected is ultraviolet light, which slows them down.

A variety of actions in *Dying Light* can help players to earn experience points. Engaging in combat with enemies will help players to earn Power Points while performing parkour movement can earn Agility points. Completing missions, challenges and quests will help players to earn Survival points. If the player earns experience, they can spend skill points on a skill tree and upgrade the playable character with new skills. During daytime, if the player's character is killed, survival points will be deducted. In contrast, no survival point will be deducted if the player's character is killed at night. All experience points will also be boosted if the player explores at night.

### Multijoueur

Online multiplayer has been announced for up to four players in the co-op mode. At EGX 2014, lead game designer Maciej Binkowski, revealed that there will be challenges throughout the world for players to engage in for experience. Two challenges were showcased with one being a fight to kill as many infected as possible and the other being a race to an airdrop. The game offers an asymmetrical multiplayer feature entitled Be the Zombie that will allow the player to play as a powerful infected called a Night Hunter and join other players' worlds. The players who are playing as humans are tasked with destroying the infected nests and surviving attacks performed by the Night Hunter.

On October 1, 2014, Techland announced that there will be over 50 hours of gameplay.

## Développement

When development of Dying Light started in early 2012, reports claimed that Dying Light was originally a *Dead Island* sequel, but members from Techland later confirmed to Hardcore Gamer that the game is "an original title from its very beginning." and that the team would like to create "something bigger and better" with no relation to any existing IP. Techland's director Adrian Ciszewski also responded that there is a great difference in terms of creative vision between the studio and the *Dead Island* publisher Deep Silver and they considered themselves "not in a very good business position" with *Dead Island*. Therefore, Techland decided to split with publisher Deep Silver and start developing a new IP. Ciszewski also revealed that developing a new game can bring the team more freedom than developing *Dead Island 2* and they are free to bring the elements originally planned for *Dead Island*, such as new types of enemies, combat, skills and day-night cycle which was not implemented due to limited team size and time, to a new project.

The new project later revealed to be *Dying Light* on 23 May 2013, and the first trailer of the game debuted in Electronic Entertainment Expo 2013. Techland promised that *Dying Light* would be of better quality than *Dead Island* due to its complex gameplay and extensive story as well as its more serious and mature tone. The development team also considered *Dying Light* "an opportunity to prove to people that we (Techland) have made an AAA game". Part way through development, the parkour system received an overhaul. Originally aiming to feature a system similar to that of *Mirror's Edge*, in which players climb up rooftops or walls by interacting with the interactive element, the development team later shifted to put more emphasis on "Natural Movement", in which players can determine what parkour movement can be performed and when to perform them. The overhaul aimed at giving players more freedom in environmental navigation, and it resulted in major changes in animations and artificial intelligence (AI). The studio also abandoned most ideas for story and quests and created them again from scratch. The story of the game was designed to suit the taste of North American audiences. Therefore, Techland invited Dan Jolley, who have written few comics for DC Comic, to write the story of the game. Inspiration for the story was also drawn from novels such as *The Plague* as well as *Heart of Darkness*.

*Dying Light* was originally planned to release in 2014. However, on May 8, 2014, Techland announced that the game was delayed until 2015 due to a "desire to innovate", as well as to improve the parkour elements of the game. At E3 2014, Techland announced that *Dying Light* would have a strong emphasis on role-playing. The game was first scheduled to be released in February 2015 but later was announced that the release date was pushed back to January 2015.

During Gamescom 2014, Techland officially unveiled a four-player co-op mode. Within the trailer, Techland showed some of the customization options available. On October 28, 2014, Techland announced that the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game have been cancelled due to hardware limitations. The decision was based on "thorough internal testing" that showed that the consoles could not handle the game properly.

Techland originally aimed to deliver a 60 FPS frame rate on both PS4 and Xbox One. However, according to Senior Game Producer Adrian Ciszewski, Dying Light's frame rate will be locked at 30 FPS on consoles in order to be able to deliver native 1080p graphics, reduce input lag to minimum, and provide a smoother and more gameplay-tailored performance. He considered 1080p/30 FPS "the optimal solution for Dying Light and all its gameplay features on consoles". When asked about the short nighttime, Binkovski said: "I've seen a grown man cry during the night, so yeah, 7 minutes is definitely enough".

## Musique

Paweł Błaszczak, the audio director of Techland, who has previously composed the music for *The Witcher*, *Dead Island*, and *Call of Juarez*, composed the music for *Dying Light*. According to Blaszczak, the music of the game was inspired by movie soundtracks in the 1970s and 1980s, as he considered that the noticeably sadder tone of such music is more appropriate for the game's post-apocalyptic setting than typical horror music. Synthesizers are commonly used within the music, so as to "present a feeling of abandonment, emptiness, and sadness" to players.

When composing music for the night section of the game, he aims to achieve the silence atmosphere of nighttime. The team eventually created a whistling sound, which played during the night section, so as to make enemy encounters at night "more frightening". The album was released digitally on 4 February 2015, approximately a week after the game's release. Upon release, the soundtrack was praised by David Houghton from GamesRadar for straying away from the typical orchestral music, as well as for giving the game "real texture and power". He also stated that the soundtrack played during the game had made the game "an impactful, ambient experience", and that the music of the game had delivered a unique tone and atmosphere that most other games fail to achieve.

## Réception et critiques

Reception towards the game was generally positive, with praise mainly regarding the combat, graphics, co-operative multiplayer, navigation, and the day-night cycle. Criticism was regarding the story, difficulty, and technical issues.

* *GameRankings* gave the PlayStation 4 version 75.02% based on 43 reviews, the Xbox One version 74.60% based on 20 reviews, and the Microsoft Windows version 72.80% based on 20 reviews.
* *Metacritic* gave the Windows version a 75/100 (indicating "generally favourable") based on 39 reviews, while the Playstation 4 version (based on 58 reviews) and the Xbox One version (based on 26 reviews) received a 74/100 (indicating "mixed or average").
* *IGN* gave the game an 8.5/10. Praise was regarding the open-world, parkour mechanics and side missions, while criticism was regarding the characters (including the antagonist) and the difficulty in the game's early stage. Both positive and negative was regarding the combat (for being occasionally clumsy, but increasingly satisfying) and the multiplayer (for having the matchmaking unstable, but enjoyable).
* *Game Informer* also gave the game an 8.5/10, praising the graphics, narrative, crafting system, melee combat and animations, co-operative multiplayer, side missions, and the day-night cycle. However, criticism was regarding the parkour system (for being unreliable), control scheme, and the firearm combat.

## Remarques

* *Dying Light* s'est vendu à plus de 20 millions de copies dans le monde depuis son lancement, en 2015

## Liens externes

* Page Youtube
* Site web
* Twitter
* Facebook
* Page Steam

## Références

1. ↑ Une date de sortie pour la version physique du jeu, 23 janvier 2015
2. ↑ Site web officiel
3. ↑ Dying Light brings new life to the zombie genre
4. ↑ E3 – Dying Light Hands-On Preview
5. ↑ "Producer Tymon Smektala Says Dying Light is Not a Zombie Game"
6. ↑ Dying Light video shows how gameplay differs at day and night
7. ↑ Dying Light gameplay video shows the dangers of nighttime
8. ↑ Gamescom 2014: Dying Light Gameplay Trailer Shows Off 4-Player Co-Op
9. ↑ Dying Light Showcase Co-Op at EGX 2014
10. ↑ ‘Dying Light’ Pre-Order Bonus Includes ‘Be the Zombie’ PvP Mode
11. ↑ Dying Light offers '50+ hours of gameplay', online invasion pre-order bonus revealed
12. ↑ Original Dead Island Developer Explains Why It's Making Dying Light Instead of Dead Island 2
13. ↑ How do you innovate with zombies? Dying Light searches for the answer
14. ↑ Dying Light from Techland announced, features full day-night cycle
15. ↑ Dying Light release date delayed to 2015
16. ↑ Dying Light Brings New Life to the Zombie Genre
17. ↑ Dying Light is a new survival horror game by Dead Island developer Techland
18. ↑ 18,0 et 18,1 Dying Light - gamescom 2014 Gameplay Trailer
19. ↑ Last-Gen Versions of Dying Light Canceled, Will Be Exclusive to PS4, Xbox One and PC
20. ↑ http://www.videogamer.com/ps4/dying\_light/news/techland\_explains\_why\_it\_lowered\_dying\_lights\_frame\_rate\_to\_30fps.html
21. ↑ Gamekult - La franchise Dying Light a dépassé les 30 millions de jeux vendus, 1er février 2023

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