Open World Games Need Dying Light Multiplayer Mechanics

Single player games are great, but often I find myself wishing I had a multiplayer or cooperative option when playing. Who wouldn’t want to run across Velen with a friend in the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, or cross Skyrim with an ally or two? When we began our review of Dying Light on Xbox One, I reached out to the PR company and inquired about a multiplayer or cooperative mechanic. Apparently, this feature is not to be missed in Dying Light, so we spent considerable amount of time trying 4-player multiplayer modes as well as cooperative play.

Mulitplayer mode is nothing to write home about. It’s not bad, mind you, but its your typical multiplayer mode tacked onto a predominantly single player experience. The modes are fun for a while, whether it is beating of wave after wave of zombies or doing races through the streets to certain points throughout the game world. They are fun and make for competitive moments, especially when being chased by zombies.

The real accomplishment in Dying Light is the cooperative campaign mode. You can trek through most of Dying Light with a friend at your side. This can result in various game play experiences. Either you work well as a team and nothing ‘scares’ you as you have each others backs at all times watching what is happening around you. OR, you both get ambushed together which leads to chaos, but fun, gratifying chaos.

There is nothing quite like mowing down zombies with a friend, especially if you each specialize in different traits and characteristics. I found Dying Light enjoyable to play regardless of whether or not I was playing with a friend; however, playing with someone else definitely made the experience much more enjoyable. Dying Light is the perfect example of what every open world should be: a great experience on its own, but give players the options to experience it with someone else. Dying Light easily goes down as one of the best cooperatie game experiences of the last couple years.