A new level of fear: My interview with Dying Light's Maciej Binkowski

Everybody knows what a zombie is, what it does, what it eats, what their favourite colours are... favourite TV shows, it's all in the bag. We know. If the world got overrun by the dead rising, we would probably just roll our eyes and say something along the lines of "like I haven't seen one of those a million times" before strutting off to 'get them in the head'. Sure, such nonchalance would probably get us killed, but you know, you win some, you lose some.

Books have, time and time again, tried to mix it up when it has come to this issue. Feed, by Mira Grant, came up with an awesome premise: it is inevitable that you become a zombie in the end, and the world is prepared for that. A very good read, and I would highly recommend it.

There have been some awfully inventive games over the years too, ranging from the unmistakable Resident Evil series, to the cute little IOS strategy, Plants vs Zombies. There are a lot of very different games involving zombies, and although you may not be able to change the core dynamic (they will always be the enemy), there are a lot of things you can do with the game you drop them into.

Dead Island was a game that first attracted attention with a trailer that would have tugged at the most hardened of heartstrings, and became steady competition to the similarly popular Left 4 Dead. Set on an idylic holiday island, Dead Island was a multiplayer open world survival horror, with a story that would take you to other parts of the island, and many side quests to keep you occupied in between. It operated on a 'level up' system, and as you got stronger, so did the zombies, keeping the element of challenge alive. Now, the same guys have got another game up their sleeve. Techland are now working on Dying Light, and it looks about as fluffy as a hammer. Dying Light is a zombie survival horror which has two settings; daytime - where (from what I can gather) you try to get vital missions done, working against the clock to gather important supplies and prepare for sundown - and night-time, where, quite simply, all hell breaks loose.

I got to speak with Maciej Binkowski, lead designer of Dying Light, about what this game will bring us that others don't.

The first thing he was keen to point out was the sheer difference in atmosphere when the day is over. He had witnessed the sense of urgency that players experience when they knew that there wasn't much time left to do what they had to do: "We actually had to tone it down a little bit, as we were finding that people were getting really stressed playing through the night, and when it would come to the sun going down again, people would shack themselves up for the night somewhere and not venture anywhere at all."

Although this is necessary to keep you alert and fearful, you aren't experiencing the full game unless you have the means to venture out into the dark now and again. When asked how this was tackled, Binkowski described how certain missions are only available once the sun was down. "You can only complete some missions at night. Likewise, valuable weapons parts and medical items can only be obtained after a certain time."

Weapons are, to some people's delight, and some people's distain, going to be degenerative. They will break, and this can lead to some sticky situations if you are unprepared. Binkowski told me that sometimes you will have no choice to run away from battles you cannot win. "If you have a very damaged weapon, and you come across a group that seem to be too powerful to mess with, you're going to have to find a different route, at least until you can come back with a better weapon or skill set."

In my opinion, breakable weapons in-game can add a lot of realism, but the balance has to be just right so as to not deduct from the enjoyability of the game. Dead Island did this correctly, so I am looking forward to seeing the mechanics of this in Dying Light.

Another interesting aspect that we got to talk about was Dying Light's pre-order bonus, intriguingly named 'Be The Zombie'. Again, this is not a new concept. Left 4 Dead's highly popular online mode lets you play through the eyes of a special infected. I asked Binkowski to explain a little more.

"When night falls, your game is open to invasion. Online players can play as the hunter. Of course, you can turn this option off if you don't want people coming into your game, but it really adds a sense of danger." The hunter is a special zombie with extra abilities such as super speed and different attacks than the average zombie. Sounds awesome to play as, not so much to be up against...

This game is looking fantastic, and with the success of Dead Island on their backs, Techland seems to be onto a promising one.

I can't wait to play this game, though I might have to leave the lights on, and get some company over while doing so...