Dying Light: Hellraid Review (Redkiwi)
TL;DR:
It is impossible to go through on nightmare level, use normal.
Go and Play Dark Messiah, still the best first person melee game (although I didn't try Mordhau and Elderborn yet). For the lack of other First Person Fantasy Melee games (FPFM?), however flawed for me Hellraid kinda works.
PROS
-This is a dungeon crawler and slasher in fantasy theme- thats a plus in my book.
-Great overall concept for mechanics.
-graphics/design/atmosphere is very nice.
-animations are alright too
-level design seem good enough (just game mechanics cannot make use of it.)
CONS:
-Story begins in a bad way.(who am I? why I came there? why does it matter? Why all that pathos?)
-Different difficulty level than you set in Dying Light.(dying Light on nightmare still is possible to play if you are clever, Hellraid leaves you to dogs, however smart you are).
-you can't push enemies on any spikes or anythin, they dont catch fire sometimes, they often don't react to kicks, and sometimes slashes, and if they react it doesn't push them too far.(why do you set up all the spikes on a map if there is no way to push anything onto them?????????????)(it doesn matter on normal level though cause you can mindlessly slashem eventually, but it gets boring though).
-using your tools, flasks, throwing knives is too slow. you are put to the ground before you are going to throw anything. (not an issue on normal diff) (it would help if the game would be more responsive, like mortal kombat, and all those player animations shorter)
-You recover from swings to slow, your one swing is three swings of one fast enemy(and they attack in groups, simultaneusly) (not an issue on normal diff)
-no block/parry. your only defense is running away or dodging. and they later close the door behind you so you cannot run away.... that was the biggest turnoff for me. (not an issue on normal diff) (there are shields, but you cant wear them unless you level up really really high...why would someone need an expert skill of creating shields to wield one? that's dumb)
-the only environmental trap is an exploding barrel which harms only you when you throw it, and none of the enemies...there should be more traps, moving parts, falling chandeliers, gates, scaffolds you know, the physics is there, but everything is glued together.
-I like how fast are enemies. BUT if six fellas charge at you, you need to be faster too, and you aren't because game does not allow you. You need always more stamina after three tickle swings that do no harm to enemy, you become overwhelmed in a second...my character has to recover from a swing faster! Why the kicking does not help at all???? (not an issue on normal)
-I'd rather play Dying Light (which is weird because I prefer the fantasy combat, not post-apo)
- I do not understand experience, items, and crafting in this DLC... how the character works in this thing? why nobody explains anything in this DLC? Give me ONE SCREEN OF TEXT with information how to orient myself!!
-It is little weird your outfit is the same as in the outer world...little anachronistic.
It does feel like an indie beginners experiment in modding... It is like Nobody from creatives actually turned that DLC on to play it...
I GENERALLY DO NOT RECOMMEND TO PLAY IT,
BUT
I will recommend it, because it kinda works for me on normal level. Because I starve for this type of a game. There is a total empty desert in first person fantasy melee combat. It feels like game producers forgot how Heretic and Hexen and Skyrim was successful.
Still, the combat is more engaging than Skyrim. And the only game with better combat mechanics Dark messiah I played through it so many times I am sick of it. So this will do.
But I would gladly pay for a better and finished skyrim/Dark Messiah clone with these type of combat and physics any day. Actually a Dying Light clone in fantasy theme would be really cool. But this ain't it.
-