What if the characters on The Walking Dead were experts in parkour?
That's an effective elevator pitch for the video game Dying Light, from developer Techland. It features free-running characters scavenging for supplies throughout a massive, open world city during the day and trying to fend off zombie hordes at night. They use their impressive parkour skills to jump, climb, dive and roll across rooftops and on the ground, with danger on all sides. It's a compelling gameplay concoction, and it's drawn positive reviews from critics across the board.
But how realistic is it? How much of Dying Light's physics and mechanics could actually be performed in the real world? (You know, assuming zombies were real and all the survivors were capable of acrobatics and stuff.) Techland teamed up with Flying Carpet Studio to find out, and the result is a short film called "The Last Supply Drop."
It tells the all-too-brief story of four survivors of the zombie-overrun city of Harran. Their story kicks off when they spot an air-drop of supplies on the horizon, and quickly set off to get them before dark. (In the game, zombies are easy to evade, but their senses become sharper and movements faster at night, making them far more deadly.) Using their free-running skills, the quartet makes its way across the city, avoiding zombies when they can and fighting when necessary. Along the way, gamers will notice the use of popular gameplay elements from Dying Light like dropkick attacks and car traps.
Take four minutes out of your day to watch this one. It's fun, but also a little gory at times, so your NSFW flashing light is hereby on.
