The Most Anticipated Horror Games of 2015: Dying Light and Dead Island II

You could say that 2014 was a great year for horror gaming. It saw the fantastic success of indie frights Outlast: Whistleblower and Five Nights at Freddy's, and the release of big hitters The Evil Within and Alien: Isolation. From maniacal butchers and mental asylums, to the isolated Sevastopol and treacherous air vents, survival horror arguably upped its game for the most part of last year. So what about this year? What games can we expect in 2015 that will have us glued to our consoles or fleeing in fright?

The zombie sub-genre remains in full swing with two upcoming releases, Techland's Dying Light and Deep Silver's Dead Island II. They both adopt the apocalyptic premise that we all know and love - hand-crafted weapons, hordes of flesh-eating zombies, and a variety of other angry monsters - however each game also introduces something new to revitalise this familiar set-up.

Dying Light's pièce de résistance is its Natural Movement System, which allows players to freely traverse the game's immense landscape, to outwit the undead and complete various missions for survival. The game also operates on a day-and-night cycle, promising terror and downright difficulty as soon as the sun sets.



Given the game's studio release and ambitious gameplay, you'd be right to feel a little apprehensive about Dying Light. More often than not, the pressure to release a highly anticipated game often comes at the price of the finished product. The last thing Dying Light needs are noticable glitches that obstruct the games freerunning mechanics. However the recent decision to withdraw the game from last generation consoles, and lower the frame rate to 30fps, proves that the game's developers are keen to avoid such issues.

Senior game producer Adrian Ciszewski explains, "In such a fast-paced game, a stable frame-rate is paramount... When you're desperately trying to escape from a horde of pursuing Volatiles, even the smallest drop can lead to a mistimed jump and consequently your death.

That's why we made the choice to lock the frame rate at a rock-solid 30fps on consoles, at the same time reducing the input lag to the minimum. The result is a perfectly smooth, gameplay-tailored peformance".

Consequently, the lower frame rate has also helped Techland deliver a 1080p resolution. Ciszewski continues, "We believe we hit the sweet spot with Dying Light's performance".

Dead Island II offers a similar sense of freedom to players in its new Californian location, although that doesn't mean we can parkour amongst the palm trees. Deep Silver have instead developed a colossal map, the breadth and scope of which should offer gamers continual discovery and joy in defeating the undead on beautiful sandy beaches, iconic piers and even in the hills of Hollywood.

In a similar fashion to the game's predecessor there are several characters to choose from, each boasting their own story and fighting style. However, the game's combat now offers different mechanics - such as dual-wielding and eight-player co-op - to fend off zombies in a variety of gory ways.



Referred to as 'the zombie apocalypse of your dreams', Dead Island II is clearly the more fun, brightly-coloured and tongue-in-cheek affair. Afterall, what other game lets you launch a zombie 60 feet in to the air? If it's ambition you're after however, and something a little darker in tone, perhaps Dying Light is the better of the two. Either way, the undead are as ever-present on our consoles this year.

Dying Light is due for release on January 30th, 2015, on Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4 and Xbox One.

Dead Island II is due for release Q2 2015 on Microsoft Windows, Playstation 4 and Xbox One.

Stay tuned to Wise Words... for 'The Most Anticipated Horror Games of 2015: Until Dawn'