It’s no secret that when Dying Gentle launched in 2015, it offered very well. Ever since Techland launched the primary announcement trailer for Useless Island again in 2011, they’ve been killing it within the zombies style.
Some take into account the trailer to be the very best online game trailer to ever be created, and it actually went mega viral for the time. It was so unforgettable, that it’s stayed with many avid gamers, together with myself, all these years. A fast rewatch may be so as:
It was such an efficient and profitable advertising and marketing marketing campaign in actual fact, that it set the Useless Island identify in stone, probably to the detriment of developer Techland. Many people had been ready for Useless Island 2 for therefore lengthy, that we form of gave up and missed the boat on the Dying Gentle franchise solely.
Which is unusual as a result of wanting again, Dying Gentle is so clearly the true Useless Island 2 we had been all ready for, however the entire “artistic variations” factor occurred with their writer Deep Silver and so they diverged the undertaking into its personal IP (though I’m shocked Deep Silver didn’t attempt to sue them — perhaps they did?).
Are you able to think about if Rockstar was creating a brand new GTA recreation, however due to artistic variations with their guardian firm, Take-Two, they renamed the sport to Crime Simulator and simply left? It will be scorched earth.
Even with out all of the lawsuits (which perhaps did occur, however due to NDAs and a non-public settlement, was by no means made public, who is aware of?), it was nonetheless a messy and wild journey to get to Useless Island 2 lastly releasing. IGN launched a mini doc about it that’s positively price a watch:
I performed Useless Island day one again within the day and cherished it, however after the franchise received placed on ice, I didn’t observe Techland into their Dying Gentle franchise, and let me inform you, it was my loss. That mentioned, enjoying it for the primary time in 2025 actually has its perks.
It doesn’t really feel like enjoying an previous recreation. Techland has continued updating and supporting the sport all these years, and it just lately obtained one more replace. Not formally a remaster, however remastered to some extent for certain. Should you’ve been ready like me, there’s no higher time to leap in.
Some closing ideas on builders updating their video games. I all the time discovered it considerably odd that if a developer may replace a recreation, why wouldn’t they? Like most issues, it’s just a little extra difficult than that. First, console gaming is simply in recent times beginning to catch as much as what PC gaming has all the time been. Second, I feel it’s difficult regarding copyright and possession.
I feel that’s one distinctive factor about builders who outright personal their very own video games; they’ll replace them to their coronary heart’s want and add new content material in each time they really feel like, and never only for revenue (though being an excellent shepherd on your video games is sweet enterprise), however simply since you care about bettering the standard of one thing you constructed, regardless that you don’t must and other people would nonetheless just like the factor simply advantageous.
Now onto the sport itself. Many take into account Dying Gentle to be a masterpiece of open-world zombie apocalypse storytelling. There are such a lot of zombies in all media now, however Techland was there even earlier than The Final of Us and nearly the identical time The Strolling Useless got here out in 2010, although I’ve to think about they had been engaged on Useless Island properly earlier than that.
The very fact of the matter is that the builders clearly had a deep love for George A. Romero lengthy earlier than The Strolling Useless reignited curiosity in zombies. They even up to date the sport to memorialize his dying in 2017:
Techland took all the things they realized from their expertise making Useless Island and perfected it in Dying Gentle. The sport’s environment, as tough as it’s, captures the dread of Romero motion pictures completely, from the eerie daylight zombies shambling in fields (particularly in “The Following” DLC) to the miserable rating, which is closely impressed by Day of the Useless.
One factor that actually makes you care about Harran and its individuals, is the children. Whereas most violent video games shrink back from kids even current of their worlds, Techland leans into it closely. Infants and youngsters die and switch into zombies, cry, cope with their trauma by means of drawing, and plenty of aspect quests contain doing issues together with both actually saving kids or simply making them really feel secure by bringing them pleasure.
One quest entails amassing crayons for the children and one other entails discovering a Christmas reward misplaced by means of the postal system when the world shut down. You discover precise misplaced kids within the open world, which could be safely returned to their dad and mom, or in one other quest, you escort a teenage lady who truly needs to depart house.
Now let’s discuss Hellraid. Nearly as notorious as the event hell that Useless Island 2 went by means of, we’ve got one other recreation that followers had been excitedly ready a few years for:
Whereas not ever formally cancelled (and its web site is even nonetheless dwell), the truth that it was lastly launched as a DLC for Dying Gentle, it’s fairly clear that that authentic recreation no less than is not occurring. At this level, they’d seemingly want to simply rebuild the complete recreation from scratch, engine, graphics, and possibly story too.
That mentioned, the DLC is fairly neat. Initially described as Doom meets Elder Scrolls, I used to be all the time very excited for this recreation. To lastly get to play it in any type was a deal with, and it’s truly fairly scary and enjoyable.
Perhaps it’ll nonetheless lastly occur at some point, however Techland has just about solely been within the enterprise of Dying Gentle for the previous decade, and ya know, that’s okay with me. After lastly enjoying Dying Gentle and loving it, I’m very a lot wanting ahead to enjoying Dying Gentle 2 and the upcoming Dying Gentle: The Beast.
Snaps of My Journey Via the Sport
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