Once you get past the initial janky segments and awkward controls, the game becomes so much fun. The Darkness combines its use of gunplay and unique abilities into a blend of gameplay that remains enjoyable throughout. However, it is not without its faults though, since certain elements of combat and traversal were definitely outdated. With that being said, The Darkness did a lot to make up for these problems in other aspects.

As for the main reason why I like this game so much, the style is amazing. The grimy atmosphere perfectly accentuates the underbelly of New York's crime world, and the changing settings establish a harrowing reality for Jackie. Similarly, the melancholic music adds to this feeling, which both contrasts yet fits what is happening on screen at times. Lastly, I can further overlook some of the flawed mechanics present due to the touching story and its poetic ending.

Worse than the base game but still somewhat fun. The introduction of cars felt very out of place in a parkour-heavy game, and the open fields of nothingness made everything feel bogged down. Along with this, the cars themselves had poor controls that made traversal annoying, unlike in the base game with its excellent groundwork built for parkour.

The entire DLC suffers from the Ubisoft-esque formula of open worlds, with areas feeling non-differentiable and having barely anything to do in spite of their bloated size. The side quests were all pretty bland, and it's honestly just bad game design that the main storyline practically forces you to complete a large amount of side content before progressing. I loved doing the side content in the original Dying Light due to all the core elements of the gameplay meshing very well. However, The Following DLC has way too many problems on this front to be forcing players to partake in redundant, boring missions. It's also pretty much a given that the story was going to be bad since the original wasn't anything special, so I wasn't too disappointed when I realized this DLC had a terrible narrative.

With all this being said, why am I still giving this a 3/5? Well, the combat is left untouched thankfully, and that remains very enjoyable and makes up for some of these problems I had while playing. But honestly, I can't say I completely recommend this, since a huge element of the base game is almost removed completely and replaced with a more pedestrian option instead.

A very addicting gameplay loop. Combat is satisfying and the parkour mechanics are implemented very well. I've done pretty much everything available in the game, yet I'm still never bored with it. The maps are geared towards utilizing the abilities you're given, and there are so many playstyles available to experiment with. Additionally, the day/night cycle in this game is brilliantly unique and genuinely created a stressful, horrific atmosphere that complemented the tone of the game.

However, I do have some gripes aside from the gameplay itself. For instance, a few of the main missions felt out of place, and the level design in some were somewhat lackluster. Plus, pretty much every side quest is a fetch quest, making the narratives feel very redundant even though the core gameplay remained enjoyable. Along with this, the story is just cliche after cliche told in a superfluous manner. That being said, I don't think people play zombie games looking for a good story, but it did lower my opinion nevertheless.

Even with the flaws I think it has, I still loved playing Dying Light and will definitely recommend it to anyone interested.

6 / 10

Killer7 is a surreal and bizarre game. These qualities are both in praise and criticism of what's presented, as the mind-bending nature gives it a unique flair while also removing any sense of cohesion in the broader scope of the narrative. Along with this, the on-rails aspect of the gameplay was fun at first, yet it got quite repetitive after playing through a while.

I still think this is a good game, and I can appreciate the weirdness of the direction. However, there are too many issues holding it back from being as good as the fans say.