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Set for your next quest in this zombie survival title? See you on the other side of the map in roughly… Ten minutes? Or fifteen minutes? Truthfully, the exact time needed to get there walking or driving, because this intense game apparently hates simplicity and desires Kyle Crane to endure beyond his current hardships.

The absence of instant travel in Dying Light: The Beast, the latest entry to a popular lineup featuring first-person zombie-killing adventures, is surely designed to foster adventure, yet what it achieves for me is to breed irritation. Although meticulously examining the justifications why this sandbox horror title ought not to include quick transport, all of them disappoint — just like the hero, if I leap him from a structure quickly.

Key Factors the Lack of Instant Movement Fails to Impress

To illustrate, one could claim that this game’s parkour is amazing, and I’d wholeheartedly agree, but that doesn’t mean I want to sprint, leap, and scale constantly. True, the game provides vehicles which I can drive, but vehicles, pathway availability, and fuel supplies are limited. And I accept that stumbling upon fresh areas is what creates an expansive game compelling, but when you’ve traversed a zone multiple times, there are few things to explore.

Subsequent to my first visit to the urban Old Town area, I sensed that this game was purposely lengthening my journey duration by dispersing goal areas inside identical missions.

Once one of the side quests led me to a hazardous location within the old district, I viewed my map, looked for the closest vehicle, discovered it, traveled to Old Town, ran out of fuel, viewed my map again, hurried the rest of the path, and, finally, had a great encounter with the undead in the hazardous area — only to find that the following task target directed me back to my starting point, over there of the game world.

The Case for Quick Transport

I need to recognize that the title lacks the largest map ever created in a sandbox title, yet that is a stronger argument to argue in favor of fast travel; if not having it annoys me in a more compact world, it would surely annoy me on a bigger one.

Understandably, it would assist to organize task targets in a certain order, but are we really talking regarding “promoting discovery” if I am obliged to shorten my journey? It sounds more like I’d be “decreasing inconvenience” to the greatest extent. Moreover, if I feel invested in a narrative and want to know the subsequent events (which is positive, designers!), I do not desire to accomplish further task targets initially.

Potential Solutions for Fast Travel

There is just one argument I can imagine in favor of banning instant movement: You don’t get a simple escape path. And I have to admit, I would not wish to lose the brief panic I experience whenever night falls – but undoubtedly there are solutions regarding that. For example, fast travel from unsafe zones can be restricted, or instant movement locations could be positioned beyond secure areas, compelling you to take a brief sprint through the darkness prior to arriving at safety. Perhaps even better, Dying Light: The Beast could enable quick transport between fast travel locations only, so you decrease transit period without the possibility of instant teleportation.

• Fast travel could be limited to vehicle spawn points, for example,
• involve game funds,
• or be interrupted by unexpected events (the risk to be attacked by unexpected fiends).

Of course, it’s only sensible to unlock new fast travel points after exploring their surroundings.

The Best Reason in favor of Instant Movement

Perhaps the strongest argument in favor of fast travel, though, is choice: Although with an instant movement feature in place, players who prefer to travel solely by running and driving would still possess that option, whereas users with reduced availability to play, or with less desire for vehicles and free-running, could spend that duration on other in-game activities. This, from my perspective, is the true feeling of liberty one should expect in a sandbox title.