Dying Light: Platinum Edition | Switch Review

March 21, 2022 Joel Cieslinksi

Dying Light was originally released in 2015. It is best described as a zombie parkour game that also has a bit of action-RPG elements to it in regards to building your skills. It’s a great game on the Xbox and PlayStations of the world, but it has now been shrunk down and fit onto the Nintendo Switch. How well does this work?

Can the Switch Pull It Off?

Rather than review the gameplay, I am going to review how it plays on the Switch. At this point everyone pretty much knows about the game. I believe it to be one of the best zombie games ever created. The Platinum Edition includes all the DLC and Expansion content that has been released and will keep you busy for 100s of hours. While it does have a story, it’s the action and feel of the game that pulls you in. The crazy parkour moves with hordes of zombies chasing you make it feel very frantic at times.

Controlled Chaos…

Pulling off the moves requires good timing and smooth controls, something I was initially worried about when porting this to the Switch. Any slowdowns or frame drops could be a disaster and send you back to the loading screen. I was extremely impressed that during my time with Dying Light I did not experience a single hiccup in performance. It ran at what I would say feels like 30 fps and did so regardless of how many zombies I had on the screen at a time. Even with hordes chasing me, it ran butter smooth. The controls are tight and feel great with the Pro Controller in hand. I also played in handheld mode and felt that the Joy-Cons were acceptable but not quite as good.

Looking…Good?

There are some prices to pay in regards to the texture quality, which is to be expected when running something like this on the Switch. When playing the game docked and on my TV, it was apparent if you were looking for it but never detracted from the experience of the game. Playing on handheld actually felt better from a graphics perspective just due to the smaller screen. Climbing up to a high point to get my bearings, I was impressed at just how good this port is. Draw distance is as good as I remember it being on the PlayStation. While slightly muddied because of the textures, I had no issues looking out and planning my best route through the streets or over the rooftops.

Final Thoughts

Being a fan of Dying Light and having spent a lot of time with it on another console, I was honestly shocked at how good this port is. I would even go so far as to say it’s one of the best ports to Switch that you can get at this point. It feels like the same game and at no point did I feel like I was missing out. If you only have a Switch, and this is your first time playing, you will not be disappointed. If you have played this before, you absolutely owe it to yourself to try this in handheld mode. It really is the kind of experience the Switch was made for.

This review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy of Dying Light: Platinum Edition provided by Stride PR for coverage purposes. It is also available on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.