I will never get bored writing about zombie video games and zombie movies. The Dying Light Game is the latest entry in our Spoooktober event, and it seems fitting to celebrate Halloween with it. Well, Duing Light game and Peninsula. Don’t you think? They both have survival horror in its core, with plenty if gory, discussing zombies and a lot of gnarly things. So, it’s only fair that we pair Dying Light Game with probably one of the freshest movies of the year. Peninsula.
But yeah. I’ve written a lot about zombie movies. The Zombieland post was a great zombie inspiration, and so were the posts about Killing Floor and Dead Rising. But for the nostalgic in you, I will always recommend the Resident Evil movies. They’re so bad, that they’re actually good, and yes, I can’t wait for the reboot.
The Dying Light Game Is Currently On Sale
That’s right, Dying Light Game is currently part of our weekly sale, and there’s plenty of Dying Light Games to choose from. Almost all of them are on sale and waiting for you to devour them. Including some bad-ass bundles and DLS’s. Furthermore, today is Halloween so, what are you waiting for?
And What’s Dying Light Game All About?
Developed by Techland and published by Techland Publishing, Dying Light Game is an exciting survival horror game. The game’s story revolves around an undercover agent named Kyle Crane who is sent to infiltrate a quarantine zone in an open-world environment. The Middle-eastern city of Harran. It also features an enemy-infested, open-world city with a dynamic day-night cycle, in which zombies are slow and clumsy during the daytime. But become extremely aggressive at night. Furthermore, the game-play is focused on weapons-based combat and parkour, allowing players to either fight or flight when presented with dangers.
And what’s so special about this Dying Light Game? Well, because the strength and speed of the zombie increase at night, it has a dynamic day-night cycle. During the day, players can set traps, save random survivors, and make their way to airdrops. The infected are slow, apathetic, and easily visible and they can be easily avoided. However, at night the infected transform to become much more dangerous. Without daylight, the senses of the infected become more acute and accurate. So in order to avoid contact, the players need to use their “survivor sense” to locate and avoid the infected.
Fun fact: The city of Harran is in fact inspired by the Rocinha favelas of Brazil. Cool, right? We thought soo too.
Peninsula Is The Final Spooktober Movie Pick
Indeed, the last movie pick for Spooktober, here at IndieGala is Peninsula. A 2020 movie that’s a standalone sequel to Train To Busan. Is it good? Is it bad? Scroll down to find out.
First and foremost, Happy Halloween everyone!. I know that in this particularly scary 2020, Halloween may seem trivial, but happy Halloween to everyone that celebrates it. OK. Back to the topic at hand.
Four years after Train To Busan, Peninsula is very much different from the predecessor. In almost every way I might add. The Korean peninsula is now a zombie infected land (and ironically N. Korea is a safe zone there), but cut-off from the rest of the world. But in the middle of this story is Captain Jung-Seok (played by Gang Dong-won). A guilt-ridden man who will receive Escape From NY-style of an offer from a shady gangster. Along with his brother-in-law to go back to the quarantined peninsula (Incheon) and retrieve back a truck filled with money. However, over there, they will find a lot more than zombies and cash.
A Sophomore Slump For Yeon Sang-ho
And it truly is a sophomore slump. While Train To Busan felt emotional and engaging amid all the chaos, Peninsula feels detached from everything that’s even remotely emotional. But you can even clearly see the influences that the director had while making the movie. As I mentioned, Escape From NY is one such influence, while, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, World War Z and even Fast And The Furious are another. Yes, I’m serious about that because the last third of the movie feels like an homage to the Fast And Furious franchise, but with zombies. Here we have both fast zombies and swarming zombies, but yeah. Lots of scary zombies.
However, I also understand why Yeon Sang-ho wanted to go in the opposite direction. If he would have made this movie on a cruiser or a plane, for instance, we’d be accusing him of repeating himself. Another enclosed space? Really? The open-world setting in Peninsula is very much different from the confined, claustrophobic setting from the first movie. But it has a catch. Bigger not always mean better. And if there’s a lesson to be learned from sequels that had the same motto (Independence Day 2, Spider-Man 3)… You need to offer the audience something else, besides larger set pieces.
A Touch Of Social Commentary And Plenty Of CGI
Yes, there’s graphic and senseless violence. Yes, there’s prejudice towards Jung-Seok and Chul-min while they’re living as refugees in China. And yes, there’s even the harsh critique about the loss of humanity in the aftermath of the pandemic. All under the umbrella of social commentary. It’s not in you face, but it’s there. You see even brutal gladiator-like zombie fighting matches in the middle of the movie, and you can pretty much guess how that will turn out.
However, all of these are just barely scratched on the surface. Hey, there’s not even a solid explanation of why North Korea is a zombie-free (yes North Korea is a safe zone, and it’s hard to believe I know). But Yes, there’s a lot of CGI in the movie well. And I do mean a lot, while the practical effects are minuscule. At times it even looks way too fake, but that’s not my biggest pet peeve in terms of the visuals. No, a large portion of the movie is way too dark. Seriously. I know that 90% of the movie takes place at night, but the cinematographer did a poor job at lighting the sets, the actors and pretty much everything else. I felt as I was losing my sight half-way through the movie, and it was frustrating.
Colorful Characters In Peninsula
The movie is filled with colorful characters on both sides of the spectrum. The good and the evil, however not all of them were are memorable. But I found a little bit of empathy in the sassy, Yu-jin (played by Lee Ye-won). The younger daughter of Min-jung uses a toy vehicle to distract the zombies, and along the way, has developed a thick skin just because she had to grow up in such an environment. Poor thing, the zombie games are all she knows at such a young age, and it’s heartbreaking to see. Even though the tough, stoic facade.
Dying Light Game And Peninsula: Zombies Galore!
While not as innovative and creative as Train To Busan, the unofficial sequel Peninsula offers a diluted, yet scary zombie scare. It’s a poor sequel, but I suppose one that will stand the taste of the time in the years to come. And it fits perfectly with the rest of the underwhelming releases of 2020. I guess it comes with the territory. And by territory, I mean this crappy year that somehow won’t end. Did you enjoy Peninsula? Tell us what you think of it? Hit the comment section and let us know. We’d love to know all about it.
“Well, Duing Light game and Peninsula”