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Prepared for your upcoming mission within this zombie survival title? Catch you across the way of the map in approximately… A ten-minute trek? Maybe fifteen? Truthfully, whatever the duration to reach it on foot or by car, since this intense game clearly dislikes ease and wants the protagonist to suffer more than he already has.

The omission of instant travel within this first-person adventure, the recent addition within a long-running series of action-packed survival titles, is clearly meant to promote discovery, yet what it achieves from my perspective is encourage frustration. Even after carefully considering the reasons why this sandbox horror title shouldn’t have a fast travel option, every one fails — similar to the hero, when I rush him off a structure quickly.

Key Factors the Absence of Instant Movement Fails to Impress

For example, one could claim that The Beast’s movement system is superb, and I completely support that, yet that does not imply I desire to sprint, leap, and scale all the time. Certainly, the game includes automobiles which I can drive, however, transport, route access, and energy stocks are restricted. And I concur that stumbling upon unseen places is what creates an expansive game compelling, but when you have crossed an area several times, there are few things to find.

Subsequent to my initial trip to the urban Old Town area, I got the feeling that Dying Light: The Beast was purposely lengthening my journey duration by dispersing mission spots during similar tasks.

Once an optional task guided me to an unsafe area in the historic zone, I viewed my map, looked for the nearest car, found it, traveled to the old area, exhausted my gasoline, checked my map once more, hurried the rest of the path, and, eventually, had a lovely time with the dark zone’s zombies — merely to realize that the subsequent mission goal returned me to the place I originated, on the other side of the map.

The Reasoning in favor of Quick Transport

I must acknowledge that this game does not feature the largest map ever seen in a sandbox title, yet that is a stronger argument to support quick transport; if its absence irritates me on a smaller map, it would certainly annoy me in a more vast one.

Of course, it would be beneficial to plan task targets in a specific sequence, but is it truly about concerning “fostering adventure” when I feel forced to minimize my transit? It seems more that I’d be “minimizing annoyance” to the greatest extent. Additionally, if I am absorbed in a storyline and want to know what happens next (which is a good thing, designers!), I cannot wish to complete further task targets first.

Workable Alternatives to Instant Movement

There is a single point I can think of advocating for preventing fast travel: You avoid a straightforward way out. And I need to acknowledge, I wouldn’t want to forgo the brief panic I feel each time darkness comes – but undoubtedly there are workarounds for that. As an instance, fast travel from hazardous areas could be prohibited, or instant movement locations could be positioned beyond secure areas, forcing you to do a quick dash through the dark prior to arriving at safety. Perhaps even better, this title could enable quick transport among quick transport spots only, thus you reduce transit period without the possibility of instant teleportation.

• Quick transport could be restricted to vehicle spawn points, as an example,
• require virtual currency,
• or be interrupted by random encounters (the possibility to be attacked by sudden monsters).

Of course, it is just reasonable to enable new quick transport spots following exploring their surroundings.

The Best Reason supporting Instant Movement

Maybe the most convincing point supporting instant movement, though, is freedom: Even with an instant movement feature in place, users who choose to journey exclusively by running and driving would still possess that choice, while players with less time to enjoy, or with less desire for vehicles and free-running, could use that time on different game tasks. It, from my perspective, is the real sense of independence players should anticipate from an expansive adventure.