I played Dying Light: The Beast for four hours, talking to the development team at a preview event in Warsaw along the way. Fans of the series can look forward to the return of that tried-and-tested zombie formula – including exciting new features such as cars and the brutal Beast Mode.
With Dying Light: The Beast, Polish developer Techland is looking to return to its old strengths. In terms of gameplay, the latest offshoot of the zombie series should be closer to part one, setting itself apart from the more mainstream-friendly sequel. So, more horror, more survival gameplay, more loneliness.
I travelled to Warsaw to check out how the project was doing for myself. During my time there, I spent four hours slaughtering countless zombies in front of a picturesque forest backdrop. I also spoke to franchise director Tymon Smektała about a focus on horror and the new gameplay elements. This much I can already reveal: fans of the series and zombie lovers will get their money’s worth with Dying Light: The Beast.
Note: there’s a little competition at the end of this article.
Dying Light: The Beast continues the story of the protagonist from the first game. Kyle Crane was held captive for 13 years and subjected to numerous experiments under the direction of the mysterious Baron. After successfully escaping from the laboratory, he vows to take revenge. To kill the Baron, Kyle has to fight his way through the picturesque landscape of Castor Woods nature reserve.
Talking with Tymon, I learned a surprising fact about the new open world: it’s inspired by cult TV series Twin Peaks, among other things. «The forests of Castor Woods look similar to the green of Twin Peaks. The mood is similar too – you’re trapped in this valley where weird things are going on. People talk of dangerous monsters living in the forest. A baron conducts strange experiments in a castle. And there are plenty of shady characters with mysterious backstories.»
I like the new setting – I’m always up for a pinch of Twin Peaks. The beautiful nature and picturesque villages also create an exciting contrast to the brutal and bloody gameplay with zombie limbs flying around.
The nature reserve also has a cute mascot that fits in perfectly with the Twin Peaks fever dream vibes: Bober the Beaver. He kindly welcomed us to the preview event. I hope I’ll be able to find the giant rodent in the game – maybe even a zombified version?
After my initial curiosity about the Twin Peaks-esque game world had faded, I took a closer look at the game mechanics in the demo. I quickly realised how similar the game felt to its predecessors. Maybe even too similar?
The foundational gameplay of Dying Light: The Beast consists of three tried-and-tested elements. Parkour, melee combat with DIY weapons and ranged combat with guns. The parkour bit feels excellent. Kyle jumps over rooftops, runs on walls and shimmies along precipices. I noticed that the parkour gameplay is also used for smaller puzzle interludes, which reminds me of the Uncharted games. Cool!
Hand-to-hand fights were even bloodier and more brutal than expected. Wounds on the undead left by my blows looked ghastly, limbs flew through the air and gallons of blood splattered around. Techland has truly upped the gore meter.
I was a little surprised I had access to various ranged weapons relatively early on – a pistol, a bow and a flamethrower. I also found a surprising amount of ammo for some weapons. Despite quick access to these deadly tools, Tymon promised that The Beast will be far more terrifying than part two.
Dying Light: The Beast once again relies on the tried-and-tested day-and-night system. During the day, I ran around the world relatively carefree. Zombies were a threat, but not that scary since I could quickly shake off larger groups and slaughter smaller parties. However, I had to be careful at night. Because that’s when the semi-immortal Volatiles woke up to hunt me down. One wrong move and I was pursued by them – as well as an overwhelming zombie horde.
The night feels creepier than in the last games. It’s darker, my flashlight was weaker. As Tymon said: «You shouldn’t see the horror, but feel it. Something could be lurking anywhere.»
At the preview event, Techland even set up a chill room with relaxing music in case anyone needed a little break from the tense night-time atmosphere. Not me of course, I’m no wimp.
The night-time horror focus is at its best in the new nature areas. I couldn’t rely on my parkour skills there. There are no high roofs or ledges, no escape routes where Kyle can quickly disappear. I was alone and helpless, with worst-case scenarios constantly playing out in my head. Okay, maybe I’d take a little break in the chill room after all.
Techland hasn’t made many changes to the zombies and Volatiles themselves. They’re no smarter than before, yet they feel more threatening. As Tymon explained: «Volatiles are iconic. We didn’t want to change them for no reason. You wouldn’t put a sticker on your Ferrari just to make it feel a bit different, would you? Instead, we changed the context in which you interact with these enemies. Open areas make them even more dangerous and threatening.»
The map design in The Beast felt more open and varied than in its predecessors. Extensive nature areas with no preset routes alternated to densely populated zones full of rooftops and vertical level design. In order to make this new approach to the open world possible, Techland integrated vehicles into the game. Time and again I found barely functional off-roaders, using them to speed through Castor Woods and get to my next mission faster.
According to Tymon, cars fulfil another function: «They bring more dynamism into play because they act as mobile safe zones, so to speak. If you’re being chased by zombies, you can try to get into a nearby car.»
In fact, those moments where I fled to a car in panic are among my highlights of the preview demo. I never knew whether I’d have enough to reach the driver’s side and whether I’d actually be able to escape in the car. Especially during night-time chases with Volatiles, I experienced exciting, chaotic and unforeseen situations with vehicles that didn’t exist in the predecessors.
However, I’m a little worried about the long-term compatibility with horror – I’d prefer if the cars broke down a little faster so as not to give me too much power in the fight against the undead.
Another new feature is Beast mode. The Baron’s experiments on Kyle have given him superhuman zombie abilities. I couldn’t control them in the demo – they’d just emerge automatically when Kyle killed a lot of zombies. Later, however, I’ll be able to activate them at the touch of a button.
As the Beast, Kyle smashed and shredded enemies with his fists. He’d throw massive rocks and run through the neighbourhood faster than cars. Only for a few seconds at a time, mind you. I used these skills the most in the numerous boss fights against Chimeras – overpowered mutants zombies that escaped from the Baron’s laboratory.
The boss battles and Beast skills will also play a major role later on in the game. I hope the action-packed brawls don’t have too negative an effect on the otherwise very impressive and calmer horror atmosphere.
The development studio sees Dying Light: The Beast as a fully fledged sequel, not just a side project or spin-off. Tymon didn’t really want to talk about the game’s beginnings as DLC for Dying Light 2. To him, it wouldn’t do the project any favours since it’s now «so much more than it used to be».
Despite usually being pretty important, a conscious decision was made not to include a 3 in the title: «Dying Light 3 sounds too scary. We don’t want new players to be put off. On the contrary, we’re also trying to pick up people who’ve never played Dying Light before – both in the gameplay and story.»
Tymon continued confidently: «We don’t need a three in our name. The content of the game will speak for itself. Dying Light: The Beast is the best and most visually stunning game we’ve ever made.»
I also noticed a graphical leap in the demo. The lighting adds an atmospheric aspect, especially in the evening hours. New weather effects look pretty darn impressive, especially during storms. And the character models impress with many small details. However, the facial animations in cutscenes remained disappointingly stiff and wooden. But hey, tough go-getter Kyle Crane doesn’t have to show that many emotions anyway.
The launch is still four weeks off. Tymon was confident that fans will be satisfied: «The reactions so far have been amazing. We love Kyle Crane, but our fans love him even more. We’re a bit scared, because a lot can go wrong with such strong emotions if we do something wrong. We hope fans will be able to tell we’ve put a lot of work into the game.»
Dying Light: The Beast will be released on 22 August for PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC. Techland invited me to the preview event in Warsaw and covered my travel expenses.
To mark the launch of Dying Light: The Beast, we're giving away goodies for the game, kindly donated by Bober the Beaver. You can see what's in the package in the picture below. To take part in the giveaway, answer the following question: which part of the demo did I find particularly scary at the preview event?
My love of video games was unleashed at the tender age of five by the original Gameboy. Over the years, it's grown in leaps and bounds.
