If you’re one of the thousands of players who are still wondering what happened to Kyle Crane, the protagonist from the first Dying Light installment, believe me when I say you’re not alone. Techland has finally given us some light on what to expect, but there’s more to it, and we won’t be sure until Dying Light: The Beast finally gets released.
I’ve been a big fan of the Dying Light series. The first title was simply “perfect”, in almost any way, while the second one was full of bugs, weird glitches, and lots, lots of new updates. As most fans already know, we were waiting for a new update for Dying Light 2 Stay Human, but instead, we got a new standalone expansion, which will feature Kyle Crane in Castor Woods, a new open-world region that I simply can’t wait to play.
What is Dying Light: The Beast?
The new standalone expansion will take place in Castor Woods, a new area that was once a popular tourist destination, now overrun by zombies, abandoned, yet full of [dead] life. But it’s not just about the place, it’s about Kyle Crane, who escaped his captors, discovers that there’s more at stake than just seeking revenge, and now has zombie DNA that boosts his abilities.
From the trailer, we can see many common features that we’ve already seen in Dying Light 2, and what bothers me is that I don’t see a big difference when it comes to graphics and new innovations. For example, if Dying Light: The Beast is simply a Dying Light 2 expansion promoted as a standalone game, that would be a nightmare for me. We need something new, without the bugs and glitches that we got with the second installment, and not just a simple expansion.
I want the same big differences that we’ve seen between the first and second titles, which were pretty huge. Have you played Dying Light recently? From the graphics to the moves to the options that we get, the differences between the first and second titles are extremely big. If Dying Light: The Beast ends up being a simple Dying Light 2 expansion with a newer map, I think I’ll skip buying it and I’ll end up watching some walkthroughs just to get an idea.
Techland is focusing on the story though, and that’s what will make most fans purchase the game, as everyone wants to know what actually happened to Kyle Crane – and they’re giving it for free for players who brought the Ultimate Edition of the second installment (which unfortunately I didn’t, and you can’t either, now).
Everything we know about Dying Light: The Beast
As of this moment of writing, Techland has only told us that much about the upcoming Dying Light: The Beast. What we mostly know is what we’ve seen from the trailer, but I’ll keep the article updated whenever we know something new.
Setting and Story
When it comes to the setting and story of the game, this time around, our good ol’ buddy Kyle Crane is back (yes, despite that whole “I’m definitely dead” thing from The Following DLC). The story takes place in Castor Woods, which used to be a cute little tourist spot until, you know, the apocalypse happened.
Kyle’s on a personal revenge mission after being experimented on for 13 years, and apparently, though, there’s more at stake than just getting even.
What we know for sure is that the man behind the experiments is called Baron, and he’s “an emotionless, calculating, but brilliant scientist,” as Techland describes him. Brone has been deep into experimenting with sinister virus strains in pursuit of restoring order, and we got a better glance at him and how evil he is.
Here’s the latest trailer for Baron:
Dying Light’s franchise director, Tymon Smektała, took to YouTube to explain a little more about our new villain, saying that as players go deeper and deeper into the game, they’ll learn more about Baron and his family’s history.
“We wanted to really emphasize Kyle’s suffering to better explain his intense thirst for revenge. By the way, after working on this grim scene, we wanted to lighten the mood a little, so we’ve hidden a few fun easter eggs in the medical monitors used in it.”
You’ll notice the Baron surrounds himself with luxurious items. For him, these prestigious objects symbolize his superiority over others. His perfectly tailored suit, jewelry, high-end music equipment, and authentic art from Europe’s greatest museums were all carefully chosen and transported to Castor Woods at his demand.
Of course, the paintings hold significant meaning reflecting the Baron’s philosophy and outlook. The same applies to his monologue, which references a famous quote from Galileo about humanity’s obligation to use intellect and reason.
There are quite a few hidden meanings in the trailer, so I encourage you to dig even deeper and try to catch them all.
This scene takes place in of the streets of a tourist town at the center of Castor Woods. The crossbow Kyle uses in this scene is part of a rich and varied arsenal of weapons you’ll have in Dying Light: The Beast. Even though Dying Light started as a game focused on melee combat, we have consistently added new tools to the player’s brutal arsenal.
Here, we get a glimpse of another new weapon: the grenade launcher. What’s cool about it is that it supports different kinds of ammunition, including UV grenades, which give you at least some advantage during the terrifying nights in Dying Light: The Beast.
The game features a hand crafted, high-fidelity open world divided into distinct and diverse areas – or biomes as we call them.
Here, you can see the swamps – a new biome with foggy weather and ankle-high water that creates a dark, mysterious atmosphere. I think anyone can relate to the fear of being alone in the woods at night, and that’s exactly the kind of experience Dying Light: The Beast delivers. The shadows from your flashlight and the many tress hiding zombies, all of this makes nighttime exploration truly spooky.
Exploration and discovery are big parts of the experience. In addition to the open-world areas, we have enclosed locations like this example: The Baron’s laboratory. Full of horror-like atmosphere, it is the place where you’ll encounter a new type of Virals, the fast moving zombies, that Baron is using as soldiers.
Initially, we planned for a car driving to be presented only in a third-person perspective, but based on player feedback, we decided to go the extra mile and add a first-person view as well.
Gameplay
Think about it; Kyle has been experimented on for 13 years, which means that he now probably possesses new powers, which if I am not mistaken, will help him explore the city more easily. New parkour moves, maybe? More intense survival instincts? Who knows, but we’re going to see a few new things and features added to the game, that’s for sure.
Kyle Crane has also gained beast-like powers from years of experimentation, and it seems that we will be able to use those powers to enhance our combat abilities in specific situations. And if you miss driving a car from Dying Light 1, as the trailer showed us, there will be driving!
One thing’s for sure though: The parkour has been improved, and the same goes for all the moves and fighting. We can clearly see new weapons added to the game, and players will be able to drive a car – which, unlike what we’ve seen in the first trailer, Techland has made it first-person.
Weapons
There’s not much to say for now, but we can only expect that as with previous games, Dying Light: The Beast will also feature many of the same and similar weapons, and I suspect that they will also be able to upgrade further. In the announcement trailer, we already see a few of the available weapons, including a rifle, pistol, shotgun, knives, throwing knives, and even a beautiful bow.
Voice Cast (Guess Who’s Back?) and OST
Roger Craig Smith is reprising his role as Kyle Crane. No word on the rest of the cast yet, but Kyle’s back and that’s all that matters… for now. There’s also a similar yet updated OST, although I can’t say I like it as much as I did with the previous OSTs – but it’s not bad either.
The song, called “A Changed Man”, was created by Olivier Deriviere, who’s also responsible for Dying Light 2: Stay Human and many other popular titles. The composer of the first Dying Light was created by Pawel Blaszczak,
Why didn’t Pawel Blaszczak create the song like he did with the original soundtrack of Dying Light 1? Well, it seems that the developers chose to go in a different musical direction for this installment. Olivier Deriviere was selected to bring a fresh and unique soundscape to the game, which aligns with the new setting and enhanced horror elements.
Blaszczak is still highly regarded for his work on the original Dying Light soundtrack and its expansions, so it’s understandable if fans might miss his style – I do, that’s for sure.
Standalone Game
It may started as a humble DLC for Dying Light 2, but the developers thought that Dying Light: The Beast would be better as a standalone game. “It initially started during our work on DLC2, but a story leak made us rethink the narrative, the scope and the general approach,” Techland states through their official website.
A self contained zombie survival adventure offering a new setting, new set of gameplay features and new story, culminating in a standalone, 18+ hours adventure.
What’s interesting to me is the “18+ hours adventure” statement. In case you forgot about it, Dying Light 2 was about 20 to 24 hours of gameplay, so their new standalone title is not that small of a release, and it may get even bigger when Techland starts releasing new updates for it.
Pricing and Availability
If you already own the Ultimate Edition of Dying Light 2, you’re in luck because you’ll get The Beast for free. The standard price has not yet been announced. Dying Light: The Beast will be released for PCs (Steam and Epic Games Store), Xbox, and PlayStation.
When is Dying Light: The Beast going to be released?
Dying Light: The Beast is set to be released sometime in the summer of 2025, based on the latest news that we got from Techland. While for many players this is a big frustration, I think the company needs to take as much time as possible to make sure that The Beast won’t be the same buggy release we got back when Dying Light 2 came out.
There is not a specific date for its release at this time of writing, but I’ll update the article once we have more news.
If you watched the live-action trailer that Techland made before releasing the official trailer with in-game footage, there’s a release date set for September 10th at the very end of the video, meaning that we may get the game at the end of summer.
