Techland Doesn’t Want Players To Underestimate Dying Light: The Beast
The once-planned DLC turned for Dying Light 2 turned standalone game Dying Light: The Beast is set for this year and developer Techland wants you to treat it with the same respect you’d treat another mainline entry.
Pictured: Zombies shamble towards a human pinata to crack open some goodies.
Dying Light: The Beast is set for a summer release, but the minds behind the series at Techland seem to be a little worried that players will underestimate their new release due to it’s origins as a DLC for the divisive Dying Light 2. As a massive fan of the original Dying Light, I felt the sequel fell short in a number of ways, to the point I still haven’t completed it to this day. After 7 years between releases, Dying Light 2 launched with so many missing features and designs from its predecessor. For a sequel to one of the best zombie games of all time, Dying Light 2 sure felt different. And not in a good way.
That may be one of the reasons Techland is hesitant about the release of The Beast, concerned that fans will write it off if they didn’t play or even finish Dying Light 2. To instill some confidence in gamers, franchise director Tymon Smektala spoke out during a recent Q&A about the upcoming title. Smektala spoke a bit more about the game’s setting and how it will play into The Beast. Gone are the urban jungles of Harran and Villedor, replaced with the dense canopy of Castor Woods (which, now that I think about it, sounds like a James Bond villain or something), which is a far sight better than the game’s actual villain name, Baron. Seriously, hit me up, Techland. I’m happy to point out the obvious to you and help you in future games.
The game’s new setting lends itself more to a survival-horror experience than previous entries, something Techland are more than happy to lean into. Smektala said the team is utilizing refined enemy AI and more reactive environmental elements to help “take more creative risks that weren’t feasible in a larger open-world game like Dying Light 2: Stay Human.” As such, the more condensed setting will make this undertaking easier for the team.
Dying Light: The Beast originally started as a paid DLC for DL2, but a huge leak of the original concept dashed those plans, forcing Techland to roll with the breach and rework major points of the DLC. In doing so, the devs decided to make it a standalone game, with the return of Kyle Crane, the main protagonist from the original Dying Light, at the helm for a new survival horror experience.
What do you think? Will you be picking up Dying Light: The Beast when it launches? Let us know in the comments.
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