Dying Light: The Beast Preview - Gamescom 2024

Zombie action games saw a surge during the early 2010s, with games such as Left 4 Dead, Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, Dead Rising 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops. Many developers were looking to chase this new trend, and one of them was Techland. The Polish company found moderate success with Dead Island. But in terms of mass market popularity, it was Dying Light in 2015 that really propelled the team. Since then, this 30+ year old studio has actually decided to pivot to the zombie genre entirely, after a very diverse catalog during their younger days. Despite the success, Dying Light 2 ran into issues and was delayed a few times. The troubled times seemed to continue on, as the promised second expansion pack for the game also never managed to materialize, after the studio felt demoralized due to an online leak of their future plans. But the developers are looking to regroup, and so they have announced the next chapter in the series to be Dying Light: The Beast. We had a chance to observe a hands-off gameplay demo of the title at Gamescom 2024.

Dying Light: The Beast started life as the next DLC expansion for Dying Light 2, but it has been reworked into a new, standalone experience. To make things right with the fans of the previous game though, The Beast will be free to owners of DL2 Ultimate Edition. The team is also happy that this title will feature returning character Kyle Crane, who will be reprised by the same voice actor, a decade since the original game. The game will feature an open world, and is planned to be around 18 hours in length, which is the sweet spot according to the developers. There will be new enemies, mechanics, and more – but still using the established Dying Light gameplay formula.

In the story, Kyle has escaped after a decade in captivity where he was the subject of many experiments by a man named Baron. That pain haunts him, but he has also gained some supernatural abilities as a result. The setting will shift to Castor Woods, a more rural area that the developers hope will create a different feel to the previous games. There will still be 4-player coop support, and visual improvements such as better weather effects, materials, and lighting are promised.

We then observed a demo being played by the member of the QA team, taking place early in the story. The demo began in the small town nested in a forest valley, as Kyle leapt between rooftops and used the environment traversal mechanics that returning players will find familiar. He ignored the shuffling zombies for now, and chatted with a new character Olivia over the radio. Kyle has learned that the man who held him captive is working on something at a nearby factory, so he headed in that direction. As he left the town and entered the forest, night fell, where more dangerous enemies began to emerge. Using basic stealth, Kyle hid in bushes and used distractions to get through the area and to a safehouse building. Here, he had to defeat the enemies inside using some bloody melee combat. The building also lacked power, so the player had to follow some pipes down to the basement through basic environment navigation and puzzles, and activate a breaker. There were more fights, including encounters with a charger type enemy. Using the environment such as flammable oil and exploding electrical panels made quicker work of these foes.

With the safe house functionality restored, Kyle slept through the night and headed to the factory facility in the daylight. The industrial park featured some typical warehouses and concrete visuals, along with a selection of human enemies. These were Baron's men, so Kyle again navigated the rooftops of the factories to quietly eliminate the snipers, and avoid a direct confrontation at the main entrance. The player used both melee takedowns and a crossbow.

Once inside the chemical factory, he discovered that something has already killed the troops, and a large cage showed signs of an escape. Following some more interior platforming and vent crawling, he reached a scientist, who he forced to confess that this facility is experimenting with zombie DNA, and one large enemy has broken free. To lure it back, Kyle would have to retrieve some special gas. Now also possessing a shotgun, leaving the facility was louder and messier, as the player blasted through human and zombie enemies alike. After more platforming within the facility and finding the gas, Kyle placed it inside the truck and took off. This title will feature driveable vehicles to help expand gameplay options – though the developers say this won't mean it becomes an easy way to just drive through enemies. It was also mentioned that while guns are more prominent and their feel has been improved, this remains a melee-focused game.

In the nearby junkyard area, Kyle released the gas and drew the ire of Behemoth, a huge zombie creature. In this arena-like boss battle, the two duked it out for a while. Having spent all his ammo and left with just melee options, the player decided to activate Kyle's special beast-like abilities. These temporary enhancements let Kyle deliver more powerful attacks, throw heavy objects, jump higher, and so on. With a few more strikes, the big beast fell, and the demo concluded.

Based on what we saw from Dying Light: The Beast, it's shaping up to be exactly as advertised – a game that is very much in the style of Dying Light 2 in terms of mechanics, but with enough content to warrant a standalone experience. It's not yet clear whether or not a spinoff like this will help reinvigorate interest in the franchise, but Techland are trying to make the best of a tough situation. The title is planned for release in 2025 for PC, current-gen and last-gen consoles.