There has been much anticipation of new information about Dying Light The Beast since the original announcement in Gamescom. Fans rejoice, as in a recent dev interview with the franchise director of Dying Light, Tymon Smektala confirmed new information about the upcoming title.
The Nature of Dying Light The Beast
Dying Light The Beast was originally going to be the second story DLC to Dying Light 2. It was much into its development cycle, most likely more than halfway done in 2023. However, insiders and hackers leaked much of the game’s story to the public for all to see, causing major damage to the value and quality of the DLC as they now had to rework and rewrite much of the story. Techland had to come up with a different approach to this new DLC as it wasn’t a viable option anymore. Hence the decision to make it a standalone game, with Kyle Crane returning as the main protagonist. Tymon Smektała had this to say:
“Last year when we were working on DLC 2, we have experienced some story leaks. Our eager fans have managed to dig out some quite juicy, quite essential details, things about what we planned within our team on DLC 2. This really put us in this emergency mode: What we should do with this? Should we ignore it? But then it meant that for a lot of people, the story of DLC 2 will be spoiled. So, we really wanted to solve this somehow, and we spent the week discussing what can we do with this. One of the ideas was to basically, maybe change our thinking, change our approach. Make Kyle Crane the main protagonist and build a new game around that.” – Tymon Smektala.
After Techland confirmed with Roger Craig Smith that he would be able to reprise the role of Kyle Crane, every department in Techland went into overdrive, sparking a chain reaction of new ideas, innovations, passion, and love into the game. It was an exciting road ahead of them and they realized that this was the perfect approach to the next chapter in the Dying Light franchise.
How much content Dying Light The Beast will offer?
The devs have confirmed that there will be at least 18 hours of content from the main story, side quests, and open-world activities available in the game. It’s important to note that this number is alleged/approximated and shouldn’t be reflected as the final product as they add new content. Tymon Smektala said himself that the experience itself and how long it would take the player to complete it can differentiate depending on their playstyle and pacing. He had this to say:
“So, the 18+ hours is our estimation of how long it takes to complete the main story, the side stories, and activities. But it doesn’t look at how much you explore, your gameplay styles, so if you’re that kind of person that likes to find every collectible, every note, every easter egg because of course, we will have plenty of those as well. Then you can spend much more time in The Beast.” – Tymon Smektala.
Regardless of how fast or slow the average player takes to complete the game, it sounds like it still has much to offer. Even when the player believes that have looked through every nook and cranny, the devs will most likely put in secrets and easter eggs that will most likely remain undiscovered until long after release.
The Timeline of Dying Light The Beast
Dying Light The Beast has been confirmed to take place long after the events of Dying Light 2. Exactly how long after or what happened in between that game and this one, the devs will leave it for the players to figure out on their own. From speculation, considering that Kyle Crane seems to have barely aged a day since his time in Harran, it may seem like he’s been trapped in experimentation for much longer than initially believed. Perhaps something from the experiments caused him to stop aging or probably even reversed it. However, it does seem like that is a lot more on his plate as he’s essentially entering a new world, long forgotten in history.
The Game of Dying Light The Beast
Map Size
Tymon has stated that the open-world map size for the game won’t be as big or expansive as Dying Light 2. They followed a similar approach to how they made the map design for Dying Light 1 and The Following DLC. Despite the map not being as big as the second game, this allows the devs to focus more on the detail and quality of the open-world design. In Tymon’s words: “We wanted to make a handcrafted open world.” They wanted to make the world of The Beast feel more unique and set itself apart from being too similar to Dying Light 2. This is a great approach since these two games will take place after The Fall, and it can help differentiate them from each other.
Opposition
Although not many details can be shared at this moment, Tymon has confirmed that along with many returning enemies, there will be new enemy types introduced in this game that haven’t been seen before. One such enemy type is referred to as the “freaks”, Tymon stated that these are mutated and more feral variants of the other zombie types that we have encountered before. These “freaks” underwent the same experimentation that was performed on Kyle Crane so it will be interesting to see what will we encounter in the world and how we will encounter them. Human enemies will also make an appearance in the game, seemingly having access to stronger firepower and high tech, who knows who we can trust in this new world?
Returning Aspects
When asked about if the night runner tools will make a return to The Beast or if will we reunite with former allies or see familiar faces, Tymon has unfortunately been unable to give too many details about them. Considering that this new game was born because of spoilers, Techland wants to keep a tight lid on juicy details to avoid another devastating blow to the production of this game. It’s completely understandable and the community respects their wishes, also hoping to avoid another disaster like that from reoccurring. However, the grappling hook has been confirmed to be returning to the game, whether this is the same grappling hook from the first or second game is unknown.
Regarding support for the post-launch of The Beast and Dying Light 2
Techland currently has no plans for any post-launch support for Dying Light The Beast, as they want to focus on finishing the game and launching it. Which makes sense considering that it would be ridiculous to have plans for after a game launches when it’s not even released yet. However, Tymon has reassured us that Dying Light 2 will continue to receive support for the original 5 years promised to us back in 2022. It’s understandable considering the roadblock they had to deal with, which was DLC 2 being leaked so they had to allocate many resources for damage control and rework the entirety of DLC 2 into The Beast. Techland currently has no plans for DLC 2 considering their current priorities but will consider it after all is said and done with The Beast and they’re back on Dying Light 2.
Being prepared for the lore of Dying Light The Beast
One of the most burning questions the community has for Techland is: “Do I have to play Dying Light/Dying Light 2 before The Beast?” This is a valid question considering that not only was the game taking place after Dying Light 2, it will feature the main protagonist of the first game and we’ll probably see the return of past characters. Nothing is set in stone, however, as Techland is still developing Dying Light The Beast and keeping newcomers in mind, this is what Tymon had to say:
“The Beast is designed in a way to welcome newcomers. Why? Because Kyle Crane, in a way, when you think of it, he’s been taken out of this world and now comes back after 13 years. What that means is that he experiences everything in a quite fresh way, he doesn’t know what happened to the world over those years. He’s in a new region, he meets new characters, he sees new locations, so basically everything that he sees is new to him. In the same way as it is for the player that didn’t experience that character before.” -Tymon Smektala.
Techland makes sure that Dying Light The Beast is a treat for long-time veterans and newcomers to the series. If done right, it could even entice newcomers to play the previous two titles, to get more enjoyment out of the series. That’s a win-win situation for Techland if they manage to do that.
Departing Thoughts
Techland has much passion and ambition riding on this project. Not only will they revisit a much-beloved icon in the series in a new standalone title, but they are determined to pour everything they have to make this the best-published title they’ve got. Such humble beginnings from Dead Island, a game that was more focused on the locals and the fun of zombie killings, to Dying Light, a more enriching story-driven title with a more original world and incredible play space. Here’s hoping that they can see this new title to the end.
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