While Techland initially started out making the second story DLC for Dying Light 2 Stay Human, it evolved into something much bigger in Dying Light: The Beast. The return of the first game’s protagonist is a big deal, but it also creates some huge expectations, especially for a project meant to be smaller in scale (though the studio considers it to be Dying Light 3).
Franchise director Tymon Smektala admitted to GamesRadar that it’s “very hard to keep your ambitions in check” and while “You can’t be perfect in every area in the game, there are areas of the game where you have to be perfect.”
Smektala says those “make your game,” and for Dying Light, it’s “the parkour, and […] it’s also the melee combat.” “We really spent a lot of time on tweaking the reactions of zombies, when they get hit, how they react to different weapons. This is an element that might be overlooked by many, but this is the element that makes Dying Light games so special.”
On top of all this, the “depiction of the main character” is another thing that “we cannot mess up to any extent, definitely, because our fans would kill us for that.” With how beloved Crane was and his story in The Beast, seeking revenge against the mysterious Baron for experimenting on him for so many years, it’s understandable.
In the end, Smektala says, “What you really need to focus on is the core gameplay, the most important gameplay mechanics that make your game unique.” The response to Dying Light 2’s parkour at launch was mixed, so it remains to be seen how the latest title will land.
Dying Light: The Beast launches on August 22nd for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. The Xbox One and PS4 versions arrive later this year. Head here for more extensive gameplay.
