Dying Light: The Beast review – slashing zombies is now even better

by

It’s hard to categorize *Dying Light: The Beast* – it’s more than downloadable content, but not quite a full sequel or spin-off. It feels like a third main game, building heavily on *Dying Light 2*. Originally planned as DLC for the second game, *The Beast* expanded during development into a standalone experience.

I was really impressed with Dying Light 2: Stay Human. I didn’t anticipate the combat, exploration, and parkour would be so well done. The game’s time-sensitive choices, where you couldn’t just reload to fix mistakes, added to the experience, even if they didn’t drastically change the story.

I was really excited for the return of *The Beast* and it definitely delivered on the parkour – it’s just as fun as before! The combat has a few tweaks, and they’ve made the open world much more manageable – thankfully, you don’t need to spend hundreds of hours to finish it this time. The story picks up with Kyle Crane, continuing right after the first game, which means one of the endings from *The Following* is off the table. We find out how he survived having Volatile DNA in his system and who he’s after, all set against the beautiful backdrop of Alpine villages and a larger city. While the gameplay improvements are great, I have to admit the main story and missions left me a little disappointed – it feels like a step back compared to the second game. Luckily, the side quests are still fantastic, and a few of them are genuinely memorable and stuck with me long after I finished playing.

An old friend returns

The game starts by showing what happened to Kyle Crane after the events of *Dying Light: The Following*. Players already know he was infected, turning him into a powerful, nocturnal Volatile – essentially a hybrid of human and zombie with incredible strength. Driven by revenge, he seeks out the mad scientist, the Baron, who caused his transformation. Along the way, he teams up with Olivia, a resourceful young woman living in an abandoned monastery in the Swiss Alps-inspired Castor Woods valley, and earns the trust of the local community who have taken refuge in the town hall.

I’m a little puzzled why Olivia chose to live all by herself in that monastery instead of with everyone else in town – it feels a bit contrived, honestly. It quickly became obvious the game was designed around just running back and forth between her place and town hall, constantly delivering updates. Basically, you do quests for Olivia that revolve around Kyle and his…wild side, which always end in a boss fight – usually against a tough Chimera that lets you level up. Then you switch gears and help the town with simple tasks, like finding lost people or fixing the utilities. It’s a pretty predictable cycle, to be honest.

A third group suddenly appears, living in caves, and the story starts to lose focus on the town and its people. While the ending is decent, particularly the scene in the psychiatric hospital, the game generally feels a bit formulaic. It’s missing truly memorable, large-scale missions set in exciting places, like the skyscraper mission from *Stay Human*. The dialogue is also a letdown. Too many games fall into the trap of having characters only discuss objectives and tasks – even when they’re in life-or-death situations or have spent a lot of time together. There’s a lack of genuine connection, with conversations feeling like work updates delivered in front of a supervisor, rather than natural interactions with sympathy, feelings, or humor.

Luckily, the game still has side quests, and these are much more creative and heartfelt. These quests tell compelling human stories and take you to incredibly unique and bizarre places – you really shouldn’t skip the quests given by the hippie character! They’re a major highlight and a good reason to play the game.

Zombie Slaughterhouse Showdown

Putting the story aside, *Dying Light* has always been strong thanks to its gameplay, and *The Beast* delivers on that front. It feels like *Dead Island 2* heavily influenced *The Beast*! Bashing zombies with blunt weapons in *Dying Light 2: Stay Human* was really satisfying – the impact of each hit, the sounds, and the animations were all excellent. However, *Dead Island 2* then came along and raised the standard – the combat was even more over-the-top and brutal, with improved graphics and the addition of guns, which *Stay Human* lacked.

As a big fan of the series, I’m really impressed with the melee combat in *Dying Light: The Beast*! It honestly feels a step up from *Dead Island 2*. The animations and sounds were already great, but they’ve made the fights so much more visceral and bloody. What really stands out is how enemies react when you hit them – there’s way more variety and impact. You can definitely see the influence of the newer *Doom* games, especially with how zombies are dismembered. It’s not just heads and limbs flying off anymore; they lose chunks of skin, exposing bone and even brains! The way enemies gradually fall apart reminds me a lot of the demons in *Doom Eternal* and *The Dark Ages* – it’s super satisfying and adds a whole new level of brutality.

You’ll encounter fewer human enemies compared to other games. Most of them are Baron’s mercenaries, as the Castor Woods aren’t really populated by bandits. Previous titles like *Stay Human* had more diverse human opponents. In *The Beast*, humans are just a small part of the overall enemy mix, which is mostly zombies. However, the game does a good job with small details that make the world feel real, like seeing mercenaries occasionally fight zombies in the distance.

Shooting is optional

If you were finding a lack of guns in *DL2: Stay Human*, you’ll now have access to a standard set: a pistol, machine gun, shotgun, carbine, and sniper rifle. However, these weapons are best used as supplements to your close-combat weapons. Ammo is scarce and difficult to find, so shooting should be a last resort. While taking out zombies from a distance can be useful, bows and explosives like grenades or Molotov cocktails are just as effective. It’s also clear that less effort went into creating the firearms compared to the melee weapons. There are 17 different gun models, but you’ll only find a few without extensive exploration, and they don’t look as good as the guns in *Dead Island 2*.

I was a little let down by the “Beast Mode,” which you unlock by filling a meter through normal attacks. It’s essentially the classic “Berserk” power-up from the original *Doom* – for a short time, your punches do a lot more damage. While it’s helpful and has gotten me out of tough spots with crowds or Chimera fights, it feels a bit underwhelming visually. Beyond a few animations of ripping zombies apart, it doesn’t quite convey the feeling of power you get from hitting them with a regular weapon like a shovel. Some better animations and sound effects would really improve this mode.

The fights against the Chimeras – strong, zombie-like creatures whose blood Kyle uses to gain new abilities in beast mode – are a definite highlight. While the missions involving them can feel repetitive, the Chimeras themselves offer some variety. You’ll encounter different types – some are slow and massive, others are quick and nimble. They might vanish and reappear, or even create duplicates, so even though there aren’t a ton of different versions, it’s good that they aren’t always identical.

Parkour!

In the game *Stay Human*, Villedor was a sprawling, modern city. Castor Woods, however, is quite different. It’s mostly countryside, and you’ll often find yourself navigating obstacles like hay bales in fields – surprisingly well-grown despite the apocalypse – or simple farm fences. The town itself is small and has a distinct atmosphere, with buildings designed in an older style and many abandoned apartments to explore. Buildings are close enough together to allow for rooftop travel, and you can use platforms, streetlights, wreckage, and sheds to help with parkour. Kyle can easily climb onto ledges, windowsills, and shutters. Parkour feels just as good as before, but you’ll be moving at lower heights, which is likely why the paraglider isn’t available anymore.

The game features rock climbing reminiscent of *Uncharted 4*. A welcome change is the removal of the stamina bar during parkour sequences. You’ll find observation towers that act as hideouts, and climbing them presents its own puzzle – often requiring you to travel quite a distance and utilize tools like zip lines. However, there aren’t many environmental puzzles overall; they’re mostly limited to finding safe codes and using cables, similar to what was in the second game.

We’ve added a car as an alternative to the paraglider. It works on a similar principle to firearms and is really helpful for getting around quickly between key locations like the monastery, town hall, caves, and mission areas. It can also smash through groups of zombies, though it wears down quickly and guzzles fuel. We want players to use it strategically, not constantly. Currently, there’s only one car model available, and it comes in just a couple of colors – we’d like to offer more options in the future.

Zombies are like mosquitoes

Okay, so this game gets seriously tough at night. These creatures called Volatiles come out, and honestly, trying to fight them is usually a death sentence. It’s way better to just run! It’s kind of like escaping the cops in *GTA* – you’ve gotta be quick. These escapes are hard, though. You need to move fast in the dark, but it also depends on how many safe spots you’ve unlocked around the map. Seriously, unlock as many as possible – the more hiding places you have, the better! It can be pretty scary, especially because the nights are super dark and you can barely see without a flashlight. But thankfully, you can sleep in beds and skip to the next day, so you can plan your adventures around daylight hours.

Exploring this fascinating map is unfortunately spoiled by an overwhelming number of zombies. There are just too many of them, and they attack far more often than even the aggressive wildlife in *Far Cry 5*. It’s impossible to enjoy the scenery or explore properly because you’re constantly under attack. Even after clearing out a large group of zombies, the peace never lasts – something else quickly starts attacking. Eventually, I stopped wanting to explore and gather resources, and just focused on running away from fights and finding a vehicle. While I appreciate the game needing to stay engaging, the map is so well-designed that it would be nice to have a bit more breathing room after defeating enemies. You get some respite in buildings like shops and apartments, but not out in the open world.

The bar just went up again

Despite its drawbacks, *Dying Light: The Beast* boasts impressive graphics and a fantastic soundtrack, though the music isn’t featured often enough. The game also features a cleverly designed character progression system with a limited number of impactful perks. These perks make you feel like your character is truly growing, rather than just improving stats on your gear. It’s also worth noting that the game runs very smoothly and is well-optimized, a significant improvement over the buggy launch of *Stay Human*. My experience with *The Beast* was remarkably free of both major and minor issues.

Techland’s latest game is a fantastic experience, not just for fans of the *Dying Light* series or zombie games, but for anyone who enjoys open-world adventures. The game’s setting, Castor Woods, is particularly well-designed, offering a good balance between exploration and things to do. While the main story isn’t the strongest part, the side quests are engaging and make up for it. The zombie combat is currently the best in the genre, and ultimately, that’s what matters most – especially because you can play with friends. *Dying Light* has once again raised the standard for other games, and it’s hard to imagine how future installments could top it.

PROS:

  1. excellent, spectacular, even more improved system of extremely brutal melee combat with zombies;
  2. multitude of different zombie animations and reactions to attacks, impact effects;
  3. firearms and cars are useful additions to combat and exploration;
  4. parkour system allowing for smooth and intuitive movement and climbing;
  5. atmospheric, reasonable sized open world full of details and easter eggs;
  6. rural landscapes of Castor Woods delight the eye and encourage exploration;
  7. a few really memorable side missions;
  8. various minor Quality of Life improvements compared to DL2: Stay Human.

CONS:

  1. less than thrilling plot with mediocre dialogues and a predictable pattern of main missions, which lacked a bit of magic;
  2. beast mode is a typical Berserk, less spectacular than fighting with a shovel;
  3. the number of zombies in the open world and endless attacks can discourage exploration;
  4. only one type of a drivable car, despite a large number of wrecks of other models.

Read More

2025-09-18 19:35