Techland announced a new Dying Light at gamescom. We were able to take a first look at the zombie shooter and find the comeback of Agent Kyle Crane pretty promising so far
Kyle Crane is back. Nine years after the release of the firstDying Lightthe series returns to its former main character withThe Beast. Originally planned as DLC for the second part, the developers decided to release it as a standalone game. The name says it all:Dying Light looks more beastly than ever before– in a positive sense, of course.
At gamescom, we had the pleasure of visiting the developers from Polish studio Techland, who proudly showed us an early mission from their upcoming zombie game. And since we don’t want to leave you out of the loop, we’ll tell you what it was like right away
An ex-agent as a zombie mutant? Sounds like fun!
According to Dying Light brand boss Tymon Smektala, 13 years have passed between Dying Light 1 and The Beast. The developers do not yet want to reveal what exactly happened to the main character Agent Crane during this time. There’s just one piece of information to start with: it’s unlikely to have been a relaxing time for him, as he was apparently subjected to gruesome experiments
This turned Crane into a mutant who, in a rage, goes into a kind of beast mode– hence the name of the game. By a stroke of luck, he was able to escape captivity and now seeks revenge on those who gave him the involuntary gene cure
Which brings us to the beginning of the gamescom demo for The Beast. During the mission shown, we set off in search of the ominousBaron
, who is said to be responsible for our fate. The villain has set up camp in an empty industrial complex somewhere in the forest, but we have to get there first
Because our reconnaissance mission starts on the rooftops of the nearby town. The angled buildings are architecturally inspired by 19th and early 20th century Europe. To avoid the freaks and zombies on the ground, Crane skillfully swings over the roofs and other obstacles
Parkour action, dynamic weather and lots of blood
Parkour gameplay has been a staple of the series since part 1and of course it’s not missing in Dying Light: The Beast. The jumping sequences over the street canyons look correspondingly chic and fluid
Alternatively, we can also move around in the new Dying Light by car, in the demo we have a chic four-wheel drive jeep at our disposal, which Agent Crane borrowed from somewhere. The developers reveal that the cars can become damaged over time and need to be refueled
On the outskirts of the city, the houses merge seamlessly into an atmospheric forest. The open game world of Dying Light: The Beast has several different types of environment for you to explore.The weather in the new spin-off also changes dynamically While at the beginning of the demo the sun was still shining from the sky, the weather quickly changes to a violent downpour. The depiction of light and water in particular has improved significantly compared to its predecessor
The dynamic day and night changes of its predecessors are also back in The Beast and influence the gameplay.During the day, the zombies are stupid and clumsy, but at night they really get going– the undead become a deadly threat. At night, it’s best to seek shelter in a safehouse
In our case, the safehouse has long since seen its best days, so we need to get rid of a few zombies in the cellar before going to bed. There are several ways to do this: We can get rid of the critters with electricity, burning oil or with a bludgeon. If you choose the latter option, you can prepare yourself for a few bloody takedowns. Once the zombies are gone and the UV light is back on, it’s off to the mattress for our main character
High time for rage mode
The next morning, refreshed, we head for the Baron’s camp. However, as the warlord has his front door well guarded, we choose the path over the roofs in dizzying parkour moves. If we are caught by the guards, we can reach for the shooting iron,but so far the firefights still look very clumsy, the enemies hardly caused any damage in the demo.
On arrival at the factory, we realize that the Baron has long since made off. No wonder, because one of the zombies has apparently escaped from its cage during the crazy experiments the guy is conducting here. But before that, the mutant has killed half the base. One of the scientists tells us that the Baron has been researching new virus variants here
The escaped mutant is a particularly powerful Behemoth, equipped with superhuman strength and a health bar. When we finally confront the beast, we quickly realize that we can’t get any further here with normal weapons.
If we want to defeat the raging mountain of flesh, the main character Crane has to become a monster himself.Once we have gathered enough rage, we can activate the beast mode Now Crane himself can easily throw cars and concrete walls around – and rip the zombie’s head off with ease
We may not have found the Baron, but at least we know a bit more about his wacky experiments. It’s high time Crane took action here and put a stop to the badass.
When this will happen is not yet known –a release date for The Beast is still pending However, the new Dying Light is set to be released for PC as well as last and current-gen consoles, i.e. PS5 and 4 plus Xbox One and Series X/S.
A price is also yet to be announced,However, owners of the Ultimate Edition of Dying Light 2 will receive The Beast for free Developer Techland estimates around 20 hours of gameplay for its new zombie adventure
