First Look at Dying Light: The Beast - New Gameplay Revealed

The essence of Dying Light lies in its melee-focused design, evident in the gruesome damage system that tears zombies apart with each blade swing and in the weapon crafting that transforms everyday tools into wildly effective killing devices. The parkour mechanics also shine, letting you evade snapping jaws and slashing claws with ease.

What happens when firearms enter this close-combat dynamic? Not just a couple of worn-out pistols, but an arsenal brimming with shotguns, assault rifles, and ample ammunition. This is the core question posed by Dying Light: The Beast, the next chapter in the series. Rather than morphing into a standard first-person shooter, the inclusion of guns gives Techland’s latest a vibe reminiscent of Crysis or, with a slight stretch, Dishonored. Firearms add depth to an already diverse toolkit, making every encounter a playground where you dictate the rules.

For this month’s IGN First, I played a one-hour mission from an early part of Dying Light: The Beast, stepping back into the role of Kyle Crane, the protagonist from the original game. After 13 years of captivity and experimentation under a mysterious figure called The Baron, I joined Kyle on his vengeful journey. In the lush, rural expanse of Castor Woods, I infiltrated one of The Baron’s factories. From the rooftop, it became clear that my tactical options had expanded far beyond those in previous Dying Light titles.

Dying Light: The Beast - Screenshots

With Kyle’s enhanced “survivor” senses, a perk from his experimental ordeal, I could spot The Baron’s patrolling militia, marked in orange for melee wielders and red for those with guns. This color-coded system helped me strategize my approach, evoking a Batman: Arkham-like tactical feel.

I began with a stealthy takedown of an unsuspecting bowman using a crafted shiv, a quicker alternative to a chokehold, and claimed his bow. Unlike in Dying Light 2, where bows were a late-game reward, their early availability in The Beast opens up diverse engagement options, especially for stealthy ranged attacks.

With an arrow nocked, I took out the bowman’s allies, including a sniper across the rooftop, without raising an alarm. This allowed me to parkour over and grab his rifle, expanding my arsenal. No longer limited to slow-draw arrows, I could now handle groups of melee enemies from a distance, though gunfire drew attention, turning stealth into spectacle.

Diving to a lower roof, I faced two riflemen, a group of brawlers, and a stack of explosive gas canisters. The dive triggered a slow-motion effect, less polished than Max Payne’s bullet time but effective in highlighting Kyle’s military prowess, despite feeling like moving through thick air.

Encounters in Dying Light now echo the sandbox freedom of Crysis and Far Cry. Using survivor senses, I could eliminate armed enemies before engaging less threatening ones in close combat. The seamless shift from stealth takedowns to silent headshots to chaotic firefights gave me more control than the often chaotic melees of Dying Light 2. Combined with parkour that feels almost like teleportation, there’s a hint of Dishonored’s strategic depth, though less refined. I hope the full game offers encounters that reward varied approaches.

Exploration in Castor Woods revealed new threats, like a zombie with a detonating battery pack that sends electric arcs through crowds, or another with an explosive canister that a single shot can turn into a fiery explosion. Later, I wielded a flamethrower, suggesting Techland’s playful approach to creating inventive ways to dispatch enemies.

Stealth has also been refined. Bows, shivs, and throwing knives excel at quietly eliminating human foes, while a new trick lets you cover yourself in zombie guts to mask your scent, allowing you to slip through hordes undetected. This simple yet immersive tactic fits perfectly into Dying Light’s gritty world.

Kyle’s uniqueness stems not from his gunplay or gore camouflage but from his transformation into the titular Beast. The experiments have turned him into a force of destruction, activated when a meter fills from dealing and taking damage. Beast Mode lets you rip enemies apart with brutal animations similar to Doom’s Glory Kills. A ground-pound attack scatters foes with devastating force, especially indoors, where it’s practically a room-clearing move. This proved vital against the demo’s final boss, a massive “Chimera” Behemoth that hurls heavy objects and summons minions. Its predictable attacks were offset by its durability and the accompanying horde, but Beast Mode made quick work of the mob and dealt heavy damage to the boss.

Beyond combat, Kyle’s mutations offer utility. Techland noted that playtesters have used Beast Mode’s enhanced leap to skip entire parkour challenges, suggesting unconventional uses that make The Beast a significant evolution over its predecessor.

The demo’s scope was limited, mirroring a hands-off presentation from last year’s gamescom, but playing it myself highlighted the world’s finer details. The atmosphere feels like a leap forward from Dying Light 2, with dynamic weather effects like storms that soak the landscape and whip vegetation into a frenzy. Nighttime is oppressively dark, forcing careful use of a flashlight to navigate the deadlier nocturnal threats, a nod to the terrifying nights of the original game.

After last year’s gamescom, I questioned how guns would fit into Dying Light’s core identity. The hands-off demo leaned heavily on firearms, but playing it myself showed they’re just one piece of a broader puzzle. With agency to choose when to use guns, alongside enhanced bows and the series’ signature crafted melee weapons, encounters felt more dynamic and layered. Each fight presented multiple solutions, a stark contrast to the melee-heavy chaos of Dying Light 2.

The bigger question is how these elements evolve across the full game. I had limited time with tools like the flamethrower and unique weapons like a throwable shock knife, but their presence hints at a toolkit that grows with distinct utilities. Killing Chimeras unlocks a skill tree of mutant powers, and I hope deeper progression leads to increasingly wild abilities. If the campaign continues to deliver varied challenges that encourage creative use of tools and powers, Dying Light: The Beast could prove a far more compelling sequel than it first seems.