The New Dying Light Is Not a Shooter, Even Though It Looks Like One

Apparently, the light has not yet died, because Dying Light 2 will soon receive a big DLC. Actually, Dying Light will be the one to get it. Actually, none of them, because what was supposed to be just an expansion, turned into a full-fledged product with 18 hours of gameplay. At gamescom, I had the pleasure of visiting Techland's booth, which was hidden like the main character's safe house in the game, and seeing The Beast, as the new DLC is called.

Beast from Castor Woods

The Beast reminds us of the existence of the main character from the first game, as we will be controlling him in the add-on. Kyle Crane is back, but he carries within him a true beast, which he acquired during a thirteen-year captivity by a Baron, during which the main character underwent brutal experiments.

Kyle's return means that the brilliant voice actor, Roger Craig Smith, is back too with his grave, low, and ominous voice (especially since he had over ten years to further lower this voice). Kyle is, to put it mildly, a bit irritated with his past and is trying to hunt down his recent tormentors. The story and drama in this short presentation were well presented, hence I quietly hope for at least a decent tale of revenge and hatred.

Techland

The show took place in a room in a "Dying Light-esque" style (see photos) and everyone present had to wear headphones in order to hear anything. You see, contrary to appearances, gamescom is not a particularly good place to experience games. The noise is as if fifteen primary schools had gone out for a break and organized it 10 meters away from you.

However strange it may sound, to properly hear someone standing 2 meters away, you need a microphone and headphones... Therefore, we should appreciate Techland even more, because as one of the few, they took care to distance themselves a bit from this never-ending chaos and cacophony. The general commotion, however, did not affect the reception of the add-on, which I must admit, made quite a decent impression on me.

Two years apparently don't mean much today, because Dying Light 2 doesn't look dated. The graphics on the large display looked great, especially the lighting, which even in the base game - with ray tracing turned on - could provoke an uncontrollable excitement. In Dying Light, light is extremely important due to the day and night cycle affecting the gameplay. And although the beautifully setting sun and the so-called golden hour can make us stop and admire the view, let's remember that when the last ray sets, the zombies will come out to feed.

Kyle ends up in a new, picturesque region - Castor Woods, which once was a charming tourist town, full of forests and parks (instead of a metropolis). The architecture of the location impressed me, but I also noticed that there is more space between the buildings for vehicles that we will have to drive. Yes, drive, because just like in the DLC to the first game called The Following, The Beast also features vehicles.

In the presented fragment of the game, we could drive a pickup truck (well, it's the American apocalypse after all). Surprisingly, the driving model seemed pleasant and simple (especially the lively corpses bouncing off the hood looked good) - the developer leading the presentation admitted that one of the team members responsible for the driving model at Techland worked 20 years ago on... Xpand Rally (do you remember that Techland used to make such things?), so it's hard to find a more experienced person.

Small town shootout

What might catch your eye when you look at the gameplays available online is the presence of firearms. Indeed, Dying Light The Beast will have much, much more of them than DL2. From pistols, through shotguns, to automatic rifles, Kyle goes into battle armed to the teeth. However, the developers insist that they are not trying to turn Dying Light into a shooter - melee weapons are still the core of the game, simply because they work well. However, firearms will provide a nice, powerful, and impressive break from bashing rotten heads with a 2x4.

Techland

An additional attraction are Kyle's powers - unlike the hero from the second game, Kyle can see through walls, and during major troubles, he can activate beast mode. This comes in handy for duels with bosses (in the demo it was a huge Hulk-like monster), because instead of scratching the monster's belly, legs and back with a pocket knife, we can easily lift a large concrete block and throw it at the enemy.

The whole thing gives the impression of simply being a well-written expans... game. Dying Light The Beast has indeed become a separate game, although it should be noted that Techland remembered those who spent money on Dying Light 2 Stay Human Ultimate Edition. So if you are one of them, you will play The Beast for free.

In conclusion, I will mention an interesting answer given by the game developer to the question of why The Best is also being released on old generation consoles. He said they are doing this if only because many of the gamers playing on old generation consoles bought Dying Light 2. And that these people would simply feel now that someone has forgotten about them. I have nothing against it - especially since I saw that The Beast simply looks very, very good and there are no compromises here.