According to Dying Light: The Beast's director, the game packs a ton of diverse areas into its much smaller open world map of Castor Woods. Dying Light: The Beast is a standalone entry in developer Techland's parkour-infused zombie-slaying series that began more than a decade ago.
Having begun as DLC for Dying Light 2, Dying Light: The Beast is fundamentally smaller and shorter than its two predecessors. Whereas many players took around 30–40 hours to beat the first two games, Dying Light: The Beast will look to offer a more brisk experience, with Techland estimating that the main story will take closer to 20 hours for most players to complete. The Beast will also see the return of Kyle Crane, the protagonist of the first game, who has been infected with zombie DNA which can allow him to use zombie-like abilities in combat.
Dying Light: The Beast Going the Opposite Direction as DL2 is a Great Sign for the Series' Future
Dying Light: The Beast is taking a different approach to gameplay compared to Dying Light 2, and that's a good thing for the franchise's future.
Dying Light: The Beast is Packed with Different Biomes and Locations
While Dying Light: The Beast's open world will be much smaller than the first two games, it'll still be densely packed with interesting locations to explore. In a short interview with Insider Gaming, director Nathan Lemaire spoke about Dying Light: The Beast's world and the different types of biomes that make it up. Lemaire mentions The Beast's open world map, quaintly named Castor Woods, is home to an "Old Town," a village, and an industrial area, but there are also some swamps and farmlands players will get to poke around in as well. "With Castor Woods, we have created probably the most diverse world we have ever created for this franchise." He also talked about how these areas are loaded with hidden secrets and collectibles players will be able to discover as they explore.
The first two games took place in vast cityscapes, so seeing a Dying Light game tackle a smaller, more rural setting is super intriguing and could make for a refreshing experience for the series. With parkour at the heart of Dying Light's DNA, it'll be interesting to see how the smaller environments are designed with that in mind. There's a level of verticality the settings of the first two games offered that might not be so abundant in Castor Woods. The parkour elements of Dying Light and Dying Light 2 relied on densely packed buildings and skyscrapers that were covered in thrilling parkour pathways. Attempting to build that same fluid movement experience on a farm or swamp area with far fewer buildings must have been a big challenge for Techland.
With Castor Woods, we have created probably the most diverse world we have ever created for this franchise.
Dying Light: The Beast is coming out on September 19 for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. It's releasing at an incredibly busy time for video games, with Borderlands 4 out a week prior and Silent Hill f releasing just a few days later. Hopefully, The Beast's refreshing Castor Woods setting will be enough to help it stand out among September's whirlwind of new games.
Dying Light: The Beast
