During the decade away from players’ screens, Dying Light’s Kyle Crane has become a sentient Volatile; someone that exists as both human and zombie. In terms of gameplay, this means he can switch from his more vulnerable human form, into the overpowered titular beast mode. It is only available for a short time, but it’s long enough to get him out of stickier situations. This change in direction might seem antithetical to Dying Light as a series, where the horror is based on the risk-reward tension of exploring during the times when both the best resources and most dangerous monsters can be found.
However, franchise director Tymon Smektała believes that the beast system not only ties directly in with the series’ themes, but is a classic technique of the survival-horror genre, including some unlikely titles. In conversation with me, he conceded that balancing the new gameplay systems was one of the most complex parts of designing Dying Light: The Beast.
“We understood that introducing this overpowered mechanic into a survival game is risky,” Smektała said. “But we also felt that it can create some new dynamics, make some new moments, add more spice to it.”
Dying Light has always been a series about player choice: from the extensive traversal and parkour options in the original, to the narrative choices players make in the series’ follow up. The addition of beast mode now gives players more freedom to choose how they tackle the combat.
Because of this difficulty balancing this new combat mechanic with the theme of survival within Dying Light, the team looked to an unlikely source for inspiration for the best timing and frequency of beast mode availability.
“There is already a survival-horror game that uses this kind of mechanic and maybe I will surprise you,” Smektała tells me.“That game is Pac-Man. You are chased by ghosts, and if they touch you just once, you die. But then there’s the power flip. You go into beast mode and turn the tables on them. I’m saying this half jokingly, but it’s actually quite true.”
“We were looking at Pac-Man when we were working on [Dying Light: The Beast], and we tried to see how much time Pac-Man spends with the power [to defeat the ghosts] and how much time he spends without it. Just to get some guidance, some inspiration, and we are very happy with how it turned out. We were hoping we’d find some new dynamics, some new mental gameplay. When you are in the world and you are just a few millimetres to get the beast mode, then there’s this new choice in your head. Should I continue being this brave and risking my life? Because maybe I will get to beast mode and then I will unleash hell.”
Dying Light: The Beast launched on September 18, 2025 for PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5, and it appears that Techland’s gambit has paid off. Players and long-time fans have been praising the gameplay, particularly the changes to the combat mechanics.
Techland intends to support Dying Light: The Beast for years to come, and we’re excited to see what other changes will be made in the future.
For the latest gaming news, follow GameWatcher on BlueSky, check out our videos on YouTube. We sometimes include affiliate links in our posts, which grants us a small commission, thank you. Please support independent Games Media. ❤️
