A beast of a return
The original Dying Light game still lives rent-free in my head. One of the most visceral and interesting action games of that generation, and one of the handful of games that truly made me terrified to traverse its world at night. The numbered sequel didn’t do much for me and came off as more of a letdown than a true follow-up to the greatness that was the original. Well, clearly Techland felt the same way as The Beast goes back to its roots with a host of new tricks making it feel like the true follow-up to the original classic.
One of the biggest reasons this game feels like a return to form is that it once again stars the protagonist from the first game, Kyle Crane. It kicks off with Kyle going through some truly gruesome experiments that turn him into half human, half beast, hence the namesake. He gets an early radio buddy as he escapes from the laboratory slowly learning his newfound powers. They meet up and of course decide they must work together to stop all the bad things from happening. It is your quintessential Xbox 360 era story. The characters and performances are good enough and it sets a nice catalyst to progress through the game.
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: Xbox (reviewed), PlayStation, PC
Price I’d Pay: $59.99
This leads into the biggest change to the game play in The Beast. For most of the game you are doing the same stuff we have become accustomed to. Kyle can parkour through the world, upgrade abilities over time, and swing plenty of melee weapons to take down enemies. The new twist is that Kyle can Hulk up at times as he takes damage and kills enemies. This transforms him into a literal beast and his attacks ramp up. It is almost like a super move that lasts a limited time.
This combines with the other big change in the game, the bosses. Every once in a while, Kyle will come across other beasts that pose the biggest challenge in the game. These are key to progression though as defeating them offers upgrades to your beast form. These are new moves that can be used when in this form. It is an interesting dynamic, almost Mega Man inspired, where you gain new powers by taking down bosses, and adding Mega Man to any game immediately makes it better.
The world of The Beast is designed to be nostalgic. From the first time I stepped into the world of Castor Woods it flooded me with memories of the first game. Wind blowing the trees and plenty of verticality to traverse. The map is smaller than both the original game and its follow-up, but it still has plenty to see and landmarks to keep track of where I was going. I also appreciate the more condensed map as it is not full of barren open areas that are just there to tick a box on a feature list.
Vehicles also make a return for this entry, and they are great for moving around the world. The parkour remains fun, although it took me a minute to adjust to using the bumpers to jump again. It makes sense though and before long I was jumping between rooftops and rolling off of drops like the champion I became in the first game.
It is wild that we live in a world where this is a major positive, but The Beast is one of the most optimized and sound experiences I have had with a game in a long time. The frame rate is a crisp 60fps with very few drops. I never ran into any bugs or glitches. This game is crafted to perfection as far as performance is concerned. That doesn’t mean it looks bad either. The animated world, animations, and everything surrounding it looks outstanding. The vocal performances are hit and miss, but Kyle Crane is expertly done by Roger Craig Smith, the music is…fine. Nothing outstanding, but it sets the mood.
Dying Light: The Best is a return to form. I loved revisiting this world after the disappointment that I had with the second game. It knows what it wants to be and never apologizes for it. If you loved the first game, this is a must-have.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
