Dying Light: The Beast (2025): The Review

Overview

Dying Light: The Beast finally delivers the sequel longtime fans have been craving. The fresh features don’t reinvent the wheel, but the core gameplay has been polished and refined, making this entry feel like a true return to what made the series shine.

Score: 8 out of 10

The Positives ✅

Dying Light: The Beast does a lot right when it comes to capturing the spirit of the franchise while moving it forward. The return of Kyle Crane is the big headline, and Techland makes sure it feels like a proper comeback. The addition of third-person cutscenes is a subtle but powerful improvement, giving Crane more humanity through his expressions. While he’s still the brooding type, seeing his reactions makes his suffering and determination resonate more. For a series that’s often focused on atmosphere over character depth, this is a much-needed upgrade.

The horror atmosphere is another massive win. After Dying Light 2 pulled back on the fear factor, The Beast cranks it all the way up. The Volatiles are terrifying again, stalking the nights like rabid hunters. Every after-dark run feels like a desperate game of hide-and-seek, and when they spot you, the panic is real. The balance between daytime freedom and nighttime terror hasn’t felt this sharp since the first game. Pair that with the improved brutality in combat, from blood-soaked finishers to gruesome Beast Mode takedowns, and it’s clear Techland wanted to remind players that this world is cruel and unforgiving.

The gameplay loop also holds strong. While it doesn’t reinvent the formula, the tweaks feel smart. Parkour remains fluid and satisfying, now challenged by mountainous terrain that forces you to rethink traversal. Instead of endless rooftop hopping, you sometimes rely on cars or careful ground movement, making exploration more varied. The decision to go with a smaller, denser map is another highlight, there’s always something nearby to do, avoiding the emptiness that often plagues bigger open worlds.

Audio design deserves its flowers too. The chase music is pulse-pounding, the voice acting adds weight to an uneven story, and environmental sounds keep the tension alive even when nothing’s happening. When you hear a distant groan or the footsteps of a Volatile, you know it’s time to make a move. Combine that with the upgraded animations and gore effects, and the game doesn’t just sound brutal, it looks brutal.

Lastly, the value proposition is strong. At $59.99, the game offers a 20+ hour campaign and plenty of side content without overstaying its welcome. It doesn’t drown you in filler but still gives completionists enough to chew on. For longtime fans, this feels like the ideal sequel, a refinement of everything that worked before, polished with a stronger emphasis on horror and survival.

The Negatives ⚠️

That said, Dying Light: The Beast isn’t flawless. The most glaring issue is the story and supporting cast. While Crane’s return feels monumental, the surrounding characters don’t measure up. The Baron, for example, leans into cartoonish villain territory, entertaining at times, but lacking depth. Other characters like Olivia or the Sheriff fall flat, existing mostly to push Crane forward rather than standing on their own. Compared to the Harran survivors in the first game, these personalities are forgettable.

The narrative structure also struggles. The premise of Crane’s capture and return sets the stage for something epic, but the payoff is surprisingly generic. It ultimately devolves into a revenge story we’ve all seen before, missing the chance to dig deeper into Crane’s trauma and history. For a game leaning so heavily on its lead’s big comeback, it feels like wasted potential.

On the gameplay side, combat can feel shallow in places. The core mechanics are fine, dodges, finishers, stamina management, but some encounters slip into repetition. Beast Mode, in particular, is a mixed bag. While fun to unleash, it feels more like a “panic button” than a fully fleshed-out system. It often activates late in fights instead of being a strategic tool you can plan around, which limits its impact.

Technical issues also hold things back. Players have reported inputs not registering properly, and some scripted moments, especially during chases, bug out at the worst times. These problems aren’t constant, but when they hit, they drag down the immersion. Techland has a solid reputation for long-term support, so these issues may fade, but right now they’re hard to ignore.

Finally, while the visuals are solid, they’re not groundbreaking. Castor Woods is atmospheric, but it won’t blow anyone away compared to modern open-world juggernauts. It’s serviceable rather than spectacular. And while the countryside expansion adds variety, it sometimes comes at the cost of losing the vertical chaos that made urban parkour so thrilling in past entries.

The Experience 🎮

For me, Dying Light: The Beast felt like coming back to a familiar nightmare, one I wasn’t sure I was ready to face. I’ve never been the biggest horror fan, but Dying Light always grabbed my attention because of how different it felt. When they announced Crane’s return, I knew I had to step back into this world, no matter how many sleepless nights it might cost me.

From the opening hours, the game set its hooks. The cinematics made me actually feel Crane’s weight of survival, and exploring Castor Woods was both thrilling and unnerving. Traversing rooftops one moment, then creeping through dense woods the next, gave the sense that nowhere was truly safe. I especially loved how the map’s smaller scale made exploration more personal, less about checking boxes on a massive world, more about stumbling into danger when you least expect it.

The nights were the real test, though. I’ll admit, the first time I got spotted by a Volatile, I completely panicked. Heart racing, sprinting through narrow streets, desperately hunting for UV lights, it was the exact kind of horror adrenaline that few games can deliver. I wasn’t just playing; I was surviving. Those moments reminded me why Dying Light stands apart from other zombie games.

Combat was a mixed bag for me personally. I had fun with the gore and finishers, but sometimes it felt too button-mashy. Beast Mode, while cinematic, didn’t quite click. Instead of being a tool I could rely on, it felt like the game was deciding when I got to feel powerful. That said, when it did trigger in the middle of a horde, it made for some wild, unforgettable set pieces.

By the time the credits rolled, I felt like The Beast was a game I’d been waiting years for, even if it stumbled in places. It’s not a perfect sequel, but it is a faithful one, recapturing the fear, intensity, and atmosphere that made the franchise special to begin with. And for someone like me, who’s usually hesitant around horror, that balance of adrenaline and dread made it an experience I won’t forget.