Dying Light: The Beast Review

The Beast began life as an expansion and grew into its own game, and the smaller scale suits it. Kyle Crane, the hero of the original Dying Light, is back after years of experiments left something inhuman inside him, and Techland spends a tight eighteen or so hours in Castor Woods rather than sprawling out. The parkour is the reason to be here. Vaulting rooftops, sliding under jaws and turning a chase into a route is as good as first person traversal gets, and at night, when the fast infected come out, the game still finds real fear.

The new Beast mode, where Crane's mutation lets him tear enemies apart in bursts of rage, is a fun release valve without becoming the whole point. The story is serviceable pulp, the human enemies are the usual weak spot, and the visuals are good rather than cutting edge, but none of that gets in the way of the core.

For existing fans, especially anyone who owned the second game's ultimate edition and got this at no cost, it is an easy yes. For newcomers it is a self contained, sixty dollar dose of what Techland does better than anyone: moving fast through a broken city while the dead try to pull you down. Come for the movement, stay for the night.