In the realm of zombie video games, a classic question arises: do you prefer the intense challenge of a vulnerable person struggling against overwhelming odds, or the power fantasy of an unstoppable, gun-toting hero mowing down hordes? Dying Light: The Beast masterfully blends both, making it a must-play.
Developed by the experienced team at Techland, known for the Dying Light series, Dying Light: The Beast made its debut in September 2025. This release date placed it squarely within one of the most competitive periods in recent gaming history. Despite facing off against heavy hitters like Hades 2, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Borderlands 4, and Silent Hill f, Dying Light: The Beast stands tall. This first-person action-adventure thrusts players back into the role of Kyle Crane, the familiar face from the original 2015 Dying Light. After enduring horrific experiments for thirteen long years, Kyle has become a unique hybrid, part human, part zombie. This transformation grants him extraordinary abilities rivalling the strongest zombie bosses, all while retaining his human consciousness.
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<div class="responsive-img image-expandable img-article-item" style="padding-bottom:56.25%" data-img-url="https://static0.polygonimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/dying-light-the-beast-impressions-1.jpg" data-modal-id="single-image-modal" data-modal-container-id="single-image-modal-container" data-img-caption=""Image: Techland via Polygon"">
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<img width="1650" height="928" loading="lazy" decoding="async" fetchpriority="low" alt="Kyle Crane, the protagonist, featured in Dying Light: The Beast." data-img-url="https://static0.polygonimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/dying-light-the-beast-impressions-1.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" src="https://static0.polygonimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/dying-light-the-beast-impressions-1.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2"/>
</picture><small class="body-img-caption">Image: Techland via Polygon</small></figure>
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</div>Kyle’s mission: to exact revenge on the Baron, the architect of his torment. This quest unfolds within a vast, zombie-infested open-world setting inspired by the Western Alps. Exploring this environment is a rewarding experience. After establishing a base in an old monastery, players can discover picturesque villages and expansive landscapes set against the dramatic backdrop of snow-capped mountains. As any quality zombie title understands, Dying Light: The Beast acknowledges that a world devoid of humanity isn’t just about desolation; it can also possess a compelling beauty.
The game’s location offers both beauty and diverse traversal options. Kyle can choose between driving vehicles or utilizing his expertly honed parkour skills, which encompass running, jumping, climbing, and sliding. Speeding along abandoned highways is exhilarating, especially when you plow through a few undead, but it pales in comparison to the intense freedom of rooftop parkour, where every misstep can be fatal. The majority of the game is set in forested or rural areas, limiting opportunities for parkour to the Old Town. This is satisfactory but leaves the player desiring another village area.
The sight of these stunning vistas overrun by zombies *should* inspire sadness, but it doesn’t, because zombie combat in Dying Light: The Beast is a blast. You have an arsenal of melee and ranged options. However, ammunition is rare and gunfire draws the attention of the undead, therefore, melee combat takes the spotlight. Thankfully, the melee combat is superior to ranged. Every strike delivers visible damage to the zombies, and you feel every impact, especially from blunt weapons. Furthermore, the game has fantastic support tools like grenades, molotovs, and throwing knives. The knives are particularly satisfying for quietly eliminating minor zombies with well-placed hits.
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<img width="1650" height="928" loading="lazy" decoding="async" fetchpriority="low" alt="Zombies burning in Dying Light: The Beast." data-img-url="https://static0.polygonimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/dying-light-the-beast-impressions-5.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" src="https://static0.polygonimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/dying-light-the-beast-impressions-5.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2"/>
</picture><small class="body-img-caption">Image: Techland via Polygon</small></figure>
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</div>The average player in a zombie apocalypse would prefer more than simply gunning them down. They would want to slash, stab, and kick the zombies off the building. They would want to lure them into a trap and burn them alive. The player may even want to hit them with a crossbow bolt from above. Thanks to Dying Light: The Beast’s wide assortment of weapons and gadgets, you can accomplish the desires of most zombie apocalypse survivors.
Beyond the traditional weaponry, Kyle possesses unique powers. “Beast Mode,” while exciting, is a double-edged sword. Activating it grants Kyle superhuman strength for a limited period, allowing him to effortlessly tear through any zombie in his path. This unexpected surge of power is initially exhilarating, but its frequent use reveals its nature: less of a combat ability and more of a “get out of jail free” card.
Initially, “Beast Mode” triggers automatically when taking or dealing damage. As the game progresses, the skill tree can be modified to enable manual activation. This means that you are able to activate Beast Mode when faced with a horde, in stealth scenarios, or during boss battles. The availability of the mode can be advantageous but it also detracts from the sense of fear and desperation that is associated with survival games.
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<img width="1650" height="928" loading="lazy" decoding="async" fetchpriority="low" alt="A formidable zombie boss featured in Dying Light: The Beast." data-img-url="https://static0.polygonimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/dying-light-the-beast-impressions-2.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" src="https://static0.polygonimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/dying-light-the-beast-impressions-2.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2"/>
</picture><small class="body-img-caption">Image: Techland via Polygon</small></figure>
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</div>To avoid using the ability, one can avoid it. But that is a bizarre choice in a game titled “The Beast”. The better way to offset Beast Mode’s advantage is to play on brutal mode as opposed to survival mode, which will make each fight more difficult. But, beware that loot, shop supplies, and your stamina bar will suffer restrictions.
The Survivor Sense is handled perfectly. This is a scanning ability that reveals all nearby items and zombies — but only “volatile” zombies, a.k.a. the ones with higher mobility and the capacity to alert the horde. While I don’t wish to see *every* zombie, because that would remove all feelings of dread as well as the need for caution, stealth, and tactical decisions that defines *Dying Light* games, it would be too hard to complete stealth sections without the ability to mark volatile zombies. I would have to boost the screen brightness to 100.
Survivor Sense could improve item visibility. The items are marked with a small grey dot, so it’s easy to miss the loot. There are no accessibility options to fix this. Minor annoyances are the presence of English road and shop signs and conveniently spray-painted ledges on natural rock walls. A more prominent weakness is the story.
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<div class="responsive-img image-expandable img-article-item" style="padding-bottom:56.25%" data-img-url="https://static0.polygonimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/dying-light-the-beast-impressions-4.jpg" data-modal-id="single-image-modal" data-modal-container-id="single-image-modal-container" data-img-caption=""Image: Techland via Polygon"">
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<img width="1650" height="928" loading="lazy" decoding="async" fetchpriority="low" alt="An image of English text and spray-painted ledges featured in Dying Light: The Beast." data-img-url="https://static0.polygonimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/dying-light-the-beast-impressions-4.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" src="https://static0.polygonimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/dying-light-the-beast-impressions-4.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2"/>
</picture><small class="body-img-caption">Image: Techland via Polygon</small></figure>
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</div>Kyle Crane is likeable, but he’s a basic man of few words. He is motivated by vengeance. The Baron is your average power-hungry bad guy who’s got henchmen to throw at you. In Kyle’s journey to bring down the Baron, he gets help from a conventionally attractive woman with a knack for science. This sets you up for quests of the “Find the survivors,” “Retrieve this item,” and “Search this site” nature. Plot twists are predictable.
The narrative is not a masterpiece, but Dying Light: The Beast is an excellent zombie survival game with a stunning world, delightful parkour, and amazing combat. The balance of action with vulnerability works. Beast Mode transformations and the limitations of Survivor Sense make Kyle human enough to scare you.