The Beast is a Culmination of 10 Years’ Worth of Experience [Interview]

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 28, 2024 3 Views 23 Min Read
The Beast is a Culmination of 10 Years' Worth of Experience [Interview]

During The Game Awards 2024, Techland’s Dying Light: The Beast released a new trailer that introduced The Baron, the game’s primary antagonist. The trailer also showed off some of the game’s new setting, Castor Woods, as well as a few new additions to protagonist Kyle Crane’s arsenal. Overall, Dying Light: The Beast seems to be pulling together all the best parts of the franchise, with a touch more horror than past games.

Game Rant recently caught up with Dying Light‘s franchise director Tymon Smektala to talk about The Beast. He opened up on some of the inspiration behind The Baron, and how the new game’s setting will affect gameplay. He also touched on the significance of 2025 for Techland and what the future holds for the open-world zombie series. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Dying Light The Beast Following Vibes Strong

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The Baron is a Formidable Adversary For Dying Light: The Beast’s Kyle Crane

Dying Light The Beast - Meet the Baron - Screenshot 5

Q: The Baron is going to be a central figure in Dying Light: The Beast. What was the inspiration behind the character?

A: It’s very hard to point to any specific reference, so I can’t say it’s this guy or that guy. I think we were inspired by a lot, maybe not all, but a lot of the classic antagonists from various games and also movies. I think that if I were to point in one direction specifically, I would say Bond villains. We were looking at the James Bond movie series. Usually, they have a central antagonist who is just as important as 007 himself, so we got inspired by that. We tried to create the same vibe of someone who’s definitely bad, definitely a negative character, an antagonist, but also someone who has something interesting, something really peculiar about him, that makes you actually care about the character.

It’s hard to say that Bond villains are ‘likable’, but they are definitely charismatic. Usually, they have something special about them: the way they look, the way they talk, the way they think. We wanted to find something like that. The Baron is a descendant, the last in a line of very powerful people, a privileged, noble family from the area of Castor Woods. Right before the apocalypse, they were running a big pharma business, so they were into medicine. They were into DNA, etc. When players play the game, they will discover there’s actually quite an extensive background to the character and his family. Players will be able to find out a little bit about what has happened to the family before the game.

He’s quite a character. He’s definitely very brilliant, a great mind, someone that you would like to invite over for dinner, but at the same time, he has an element to him that is quite emotionless. He thinks, but he doesn’t really feel. He considers everything based on reasoning, logic, and facts, and he basically removes the human factor altogether. I think that’s what makes him interesting and surprising for players because, when we look at other human beings, we expect them to factor emotions into their thinking. The Baron doesn’t really have that. Everything is pure logic. Everything is calculated. That’s what’s interesting.

We didn’t want to reveal The Baron in full yet, but we wanted to give a glimpse of who he is by the actions he performs and by the items he surrounds himself with. In the trailer, you can see classic paintings, actual paintings taken from Europe’s museums. He can do that because he likes art, and he’s so powerful that he can afford these luxury items. There are also some details, like the brush that he has. It’s like his symbol. There’s a little backstory that explains where it comes from in the game. It’s connected to one of his previous family members. This guy has held Kyle Crane captive for 13 years, using his knowledge and resources, but what’s the grand plan of The Baron? That’s something that players will discover in the game.

Q: In The Baron’s speech in the trailer, he references God. He’s also clearly a very scientific guy, and sometimes science and religion can find themselves at complete opposite ends of a person’s beliefs, but it seems like he’s in both camps. Can you talk a little bit about how his motivations are tied to religion and science?

A: I think that’s a very good question, a philosophical one. We don’t delve too much into that in the game though. We don’t want to distract players too much from fighting zombies and surviving, but yes, there are elements of it. If players are into finding details about the characters and getting the full picture, they will find some references to it in the game. When it comes to The Baron, he is always calculating, and from both sides, he just takes things that fit his equations. I don’t want to say he’s not a religious person, but he uses elements taken from religion if they fit his narrative. Then, in the end, he produces the results that he wants. He’s that kind of person.

How Kyle Crane’s Captivity Has Affected Him

Q: Kyle has clearly been exposed to some pretty horrible things whilst being held captive. Could you talk about how that period of time has changed him as a character?

A: He’s bitter, he’s definitely changed, but we wanted to keep that change controllable and manageable. When players start playing the game, they kind of want to get back to where they were with Kyle Crane 10 years ago with the first game. The Beast promises that you will get to play as Kyle Crane, so we couldn’t change him completely. We couldn’t make him a different character. The elements that made Kyle stand out in the first place are still there. He’s still the relatable character that people remember. He comments on things using a kind of common sense, expressing the thoughts of the player, and also his sarcasm is still there. He still has a moral compass, which makes him a person that: if you did something stupid, but you need help, Kyle will help you. Those are the elements of Kyle that we wanted to keep.

On the other hand, of course, he’s changed. He’s a little bit more bitter, especially at the beginning when he’s just out of The Baron’s lab. Then he kind of changes by interacting with other characters. He’s more mature, he has always been like that, but right now, he cuts the bull instantly. He just doesn’t waste time on pointless chatter. If things need to be done, they need to be done. If things need to be said, he says them. I think that’s a visible change in the character. I think this will resonate with players in terms of everything that he does and says. Plus, of course, he’s driven by revenge, especially at the beginning.

There is a guy that was doing bad things to him. And even if, for many of us, the first thing that we would do is run away, Kyle doesn’t. He’s thinking about revenge and also wants some answers to the questions that he has. Why has he been captured? Why has he been experimented upon? What was the goal for that? He wants those answers. He wants revenge, but then he meets people in Castor Woods, people who are living there, and he realizes that there are people who need his help. Maybe there is even more at stake than just The Baron doing something bad to Kyle. It’s maybe more than that.

Dying Light The Beast trailer Screenshot Kyle Crane Returning Player Character

Q: For Kyle, there seems to be an internal struggle to keep a lid on this beast inside of him. Does that struggle kind of manifest itself in the gameplay at all? Are there mechanics that play into that struggle?

A: We are actually at the stage where the game is put together, and we are balancing and tweaking various aspects. We are having those discussions internally, deciding how far we should go with expressing this in gameplay mechanics and in the narrative. I can’t go into much more right now, but yes, that struggle is there. Kyle gets these powers because of the experiments, and they make him powerful. They allow him to get out of tricky situations more easily, maybe even some that would be impossible for a human to get out of.

Now he can get out of them, but at the same time, he understands this is a gift that he was given without his permission. It’s thanks to the experiments tinkering with his DNA. It’s not easy to accept that it’s just a ‘power up’. There’s more to it, and it’s expressed in the narrative and in gameplay as well. We are just kind of trying to find the balance where it’s felt by players, where it makes sense to players but, at the same time, doesn’t kind of frustrate them by making the character weird or putting some frustrating limitations on gameplay.

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Dying Light: The Beast’s Gameplay and Beyond

Dying Light The Beast - Meet the Baron - Screenshot 1

Q: What new gameplay possibilities does Castor Woods open up for the player?

A: I think, first, those are opportunities for us as developers because this is kind of a new area for us, something that we haven’t tried before, at least not to this extent. We wanted to challenge ourselves a little and create an environment that is a lot different from the classic urban city environments that we usually create but, at the same time, allows us to create a different atmosphere and a different mood. I think I would point to this as the first benefit of having this environment, having a map that has so many forest areas and swamps, for example.

This allows us to push the game a little bit more toward the survival horror vibe and the horror element of what we have always been doing. I think this makes it easier to express that, and we can express that in a stronger way. For example, in an instance where nothing is really happening, you can really soak in the surrounding atmosphere, being alone in the woods at night or being alone in the swamps when the darkness sets in. It’s just the music, it’s just the environment, it’s just the limited visibility. But it instantly puts you in the place where you kind of hesitate to take the next step because you don’t know what’s going to happen. I think that’s the first benefit. For me, it’s the classic way to play. If it’s dark in-game, dim the lights and fully soak in the atmosphere.

Dying Light: The Beast Values Atmosphere as Highly as Parkour

Q: When you’ve got something like a swamp in a game that’s so heavily linked with parkour, that must be really challenging for you. How do you work around these challenges?

A: We challenged ourselves a little bit more with the parkour elements because, in those swamp areas, it’s harder for us to find the sort of geometry that allows you to do those very long sequences of parkour. I think we have allowed ourselves to not have parkour everywhere, to sometimes trade parkour for the atmosphere I mentioned earlier, instead of the rush of jumping over obstacles. But then, on the other hand, I think it also allowed us to find new ways to have parkour in places where it’s not so obvious.

The easiest example I can give is that when there’s a structure that you want to get into, we don’t just open the doors on the first floor for you. You need to use parkour to climb to the location which allows you to climb through a window or to the rooftop entrance, to get inside. I think this is another new thing for the players, where they will all be able to use parkour, not just to kind of run from point A to point B, but use it as an explorer would, to gain access to otherwise out-of-reach places.

How Dying Light: The Beast’s Day and Night Cycle Works

Q: The day and night cycles, on the surface, seem to perfectly complement some of Castor Woods’ areas. It seems tailor-made for them. Are there any new elements to that day and night cycle that are on display in The Beast?

A: I think we have some tricks up our sleeves, but I don’t really want to go into the details yet. I think it will be a big reveal for us, in terms of the new take on the night experience. However, not to overhype this, the fundamentals don’t change. Dying Light: The Beast is still a game that uses the gameplay formula of Dying Light. Of course, it is the most evolved form, but still, the formula is the same. During the day, it’s basically you against zombies, where you fight with them, where you are feeling a little stronger than them, where you have a chance to kind of set the rules of the game by yourself. But then, when night falls, the volatiles come out. The rules change. The dynamics of gameplay change.

It was always very important for us to not just change the visuals, but also change the gameplay. For the night, the dynamics of the night change. It basically goes into a stealth kind of game where you are surrounded by Volatiles, the strongest enemies that we have, enemies that are actually super hard to kill, and for many, many hours, they will be outside the player’s capabilities to kill. To survive, you just need to assume a different mindset and play by the rules set by the Volatiles. The fundamentals will not change, but we are using some new tricks. We’re doing some tweaks here and there to make it a little bit more exciting and definitely more fitting to the environment that we have.

Q: The trailer also features a look at a little bit of new weaponry. Could you talk about some of the new additions to combat and how these will factor into gameplay?

A: Dying Light: The Beast is a game that will be released in the year of our 10th anniversary. It uses all of our experience and refines our gameplay formula, evolving it to the highest point that’s achievable for us at this stage. The same goes for combat. Dying Light’s formula heavily features combat, so we put a lot of focus on this. However, at the same time, we’ve also expanded the player’s arsenal continuously and consistently over the years. So, of course, you will get the usual firearms, ranged weapons, crossbows, etc. At the same time, we want to add to this arsenal even more in The Beast. There are quite a few new toys in production. In preparation, we have so far revealed two: a grenade launcher and a flamethrower.

The flamethrower is a kind of classic fantasy in the zombie genre, maybe in the more pulpy section of it. The feeling of setting zombies on fire with a flamethrower is something super exciting and iconic for the zombie genre. I feel a little bit ashamed that we are only just introducing it now! I think this will be exciting for players. On the other hand, a grenade launcher is like a powerful weapon that you take out when needed, when you are super surrounded, or when there are plenty of zombies in front of you. The cool thing about it is that it supports different types of ammunition. We have shown the regular grenades, but there are also UV grenades that create almost safe zones for the player to hide in. The Volatiles hate UV light, so an explosion like this is bad news for them. It’s not the end of new additions to the arsenal, so please stay tuned for more juicy stuff coming.

Q: Heading into 2025, what should fans expect from Techland in terms of communication and news for The Beast?

A: I cannot spill all the beans, but what I can say is that the next year is going to be quite important for us. Early next year, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of Dying Light as a franchise. The first game was released in 2015, so we will be celebrating that. I think the celebration will be the right moment to reveal more of our plans. But yes, we plan to start with the celebration and then we will move into a proper rollout for The Beast. The date has been announced for summer 2025, so we still have a few months to really get everything ready and prepare for that.

Next year is going to be quite special, but I don’t think we will overdo the celebrations. It’s a nice anniversary, 10 years, but at the same time, I don’t look into the past too much. I’d rather look into the future. I think Dying Light: The Beast will be the climax to all the things that we have done over those 10 years. It will contain all of our gameplay, findings, experiences, and knowledge that we have amassed, hopefully paying respect to the characters that we have created over those 10 years. Then, at the end of the game, there’s also a small glimpse into the future of the franchise. We have high hopes for Dying Light‘s future. This is our IP, our baby. We want it to grow and we absolutely don’t want to stop with The Beast, so more is coming in the future for sure.

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