It’s been a little over a decade since Dying Light made its impressive debut. Created by many of the same devs behind the first Dead Island, Dying Light released in a very crowded market back in 2015, but it managed to stand out from the sea of other zombie games by forging itself a distinct identity. It did this by combining several gameplay styles, merging mechanics that hadn’t often been seen together in the zombie genre.
One of Dying Light‘s most distinct elements was its focus on parkour. Players were encouraged to leap from rooftops, slide down ziplines, and bound from every wall in the concrete jungle of Harran, and that freedom of movement quickly became a key selling point of Dying Light. Parkour has remained a core part of Dying Light‘s identity over the last decade, but while it’s still going to appear in the upcoming Dying Light: The Beast, it could end up taking a bit of a backseat due to the game’s new setting.
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Dying Light 1 & 2: Why You Should Start Over in 2025
Ten years after the original game was released, and three years since the sequel, 2025 is a great time to revisit the Dying Light franchise games.
Dying Light: The Beast Might Forget a Core Part of its Identity With its Castor Woods Setting
Dying Light: The Beast’s Setting Doesn’t Look Conducive to Parkour
Both Dying Light and its 2022 sequel were set primarily in sprawling cities, densely packed with tall buildings, cars, billboards, and plenty of rooftops. These urban settings felt tailor-made for Dying Light‘s parkour mechanics, with the proximity of buildings allowing a smooth flow of movement and a natural build of momentum that felt rewarding to control and master.
The Dying Light series often feels best when players are in these large urban areas, with the game’s unique merging of parkour and action gameplay really getting to shine. It’s this engaging flow of parkour and action gameplay that’s become an ingrained part of Dying Light‘s identity, one that fans now expect to be present in any subsequent Dying Light game.
But Dying Light: The Beast might not be putting parkour at the forefront of its gameplay, at least not as much as previous entries. Dying Light: The Beast is set in Castor Woods, a popular tourist spot that’s located in a rural town surrounded by dense forests. Castor Woods looks very different from Dying Light‘s previous urban settings, and while the change of scenery will undoubtedly be refreshing after all these years, it could come with the risk of offering fewer parkour opportunities.
The recent Dying Light: The Beast 30-minute gameplay deep-dive began with the player free-running through the new town, leaping from rooftop to rooftop and dashing through open windows. All the parkour mechanics fans have come to expect from Dying Light are present during these opening minutes. But the player quickly reaches the edge of the town, and the rest of the mission sees them infiltrating a warehouse, fighting in an abandoned trainyard, and driving through the woods. During those sections, parkour is rarely used.
It seems likely that Dying Light: The Beast‘s rural setting won’t have players engaging in parkour nearly as much as Dying Light 1 and 2‘s urban settings.
Dying Light: The Beast’s Setting Might Result in a New Type of Traversal
But instead of going all in on parkour for a third time, Dying Light: The Beast might be putting forward some new traversal options. Players will have access to vehicles in Dying Light: The Beast, more specifically an off-road 4×4 that can store useful items in the back. Players will also have access to a suite of superhuman abilities. While the abilities shown so far are combat-oriented, there’s a chance players will be given some powers that help with traversing the new setting.
So while Dying Light: The Beast‘s Castor Woods might not lend itself to the amount of free-running fans are used to, there’s a strong chance they’ll still be given plenty of tools to enjoy traversal.
Dying Light: The Beast
- Released
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August 22, 2025
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language, Use of Drugs
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op
- Franchise
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Dying Light
- PC Release Date
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August 22, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
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August 22, 2025