Skip to main content GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love Search GamesRadar+ View Profile Xbox Series X Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch 2 Tabletop Gaming Toys & Collectibles Retro Gamer Newsletters Total Film Gaming Magazines Why subscribe? Subscribe from just £3 Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love Try a single issue or save on a subscription Issues delivered straight to your door or device From£9.99View Summer Game Fest Future Games Show Upcoming Switch 2 games Switch 2 pre-orders Recommended reading Survival Horror Games "For us, it really is Dying Light 3": Techland admits Dying Light 2 "lost the horror, lost the tension," but says The Beast is "the best Dying Light that we have ever made" Open World Games Dying Light: The Beast – Everything we know so far Survival Horror Games 2 years after getting too big to be Dying Light 2 DLC, Dying Light: The Beast finally launches this August Action Games Death Stranding 2 will "allow players that want to fight to do so more freely," Hideo Kojima says, like how Metal Gear Solid 2 "made it a little easier to use weapons" Doom: The Dark Ages' weighty shield saw and gory melee are vital to its refreshed combat loop: "The guns are more like rhythm guitars this time" Action Games Death Stranding 2 devs worried it was "getting a little Metal Gear-ish," but Hideo Kojima himself says you don't have to be sneaky: "I don't even use stealth myself" Action Games Hideo Kojima wanted Death Stranding 2 to have "a clearer focus on combat," giving players a "range of approaches" including Metal Gear Solid-style stealth Survival Horror Games Dying Light: The Beast Dying Light: The Beast dev says "we are not Call of Duty" and the series has a "complicated relationship" with guns, but The Beast's firearms should finally be "on par" with melee Jordan Gerblick 9 June 2025 "Let's give the players the guns if they want, but also let's focus on the guns so they really feel on par with melee combat" When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Techland) Dying Light: The Beast will have a greater focus on guns being just as viable a combat option as melee weapons, despite the series' focus on hand-to-hand combat. To say the Dying Light series has had a complicated relationship with guns isn't an assumption on my part; it's literally the words of the series' franchise director, Tymon Smektała. Talking to GamesRadar+ during Summer Game Fest 2025, Smektała walked us through Dying Light's messy history with guns and pew pewing. Smektała (half-) joked that "if Dying Light and guns were on Facebook, their relationship status would be, 'it's complicated'." You may like "For us, it really is Dying Light 3": Techland admits Dying Light 2 "lost the horror, lost the tension," but says The Beast is "the best Dying Light that we have ever made" Dying Light: The Beast – Everything we know so far 2 years after getting too big to be Dying Light 2 DLC, Dying Light: The Beast finally launches this August He explained that Techland received a lot of feedback from people playing the original Dying Light and asking "why did you even bother to have the guns" in such a melee-focused game, and so "in the second one, we didn't." But then, naturally, "the first thing we heard after the release [of Dying Light 2] was 'but, where are the guns?'" Future Dying Light 2 updates would eventually add guns, even though this presented a unique "lore and narrative challenge" because "we even specifically put that in the world building, in the lore, that there are no guns in this world." Although Techland somehow "managed to squeeze them in," there are still pretty prevalent narratives online that guns in Dying Light 2 are either not as viable as melee weapons or just plain don't belong. You can probably understand then that Techland decided to put a bigger focus on balancing firearm combat in Dying Light: The Beast. "For Dying Light: The Beast, we decided, 'let's give the players the guns if they want, but also let's focus on the guns so they really feel on par with melee combat in terms of how physical they are, how brutal they are, but also balanced they are, so they don't feel too overpowered." Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. I genuinely feel for the team at Techland on this, as yes, the Dying Light series is built around fast-paced parkour traversal and, chiefly, the comically gruesome slicing and dicing of zombies, particularly toward the endgame when you can start crafting wildly silly killing machines that make mincemeat out of the undead. Guns have always felt a little out of place, but with Techland making this public commitment to improving them, there's reason to be hopeful for a more balanced assortment of weapons overall. Techland announced during SGF that Dying Light: The Beast is launching on August 22 across PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC. "For us, it really is Dying Light 3": Techland admits Dying Light 2 "lost the horror, lost the tension," but says The Beast is "the best Dying Light that we have ever made" See more PS5 News Summer Game Fest Xbox Series X PlayStation Jordan Gerblick Social Links Navigation After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name. "For us, it really is Dying Light 3": Techland admits Dying Light 2 "lost the horror, lost the tension," but says The Beast is "the best Dying Light that we have ever made" Dying Light: The Beast – Everything we know so far 2 years after getting too big to be Dying Light 2 DLC, Dying Light: The Beast finally launches this August Death Stranding 2 will "allow players that want to fight to do so more freely," Hideo Kojima says, like how Metal Gear Solid 2 "made it a little easier to use weapons" Doom: The Dark Ages' weighty shield saw and gory melee are vital to its refreshed combat loop: "The guns are more like rhythm guitars this time" Death Stranding 2 devs worried it was "getting a little Metal Gear-ish," but Hideo Kojima himself says you don't have to be sneaky: "I don't even use stealth myself" Latest in Survival Horror Games "For us, it really is Dying Light 3": Techland admits Dying Light 2 "lost the horror, lost the tension," but says The Beast is "the best Dying Light that we have ever made" Resident Evil Requiem's Grace Ashcroft has me theorizing on the next REmake – and it's not Code Veronica Resident Evil 9 Requiem references have been spotted in Resident Evil 7, a game that came out 8 whole years ago Resident Evil Requiem: Everything we know about Resident Evil 9 2 years after getting too big to be Dying Light 2 DLC, Dying Light: The Beast finally launches this August Silent Hill f actor spent so long playing her role that "I almost felt my own sanity slipping," and I'm starting to see a pattern here Latest in News After handing out millions, Among Us dev says its indie fund has a signing rate roughly 8x higher than most publishers, most of its games are under $500k, just 6 are $1 million or more, and RPGs are king Captain America actor Chris Evans says he's definitely, really, totally not coming back for Avengers: Doomsday, but he talks to directors the Russo Brothers "all the time" "For us, it really is Dying Light 3": Techland admits Dying Light 2 "lost the horror, lost the tension," but says The Beast is "the best Dying Light that we have ever made" "We are going to do CRPGs that are going to be as serious as BG3," says Wizards of the Coast president, but Star Wars Jedi director's D&D action game is very different to Larian's RPG After 2 years and 10 episodes, Twisted Metal season 2 finally gives us the high-octane tournament everyone's been expecting Marvel's Ironheart isn't just Iron Man meets Wakanda tech as the latest trailer reveals an unexpected third ingredient: magic GAME REVIEWS MOVIE REVIEWS Fast Fusion review: "Futuristic racing from the same mold as Wipeout and F-Zero shines on Switch 2" Jaipur review: "Lightning in a bottle" Mario Kart World review in progress: "Leaves it all out on the track and in between tracks too" Queen by Midnight review: "Saddled by excess that would make a real princess shudder" Battle for the Deep review: "A new and unique take on the long-running, beloved Axis & Allies franchise" Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation" From the World of John Wick: Ballerina review: "Brilliant action, even if the plot gives you a sense of déjà vu" Karate Kid: Legends review: "Better than Karate Kid (2010), nothing on Karate Kid (1984)" Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning review: "Wraps up this spy franchise in spectacular style with Tom Cruise in peak condition, even if its villain lacks terror" Final Destination Bloodlines Review: "Meticulous murderous mayhem" Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling" Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision Rick and Morty season 8 review: "Largely plays it too safe after years of crossing boundaries" Doctor Who season 2, episode 6 spoiler review: 'The Interstellar Song Contest' is "a blast and sets the stage for a thrilling season finale" Doctor Who season 2, episode 5 spoiler review: 'The Story & The Engine' is "one of the most original and ambitious episodes this show has produced in years" GamesRadar+ is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site. Contact Future's experts Terms and conditions Privacy policy Cookies policy Advertise with us Review guidelines Write for us Accessibility Statement Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. Please login or signup to comment Please wait...