We’re three weeks away from the release of Dying Light: The Beast, and in the lead up to launch, developer Techland is taking us inside the evolution of protagonist Kyle Crane from the first game to now. In the first entry of a series of dev blogs, the team dives deep into how the torture and suffering Crane has experienced over the last decade-plus.
For starters, the team had to age him in a way that made sense, while accounting for the fact that as a first-person game, we’re mostly going to see his arms and hands outside of cutscenes. So, what did Techland do? Made some of the best damn looking arms you’ll ever see in a game, while still reflecting the fact that Crane has been imprisoned and tortured in Baron’s lab. Despite arms and hands being one of the most important aspects of Crane’s appearing for DL:TB, they also were meticulously designed his entire look, outfit, and gear to fit his story. For instance, at the start of the game his walkie-talkie will display 100% battery, but by the end it is near 0%.
In terms of gameplay, the basis of design for Crane’s animations and attacks are inspired by Dying Light 1, including his fighting style and personality. They’re not copy and pasted from the first game, but a progression of his playstyle from a decade ago to now. Techland says they’ve spent a lot of time on weapon animations and attacks swings to make them feel just right.
Perhaps most importantly is that original voice actor Roger Craig Smith has reprised his role as Kyle Crane for Dying Light: The Beast, which is a big win. You can check out a teaser trailer below, or read the first blog in its entirety at the Dying Light website.
