Dying Light is coming for Resident Evil's horror crown: 'We want to be the ultimate zombie experience - you think zombie game, you say Dying Light'

Developer Techland aims for the Dying Light series to become the definitive zombie experience, continuously expanding upon the original foundation and introducing new gameplay mechanics in spinoffs like Dying Light: The Beast, an upcoming current-gen console exclusive.

Dying Light developer Techland wants its open-world horror series to be known as "the ultimate zombie experience, the ultimate zombie game."

Techland unveiled Dying Light: The Beast yesterday at Gamescom Opening Night Live, with a cinematic trailer proclaiming the return of original series protagonist Kyle Crane. We don't quite know what Crane's been up to in the years since the original game, DLC The Following, which continued the story of the first Dying Light, but he doesn't look in the best of health.

GamesRadar+ spoke to Tymon Smektala, Dying Light franchise director, about Techland's approach to its game development. "Generally, immersion is something that we look out for in all aspects of the game. So shooting, even the small details, how you reload the weapon, that's something where we really wanted to give those elements personality, and also give those elements something you can feel," Smektala told us.

Smektala also offered up a little teaser for The Beast's new style of gameplay, revealing that "there are additional gameplay mechanics that we're not revealing yet, and they will be an expansion of what we have in terms of combat." It could be similar to how The Following introduced vehicular combat via the explosive dune buggy after the base game.

"Generally, this is how we approach all of the projects in Dying Light - we have one goal at the end of the story, which is 'We want Dying Light to be the ultimate zombie experience, the ultimate zombie game.' You think Zombie game? You say 'Yeah, of course, Dying Light,'" Smektala also told GamesRadar+, which is an incredibly lofty goal for any developer. 

Depending on who you ask, Dying Light's series to beat could be Resident Evil, Left 4 Dead, or even Dead Rising. "So we have started with the foundation of Dying Light 1, and with each project, we are adding to it. So we hope that at the end, there will be a game that will combine all of this into a very special, ultimate zombie adventure," the Dying Light franchise director concluded. 

Dying Light: The Beast doesn't have a release date, but we know it'll be a current-gen console exclusive, coming to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X.

Take a look at our best horror games guide to see if either of Techland's Dying Light games made the cut.