Forward of Dying Gentle: The Beast, TechRaptor was invited to a hands-on preview the place we performed the sport for a handful of hours. On prime of hacking and slashing the military of the lifeless, we additionally obtained to sit down down and chat with Tymon Smektala, the franchise director for the Dying Gentle sequence, about the place the group attracts inspiration from and the place the sequence can go from right here.
One of the vital vital modifications about The Beast compared to earlier video games is that a big portion of the sport takes place within the woods, the place there are few to no areas for gamers to make use of parkour to assist them get out of a tough state of affairs. Smektala explains that they needed to do this out and see if they may take the sequence to a brand new location and nonetheless really feel genuine.
“We needed to see if we may have a Dying Gentle sport the place we may [occasionally] take away parkour. What we found is that it really works very effectively for us as a result of, in a manner, parkour is a survival mechanic. You should utilize it to get away rapidly. [Taking away parkour] even provides to the survival side as a result of all of a sudden you’re feeling extra uncovered and fragile in opposition to threats. It provides lots of rigidity,” Smektala stated.
Many survival-horror video games contain gamers working for his or her lives, however the newest installment of Dying Gentle introduces a brand new mechanic known as “Beast Mode.” Briefly, this makes you an unstoppable power of nature that may kill nearly the whole lot in your path. Smektala instructed TechRaptor that this was carried out so they may give gamers a preventing probability once they discover themselves overwhelmed by zombies. The thought of getting this second wind stemmed from an unlikely sport… Pac-Man.
“It is type of the identical setup. You are feeling very fragile as a result of when the ghosts are chasing you, all they should do is contact you, and you will die. However whenever you seize the facility pellet, that is whenever you flip the tables. [Beast Mode] is identical mechanic, and in Pac-Man, the uncertainty of not understanding for those who’d attain the facility pellet provides to the joy like in Dying Gentle: The Beast,” Smektala stated.
As talked about in our latest preview, a distinguished theme of The Beast is the primary character actually changing into a beast to cease somebody who’s metaphorically a beast. This concept largely stemmed from a Korean movie known as Previous Boy.
The movie explores comparable themes and shares comparable story beats of an individual being captured for years, and as soon as they escape, they got down to kill everybody who has wronged them. However Previous Boy wasn’t the one piece of media that helped encourage Dying Gentle: The Beast. Smektala went on to quote exhibits equivalent to Twin Peaks and Stranger Issues as additionally enjoying an enormous position in setting the narrative location for the upcoming sport.
“Each happen in these little cities, the place they’re [cut off from] the surface world, and the surface world does not matter,” he stated. “All of it occurs inside this city, and lots of very bizarre and unusual issues transpire.”
Zombie followers might rapidly discover how a lot the sport attracts inspiration from the 28 film trilogy. This may be seen within the music, surroundings, and chases gamers encounter. When requested if the group used the film sequence as some extent of reference, Smektala stated that Techland views Dying Gentle as “[one of the] prime video games within the zombie style.” However the 28 sequence has been a giant inspiration for Techland, and he mentioned how each sequence have gone down comparable paths.
“All of these motion pictures attempt to do one thing completely different. In the event you examine 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, they’re fully completely different motion pictures. Once more, 28 Years Later may be very completely different when in comparison with the primary two,” Smektala stated. “What occurs in these motion pictures is similar to what we’re doing with Dying Gentle. 28 Days Later was a really intimate film with largely one character in a really empty house, the place he was feeling weak in opposition to zombies. This was an identical feeling to the early hours of Dying Gentle 1.
“If you take a look at 28 Weeks Later, it is rather more targeted on motion. With folks in huge motion sequences, folks taking pictures weapons, and much more blockbuster moments. This is identical with Dying Gentle 2 Keep Human. This was our motion sport; it was targeted on huge moments. Now, 28 Years Later, is a unique story that’s just like The Beast, as a result of it is very experimental in a manner. Numerous bizarre issues are taking place in 28 Years Later, as in The Beast.”
Talking of lots of bizarre issues taking place, Dying Gentle: The Beast introduces a brand new zombie variant known as Chimeras. Smektala stated that introducing a brand new zombie variant can at all times be tough as a result of they do not need to lean too far out of the world of realism. So the Chimeras got here from the thought of “one thing that might have occurred for those who utilized correct science to it.” That is the place lots of the visible inspiration got here into play.
“With regards to the design of the Chimeras, two important sources of inspiration are anatomy books. The second is an anime sequence known as Assault on Titan, which has these kinds of monsters which might be skinless with all of their our bodies uncovered. That knowledgeable the visible designs for the Chimera,” he stated.
One remaining piece of data that long-time franchise followers could also be excited to listen to is that The Beast is meant to set the canon for the franchise going ahead, and it takes place after the primary two installments. That is notable as a result of each Dying Gentle sport has a number of endings, and it is left as much as the participant to resolve what ending they need. However based on Smektala, The Beast could have one ending as a result of the group needed “to set the canon for the universe.”
Smektala even teased that The Beast’s ending will “reply a number of questions from each the primary and second sport.” Dying Gentle: The Beast will launch on August 22 and might be playable on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Collection X|S.
