In a new devblog, developer Techland has revealed details about how it went about with the designs for zombies in the upcoming Dying Light: The Beast. Alongside discussions on design, the devblog is also accompanied by a new video which focuses on the studio’s decisions with the sound design behind the various Biters and Volatiles that protagonist Kyle Crane will have to take on. Check out the video below.
One of the keys behind the design of the zombies in Dying Light: The Beast is that they should always remind you of who they were before they got turned. This means that artists have had to focus on making sure that the zombies still have faint traces of humanity peppered throughout the otherwise-grotesque and disturbing enemies that you often have to fight.
To also ensure a healthy amount of variety, there are more than 110 variants of Biters throughout Dying Light: The Beast. These variants range across different body types, while also featuring their own unique gameplay challenges. An example provided of this is the gas tank Biter, which is equipped with a hazard suit, making it much hardier than other regular Biters in the game.
Along with Biters, Crane will also have to take on Virals – those that have turned into zombies just recently. To sell this design, Virals will have more obvious traces of humanity, such as more natural skin tones when compared to the borderline-decomposing skin of the Biters. Dying Light: The Beast will feature almost 60 variants of Virals.
The design behind Virals also extends into the backstories of the various special enemies you’ll face in the upcoming title. The Howler, for example, was formerly a psychiatric patient that was still restrained before they turned. The Goon, on the other hand, focuses more on raw strength since they used to be a blue-collar worker. Meanwhile, the Spitter was a medical professional, and can now spew out corrosive acid.
As for audio design, Techland has its design decisions as focusing on growls, shrieks and movement that “carry a raw, almost desperate intensity, amplifying the horror of their transformation.” To achieve the level of audio fidelity, Dying Light: The Beast has more than 9,103 unique soundbites for its zombies, which can range from growls, screams, shrieks, and even idle vocalisations. The studio teamed up with The Monster Factory’s Canadian team to work on the sound design. The Monster Factory, for context, has previously worked on major titles like Baldur’s Gate 3, The Last of Us Part 2 and God of War: Ragnarok.
We got a closer look at some of the strongest zombies in Dying Light: The Beast – dubbed Volatiles – thanks to a trailer released earlier today. The trailer also showcased Kyle Crane’s new beast-like abilities, like super strength and the ability to leap across incredible distances. For those of us more interested in killing zombies, the trailer also showed off some brutal executions that Crane can pull off against Chimeras.
Dying Light: The Beast is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on September 19. A release is also planned for PS4 and Xbox One at a later date.
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