Dying Light: The Beast thrives in its smaller map by making every centimeter count, and that makes Castor Woods the best open world in series history

It's rare that you see a developer going out of its way to right its own wrongs the way Techland does with Dying Light: The Beast's stunning open world. In crafting the dense yet compact environs of Castor Woods, a picturesque suburban wilderness where vines, trees, and greenery throttle what's left of humanity's claim to it, the Polish studio essentially reneges on the entire design philosophy of its last game. And that's a very good thing in this case.

Where Dying Light 2's Villedor boasted a staggering map with up to 500 hours of content to pick through, it took me just 52 to explore almost all of The Beast. Similarly, as per our Dying Light 2 review, the addition of player-led narrative choices were unpopular with many fans (myself included) and its overall narrative suffered for it. This time, The Beast's story is fully taken into Techland's hands as it delivers an immensely satisfying conclusion – and lays foundations for a new beginning.

Through abandoning ambitions of size, scope, and RPG-like player choice elements, Techland has managed to propel itself forward by going back to basics. The Beast is a tighter experience on every level, and Castor Woods is the perfect representation of why that's such a good thing as we look ahead to the series' future.

On top of the world

The thing about Castor Woods is that it doesn't feel small at all. Comprising different regions from Old Town to the Villa Area and the National Park (and beyond), Kyle Crane's new survival horror playground is teeming with intrigue at every turn.

I recall playing Dying Light 2 at launch in 2022, and while I did enjoy myself thoroughly overall, I do remember feeling that it felt huge for the sake of hugeness at times. Enemy density wasn't very consistent, with some areas of the map packed with hordes of Biters while others seemed barren of life and undead alike. This is the biggest notable difference in Dying Light: The Beast (aside from all the guns, cars, and the return of our OG leading man); no matter where you go in Castor Woods, there's always something there waiting for you.

Enemy density feels logical for a given space. For example, you'll find a few straggler Biters wandering the more expansive natural areas across the river, but the streets of Old Town are teeming with Infected. It's impossible to simply stroll through unspotted, which further incentivizes using parkour to get up onto rooftops, though there are still pockets of them up there on roof terraces and balconies, too.

It's very believable; people might have barricaded themselves into their own properties, hoping to spare others before they turned into Biters themselves, only to end up breaking their own defenses.

More than skin deep

That's not a situation I made up in my head. Every abandoned apartment, building, or lootable store in Dying Light: The Beast contains hints of the people who once lived or worked there, with scribbled notes found beside corpses, safe code memos, and collectible files and audio tapes to further flesh out the context of Castor Woods' history.

All of these hints of lives snuffed out, echoes of the past reverberating into Kyle's future, permits Techland a unique opportunity: to build out the story of Castor Woods without shoehorning in side quest after side quest.

The effect is pronounced. With 17 strong story quests in Dying Light: The Beast tempered by a handful of lengthy, well-crafted side missions, the game is meticulous in both its environmental and mission-guided storytelling. The fat of its predecessor is trimmed to deliver an exceptionally articulated narrative that doesn't feel squeezed into the smaller confines of its map, but enhances it at every turn.

It also helps that Castor Woods is straight-up beautiful. Techland has clearly taken its time with it, the lack of loading screens making for seamlessly smooth transitions from hostile streets to safe havens with plenty to side track you as you move through both.

Gazing out at the world from one of Kyle's many tower spots takes my breath away every time, and even better is knowing that everything the eye can see is likely somewhere I can run, drive, or zombie-hop over to and explore for myself.

By merging the best of Dying Light 1 and 2's open worlds and dialling its map size back considerably, Techland has found a solution to the last game's style over substance problem. Finally, we have both of those things at once – a beautiful map that's more than a pretty face – without sacrificing any of the curiosity that compels us to explore every inch.

Here's hoping it sticks with this approach as it looks ahead to post-Beast days. If the heartpounding conclusion of this game is any indication, that future is looking damn good already.

There are plenty of upcoming horror games to check out once you finish The Beast, including Silent Hill f