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Techland's latest zombie slasher Dying Light: The Beast just got a massive free update as part of a re-release, and it comes with a thrilling new survival-heavy way to experience it.
"After releasing The Beast, we were doing several big updates where we wanted to add New Game +, legend levels, and nightmare mode," lead producer Michał Broda tells GamesRadar+ in an interview. "We were sitting down at the airport, actually, and we were figuring out how we can push the envelope a little bit more and do something to offer a different experience. So for me, Restored Land is another chapter in Dying Light: The Beast's life cycle." Calling it a mode, Broda says, would be "diminishing the scale" of how many systems had to be reworked for it.
Restored Land, launched separately from the main campaign in the start menu, promises "permanent consequences" to your actions as the game progresses. A new map clearance winning condition will let you track hero Kyle Crane's cleansing crusade through Castor Woods, wiping out the Infected zone by zone as humanity reclaims its home.
As well as an optional one-life permadeath mode, the new experience adds the risk of literally starving to death, thanks to a new hunger mechanic, and finite resources to husband. Say sayonara to loot farming, because once each convoy and dark zone is cleared, that precious loot is gone for good, too – and you'll need to craft your weapon mods wisely, because your flashlight will need fresh batteries from time to time.
The goal was to deliver "a different kind of fantasy" to the series' existing level-grinding replay value. Namely, a realistic survivor experience where your actions are reflected back in the environment around you. "We also immediately came to the conclusion that it will be a very tactile and organic experience if players can mark their own journey through the game on the map. So like you literally take out the map, you take a Sharpie or something, and you mark, 'OK, I've been there. I've cleaned it out. There's no longer anything there for me because I cleared the zombies.'"
These lasting consequences also have a knock-on effect to what the postgame looks like. For starters, it's now possible to actually complete the whole map for a more tangible, obvious ending to the game, though New Game + will allow the legend level-grinding sickos to keep doing their thing in regular campaign mode. "This is a bit of a different spin compared to what we had [before]," Broda acknowledges of how Restored Land changes The Beast's replay value. "But this was deliberate. We wanted to have a different spin on it."
But that's not all the new update has in store for you. Atop new racing rallies and over 30 new NPC interactions, "We've included five additional hidden stashes," Broda confirms of the non-Restored Land specific additions, with some stashes featuring "a couple of items that can save you from certain death." There are two of these "second-chance items" scattered throughout the world, he says, though Broda stops short of giving away their actual locations. That's your job to find out, after all.
Dying Light: The Beast – Restored Land is now available as a free download for all current owners of the base game, and has officially replaced the release version in all online stores.
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