Summary
- Roger Craig Smith is reprising his role as Kyle Crane in Dying Light: The Beast after almost a decade, with a more mature and vengeful portrayal.
- Kyle Crane has been altered by 13 years of brutal experiments, leading to changes in personality, gameplay, and story in Dying Light: The Beast.
- The new game sheds light on Kyle Crane's story, answering important questions from the first game and connecting to the upcoming Dying Light 2.
Roger Craig Smith has voiced some of the most iconic gaming characters of all time, from Assassin's Creed's Ezio Auditore da Firenze to Batman: Arkham Origins' titular Caped Crusader and countless Sonic the Hedgehog portrayals. Roger Craig Smith has lent his voice to a slew of popular protagonists, and he's returning to another iconic role, Kyle Crane, in Dying Light: The Beast.
Announced during Gamescom Opening Night Live, Dying Light: The Beast finally brings back fan-favorite protagonist Kyle Crane, who fans last saw at the end of Dying Light: The Following's DLC story. It's been almost 10 years since Roger Craig Smith stepped into Kyle Crane's free-running shoes, and in a recent interview with The Best War Games, he discussed how he's approaching the role all these years later.
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Roger Craig Smith Is Bringing a New Version of Kyle Crane to Life in Dying Light: The Beast
While it's been almost 10 years since the first Dying Light was released and fans first met Kyle Crane, that gap between appearances has been about 13 years of in-game time for the protagonist himself. As Dying Light: The Beast's announcement trailer teased, Kyle Crane has spent the last 13 years being experimented on by some unknown group led by a Baron. But now he's escaped, and he's not the same person he once was. Roger Craig Smith shed a bit more light on this when speaking with The Best War Games, saying:
He's changed. We don't want to lose Kyle Crane, we don't want to lose that element we like about him, but he's been altered by this experience. Kyle has been altered by 13 years of these brutal experiments. Skirting spoilers, this is not the same Kyle Crane, but it is still Kyle Crane. It's Kyle Crane altered.
While fans can expect to see the core of the original Dying Light's Kyle Crane, they shouldn't expect him to look – and more importantly – sound the same. It sounds like the character has endured a great deal since fans last saw him in Dying Light: The Following, and Smith has kept that at the very heart of his performance in this new entry. Fans can expect to hear a more mature, more vengeful Kyle Crane in Dying Light: The Beast. Smith gave a good example of this character shift, saying,
There's one line in the demo that's so simple, but it emulates that connectivity—when she says "Be careful" and Kyle goes "Yeah...right." There's a little bit of sarcasm. The old-school Kyle would have been like "Are you kidding me?" He would've been a little effusive in his language.
Of course, Kyle Crane's altered personality doesn't just factor into Dying Light: The Beast's main story. Dying Light: The Beast also gives Kyle Crane access to a new skill tree and new abilities, likely tied to his torture at the Baron's hands. Therefore, the past 13 years for Kyle Crane have resulted in alterations to his personality, to the story, and to the gameplay.
Dying Light: The Beast Is Finally Shedding Light on Kyle Crane's Story
While bringing Kyle Crane back into the fold is a great bit of fan service, it could feel hollow without the proper story explanations. Thankfully, Techland has that covered. During The Best War Games's recent sit down with Dying Light: The Beast's development team, Dying Light's franchise director Tymon Smektala had this to say about Crane's reappearance in the new game:
I think it answers the most important questions for players regarding the first game, definitely. I think that's the most I can say. You will learn how this is connected to the first game, but you'll also discover how it's connected to the second one.
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OpenCritic Reviews
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WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- C-Engine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Dying Light
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5
