Dying Light: The Beast vs Starfield
Techland's parkour horror versus Bethesda's space sandbox — pick a hunt or a universe.
Updated 6d ago
Punches above its $40 price tag — Crane's Beast Mode and the return to DL1's horde-dense streets make this the series' best since the original.
Free Lanes finally fixed the space travel — you can cruise between planets now — but the procedural planets and the weak main story are untouched.
By the numbers
Prices checked Aug 7; they move faster than we refresh, so confirm on the store page.
Recent-review figures are Steam's own last-30-days window, read Aug 7.
| Measure | Dying Light: The Beast | Starfield |
|---|---|---|
| Value Starfield wins on value | ||
| Price now | $37.62 −15% · eTail.Market | $34.39 −31% · GreenManGaming |
| All-time low | $39.59 | $34.39 |
| Cost / hour | $2.07/hr $37.62 · 18 h main story | $1.44/hr $34.39 · 24 h main story |
| Off its low | At its low low was Jun 2026 | At its low low was Jul 2026 |
| Main story | 18 h | 24 h |
| Health Dying Light: The Beast wins on player health | ||
| Steam reviews | 87% 70k reviews | 57% 175k reviews |
| Recent reviews | 83% 948 votes · vs 87% lifetime | 63% 396 votes · vs 57% lifetime · improving |
| Peak players | 4,602 Jul 2026 · ↑ 24% MoM | 7,294 Jul 2026 · ↓ 8% MoM |
| Launch peak | 4% of Sep 2025 launch peak · as of Jul 2026 | 2% of Sep 2023 launch peak · as of Jul 2026 |
| All-time peak | 120,949 Sep 2025 | 330,597 Sep 2023 |
| Support | ||
| Last patch | 4 months ago | 8 weeks ago |
| Patch cadence | 0 in last 90 days | 2 in last 90 days |
| Steam Deck | Platinum | Gold |
Shared scale — same months across the bottom, same player-count axis up the side, so the two lines are directly comparable. A shorter line means a younger game.
What players say
Patterns from long-haul reviewers, taken from each game's verdict. Not live sentiment — each side is dated below.
Dying Light: The Beast
Beast Mode's brutal strength-spree is the obvious highlight, letting Crane tear through hordes with a ferocity that feels like DL1 turned up to eleven.
The dodge mechanic's unreliability and forced weapon-slot swaps during cutscenes keep tripping up even veteran parkour players.
from our August 2026 verdict
Starfield
Long-haul pilots credit the ship builder and the mod scene with carrying exploration well past what the vanilla planets offer.
Reviewers with four-figure hour counts say the handcrafted content thins out fast and repeated points of interest turn planet-scanning into filler.
from our July 2026 verdict
Key differences
Which one is for you?
Pick Dying Light: The Beast if
- You loved Dying Light 1's parkour and want a focused 15-20 hour campaign
- You're a Kyle Crane fan and want a fan-service return to the Harran setting
- A tight handcrafted map beats a giant procedural sandbox in your current mood
Pick Starfield if
- Ship building is your primary fantasy, and you can lose hours in the module editor
- You're on PC and consider modding part of the setup, not a chore
- Bethesda's loot-everything, over-encumbered loop is comfort food for you
Bottom line
Choose Dying Light: The Beast if you want a tight, handcrafted horror-action course-correction; choose Starfield only if the ship builder and mod ecosystem outweigh its procedural bloat and weak main story.