Dying Light: The Beast vs Starfield
Techland's tight 18-hour thrill ride versus Bethesda's sprawling 24-hour space sim — pick based on whether you crave horde combat or ship engineering.
Updated 21d 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 Sep 8; they move faster than we refresh, so confirm on the store page.
Recent-review figures are Steam's own last-30-days window, read Sep 8.
| Measure | Dying Light: The Beast | Starfield |
|---|---|---|
| Value Dying Light: The Beast wins on value | ||
| Price now | $26.76 −55% · GameBillet | $35.99 −28% · Fanatical |
| All-time low | $26.76 | $34.39 |
| Cost / hour | $1.47/hr $26.76 · 18 h main story | $1.51/hr $35.99 · 24 h main story |
| Off its low | At its low low was Sep 2026 | +5% low was Jul 2026 |
| Main story | 18 h | 24 h |
| Health Dying Light: The Beast wins on player health | ||
| Steam reviews | 87% 71k reviews | 57% 175k reviews |
| Recent reviews | 81% 710 votes · vs 87% lifetime · souring | 62% 418 votes · vs 57% lifetime |
| Peak players | 4,009 Aug 2026 · ↓ 13% MoM | 7,154 Aug 2026 · ↓ 2% MoM |
| Launch peak | 3% of Sep 2025 launch peak · as of Aug 2026 | 2% of Sep 2023 launch peak · as of Aug 2026 |
| All-time peak | 120,949 Sep 2025 | 330,597 Sep 2023 |
| Support | ||
| Last patch | 5 days ago | 3 months ago |
| Patch cadence | 1 in last 90 days | 0 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 missed Kyle Crane's snark and want him back as the protagonist.
- High-speed parkour and melee combos are your preferred playstyle.
- You want a tight 18-hour arc without needing open-world freedom.
Pick Starfield if
- Ship building is the actual draw — you'll lose hours in the module editor.
- You're on PC and installing a dozen mods before hour one is part of the hobby.
- Bethesda's pick-up-quest and over-encumbered loop is comfort food for you.
Bottom line
Pick Dying Light: The Beast for its focused, flow-heavy combat and strong 87% positive reception; choose Starfield only if ship engineering and mod culture matter more to you than a cohesive world.