Developer: SIE Bend Studio
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platform: PS4
Tested on: PS4
Days Gone – Review
Back in March we had the chance to extensively test the preview-build of Days Gone, and we were quite impressed with how the first build of the game turned out. Now, with the game being released, we were able to try the game a bit before its official release and try out the full and complete version of Days Gone. We were still definitely in the mood to explore the world of Days Gone after our ‘hands-on’, and a lot of bugs were fixed, but we also noticed a few minor issues with the game, making it a great exclusive, but not a perfect one.
Story
Truth be told, the story remains a bit superficial for a long time, as you’ll be thrown in the game with Deacon as your character. You’ll see that the world has gone to hell, that most of humanity has been wiped out and that you’re simply struggling for survival in the midst of rabid survivors and zombie-like monsters. You’ll get flashbacks on how you met your wife and how she supposedly passed away. If you complete story missions, you’ll get bits of story progress now and then, but again, things stay a bit bland and unclear for the most part.
Graphics
Graphically the game does look like a proper PlayStation exclusive. The world is decently sculpted, there are a lot of different assets that have been used, but for the most part things do feel a bit bland at times, seeing you’re in a rural area, without that many signs of civilization around you. You have well-designed camps, a decent amount of variation in the structures you’ll come across, but these are littered with many character models that only show small variations of one another, making it feel like you’re constantly fighting the same foes. Nonetheless, the complete package looks good, the world is fun to explore, and it’s fun to tinker with your bike, even though the options are somewhat limited. Facial features could have used a bit of extra work though.
Sound
The sound design is fairly minimalistic, as outside of the main menu there isn’t any real background music. You’ll have to do with ambient sound, the gurgling of the Freaks, the screaming of the Rippers and a lot of voiced dialogues. Overall things are decently designed, but there isn’t all that much to go around, safe for some of the extra sound effects of weapons, your bike and so on.
Gameplay
Days Gone is an Action-Adventure game, that has some survival elements in it. The official page also states it’s a horror game, but we did not find that many horror elements. From start to finish, you’ll have to drive around in a barren world where only a few survivors have banded together, to either allow people to live out their lives peacefully, while others try to kill survivors in order to steal their goods, and others have turned crazy forming a strange cult, all while zombie-like monsters roam the planet. The offset is quite simple, you either follow the main quest, the side quests, or you just occupy yourself exploring, finding upgrades, wiping out enemy camps, and destroying zombie nests.
As mentioned above, the offset is quite simple, you’ll be occupying yourself with doing tasks for different people. In the game you can collect items, in order to gain scrap, to fix your bike and weapons, or simply find new weapons and craft recipes when you clear side-objectives. The story objectives often offer little in terms of rewards and there’s not always a clear goal on what you should focus first, just like the is no difficulty curve. Nonetheless, the overall gameplay and formula are quite pleasant. The handling and the overall controls feel responsive, even if the bike controls feel a bit floaty.
The biggest gripe with Days Gone is probably the maintenance of the motorcycle. As a biker your way of transportation is your motorcycle. You’ll notice that going on foot will be extremely slow, and you’ll also lose your quicksave point, as you can save when you’re close to your bike. That being said, the way damage is dealt to your iron stallion is sometimes ridiculous, as you can hit a branch, when barely going at walking speed, and lose more than half the hit points of your bike, but at other times you can fall off a bridge and only lose 20%. Your vehicle is also a gas guzzler as you can drive two blocks and lose 25% of your fuel, which makes it tedious to either repair your bike with the rare pieces of scrap you find, or to make sure you always find enough fuel so you can keep on driving.
Conclusion
Days Gone is a great PlayStation exclusive, but it does miss a few qualities to make it a very memorable one. The game is filled with content, albeit somewhat repetitive content, in which you’ll notice that finding more weapons and gear isn’t always necessary. You’ll have fun exploring the map, finishing quests, clearing hot zones and simply progressing with the story. If you’re a fan of sandbox adventure games that don’t hold your hand too tightly, then Days Gone will certainly guarantee a lot of fun.
Days Gone - Review,
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