Days Gone Review

Days Gone sounds boring at first glance: a devastating pandemic has turned most of humanity into zombie-like “creatures”, and the world is in ruins. Let’s slip into the leather garb of Deacon St. John. He is a tattooed, pattering guy in his thirties. On his motorcycle, he plunges into the relentless fight for survival in post-apocalyptic America.

Indeed, none of the basic elements of Sony’s Studio Bend’s end-time world is original. We’re already familiar with similar premises from countless thematically related games, films and books. Yet the Oregon-based studio still manages to breathe new life into the “zombie” apocalypse.

731 days later

731 days after the outbreak of a devastating plague, his bike takes him over the post-pandemic roads of the feral US state of Oregon. His old life has been completely left behind by Deacon. The job he had in a motorcycle store. The gang he was in. Oh, yeah, his wife Sarah has been missing since the night of the disaster.

Only his long-time buddy Boozer still rides bravely by his side. Meanwhile, they earn their living together as drifters. Bounty hunters, as it were, who, unlike most other survivors, don’t live in protected camps but wander around like nomads, chasing freaks and looters for money. Stay tuned for more in our Days Gone review.

An Open-World that we love to devour

The game’s big star is revealed in the first few minutes of play. This open game world immediately captivates us with its picturesque end-time landscapes. We begin our journey in the dense forests of O’Leary Mountain, continue to the dusty Cascade region dotted with hot springs, and roam through the snowy mountain ranges of Iron Butte.

We find settlements in each of the total six areas of the open world, in which we chat with other survivors, visit merchants and accept missions. However, outside the protected electric fences, gruesome death lurks. At all times. In every place.

In destroyed cities, industrial plants or old research stations it’s teeming with freaks who want to tear the flesh from our ribs. When we drive along the streets at night, their shrieking makes our blood run cold.

When we stop, it’s not long before a pack of hungry man-eaters breathes down our necks. Or a wolf pack. Or worse: Infected wolves, whose powerful legs can easily keep up with our motorcycle and tear us down if we do not put a bullet in their fur first.

We’ll also have to deal with human enemies like marauders, who lurk in small camps and even attack us on the open road during random events.

In no end-time game have we ever felt so constantly threatened as in Days Gone. We don’t go on a pure action open-world adventure here. We murder through the area blithely as an overpowered superhero à la Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. Days Gone relies on survival elements – and forces us to take full advantage of them. Stay tuned for more in our Days Gone review.

Just how much survival is there in Days Gone?

Let us ease your fears for those who already break out in a sweat at the term “survival”, thinking of hard-hitting genre representatives like Don’t Starve or The Long Dark. Days Gone focuses more on “survival light”. There is no display of hunger, cold, heat or thirst. Only life energy and stamina have to be taken into account. We also have to pay attention to the condition of our bike.

Anyone who drives like an axe in the woods and rams trees or makes breakneck jumps along the way will sooner or later have to repair his faithful vehicle with scrap metal.

The gas can should also be kept in sight at all times. Unlike in GTA, we don’t race around with a full gas tank in Days Gone. Gradually we run out of juice here; the worst-case scenario is that we get stranded somewhere in the middle of nowhere and have to make our way on foot until we track down a gas can.

When push comes to shove, we fight for our lives in Days Gone. Although we can find scrap metal and gasoline in every conceivable town, we have to fight for the resources that save us in most cases. Wherever there are valuable items, there are always enemies.

All this sounds more stressful than it actually is. We can prevent most of the problems anyway with the right preparation. Those who always refuel their motorcycle diligently before the start of a mission (or have it refueled in the camp for money) will reach their destination without any stops.

We can also upgrade our machine and, for instance, add a bigger tank or a more resistant frame. Generally, survival elements in Days Gone don’t slow us down but rather feel natural and enrich the game with a refreshing portion of thrills.

Typical for survival games, Days Gone also provides a crafting system. All over the game world, we come across materials for ammunition, bandages, traps, explosive devices and weapon improvements, such as empty beer bottles, jet fuel and old rags for an excellent old Molotov cocktail. Another example is a box of nails, with which we can turn an old chair leg into a much more efficient killer.

Crafting is quick and easy, thanks to the intuitive menu. By pressing a button, we can activate a minimalistic selection menu, through which we can craft items at any time, also in the middle of the battle. Or even while we are sprinting to escape from a bear. Stay tuned for more in our Days Gone review.

This is how the combat system of Days Gone works

Days Gone relies on a coherent mix of stealth, violent melee and third-person gunplay in combat. Since our arsenal of weapons leaves a lot to be desired, we should initially rely on sneaking to be on the safe side.

Generally speaking, with good preparation and a planned approach, our chances of survival in the tough end-time Oregon increase immensely. Thus, it is better to mark enemies with binoculars while scouting the surroundings, distract them with stones and assassinate them one after the other.

However, the smart AI doesn’t really make it easy for us. The Freakers are more sensitive to noise than human enemies. Whoever shoots wildly, activates a horn by mistake while looting a wrecked car or simply runs too hastily through the rustling grass will quickly have a nasty infection on his hands which will also attract colleagues with his shouting.

If need be, we’ll have to resort to the machine gun. Still, we usually lose out very quickly if we don’t have enough ammunition. The Deacon can only withstand a few hits on the normal difficulty level.

Close combat attacks can save lives when ammo is scarce, but an axe, bat and co. will break after a while. Days Gone thus builds up a tremendous tension, making every confrontation nerve-wracking. Stay tuned for more in our Days Gone review.

Things to expect in the main and side missions

There are no big surprises in store for us when it comes to mission design. The varied story missions, however, still keep us entertained.

We scour ruined houses and stores in small towns to collect special resources. We scour the corridors of gloomy mines and research the missing members of a reconnaissance unit. We provide Boozer with a sniper rifle back up from a distance while he places explosives at a dam.

Meanwhile, side missions vary in quality. Free camps from looters? We already did that enough in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey! We have a lot more fun infiltrating Nero checkpoints. We must get into a locked container by solving small puzzles first. One of the first checkpoints, for instance, presents us with an electrically locked door that can only be opened if we restart an old generator.

All the side missions at a glance

• NERO Checkpoint: Here, we have to get into a locked base where valuable rewards are waiting for us to improve Deacon’s health, endurance or concentration.
• Raider Camps: Killing all the raiders in a camp will unlock a new crafting recipe each time.
• Camp jobs: these jobs include bounty hunts, for example, in which we have to kill a specific person or capture them alive.
• Optional Hordes: It is not only in the course of the story that we have to take on hordes. In the game world, there are several optional disgusting collectives that we can take out.
• Nests: Freakers retreat into nests spread out in several places in the game world. Burning them will unlock fast travel stations.

However, regardless of what we do in the open world, every side task serves a specific purpose and fits organically into the game’s mechanics. Each time we liberate a camp, we receive a new crafting recipe. Every time we complete a Nero checkpoint, we’ll find a Nero injection and use it to improve either Deacon’s stamina, health, or concentration.

Those who want to take on the game’s biggest challenge, in particular, should look off the main path to prepare. Stay tuned for more in our Days Gone review.

Masses of fun with the Freaker hordes

It gets really spectacular when we take on hordes of up to 500 infected simultaneously. We’ll encounter the freak hordes several times during the story and in optional open-world tasks. We can even jump into a horde fight in the first hours of the game, but we shouldn’t seriously try it until the end of the game.

Without the right equipment and improved health and stamina values, we don’t stand a chance. Battles with the disgusting collectives demand everything from us, requiring blood, sweat and patience. They are the final tests of our struggle for survival.

For instance, during the story, we fight against a horde that spreads out at a huge highway rest stop. What’s our first impulse? As we run away, we throw a Molotov cocktail into the middle of the fray and fire at the onrushing crowd from all cylinders. But we don’t even come close to success. We get mowed down faster than we can reload. Only novices shoot wildly, so the second time we try, we do it more deliberately.

This time, we place guided bombs between tankers and explosive red barrels. Then we scare up the mob, entice them through our trap and blow them up at the push of a button!

Lesson learned: Here, we’re not dealing with mindless, sluggish cannon fodder but a rather brute force that can only be stopped with clever tactics.

And that plays out wonderfully refreshing and exciting. In fact, so exciting that we still get palpitations after the third encounter with a horde. As 500 infected screech towards us, a sense of panic overcomes us, making even the most cunning plan suddenly seem quite bumbling.

The open-world adventure provides moments that will stay in our memories for a long time. Too bad that Days Gone tells a story that only makes us shrug our shoulders. Stay tuned for more in our Days Gone review.

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Too much wanted, too little told

So what does the story of Days Gone ultimately revolve around? At times it’s about the relationship between Deacon and Boozer; at times, it’s about the relationship between Deacon and Sarah. Certain missions also revolve around the creepy research organization Nero, which knows more about the Freakers and the pandemic than any goddamn remaining human. It is about friendship, love, hope, and despair. It is about everything. And in the end, nothing.

The problem is that there’s no focus on the story. There are several plot lines, but they only continue half-heartedly, and thus we are never really captivated by them. Yet open-world games can definitely tell exciting stories. Both The Witcher 3 and Sony’s own Horizon Zero Dawn show how it can be done! However, in Days Gone, it is never really clear what our goal is. Why we are fighting. Why we are living (or surviving).

The story is not only weak dramaturgically but also staged.

Many cut-scenes or dialogues are supposed to arouse emotions but seem rather embarrassing and completely out of place. For instance, in a flashback sequence, when Deacon and Sarah are standing in front of the altar, and she puts the ring on him with the words “I want you to ride me like your bike”. All in all, however, Bend Studio presents us with a story mash that clearly lacks spice.

Nonetheless, there is certainly nothing boring about the zombie-pardon freaker – apocalypse. Days Gone is a multi-layered survival action-adventure that makes a supposedly dead scenario incomparably exciting. For the perfect end-time trip, it lacks a compelling story and imaginative mission design. Yet, Bend Studio’s first PS4 blockbuster turns out to be a hit. Stay tuned for more in our Days Gone review.

Conclusion

While open-world games like The Witcher 3 or even Skyrim have always fascinated me, I was forced to give up after a few hours due to the flood of quests. I didn’t feel overwhelmed in Days Gone; generally, the deadly wilderness completely captivated me after just a few minutes.

The mission of making the world safer bit by bit makes sense and adds weight to even the fairly down-to-earth mission design. Also, thanks to the Frecosystem, everything in the game world feels noticeably dynamic and “realistic” because new enemies aren’t constantly popping up around me. What I do in the world remains the same.

However, I did not really warm up to the story and its characters. It all seems a bit intentional, not skillful, and partially artificially added. From superimposed emotions to half-baked stories. Whether it’s the connection to buddy Boozer or the secret behind Nero’s mysterious research facility. From the initial “Jay, that’s interesting”, it quickly went to “Joa, whatever” for me.

I had far fewer technical problems on the PS4 Pro than my colleague Linda, although Days Gone Stand Patch 1.03 is far from the usual quality of a PS4 exclusive. The sound dropouts, in particular, were normal and forced me to restart the game many times.

As far as the gameplay is concerned, I found the game very satisfying, even though the mix of stealth and action was relatively standard. The rides with the drifter bike are fun, and the survival component, including crafting, is well dosed. The hordes are another highlight; for me, they are one of the coolest features ever. For me, Days Gone is a candidate for game of the year, despite its problems.