Days Gone Review by SolaceCreed

In a game market almost oversaturated by zombie games (probably with thanks to Turtle rock making them popular again) can Days Gone produce anything new or bring something different to the genre?

The answer, sadly, is no, but what Days Gone does well, it does really well. Take hordes, for example, hordes can be huge in this game and they are totally unforgiving, unlike most other Zombie games. Games like Dead Rising seem to have been a big influencer on Bend Studios too. Crafting is a huge part of survival in Days Gone and although the crafting stays realistic within the theme of the game, there are a few weapons that people may see parralells in withing the Dead Rising universe.

It also plays with the ideas of communities and the human need for conflict within these communities. Although, most of it is strained within a war of words, again it isn't exactly new in the world of the zombie game (see State of Decay and even then it wasn't original). What it does do differently here though, is introduce a system for approval. The more "trust" you earn for a community the more options open up at shops and at some (more importantly) upgrades for your bike. Being an member of an MC, you and your brother, Boozer, are both trying to survive as drifters. Those who go between communities and perform jobs for them. Living in the savage wilds most of the time.

You see hostile communities too, like The Marauders or Bandits. Who have camps out in the wilds and often use them to ambush people trying to just get by. Taking most of these out gives you more fast travel points and an extra place to sleep and prepare for the next leg of your journey.

What I quite enjoy is the different stories running inbetween one another. It isn't a straight storyline of from here to here, like every other zombie game. It has some idea of the fact side missions, aren't just a side story. The whole story should affect another part of the story. Whilst playing the main story (which seems to be split between Boozer and Sarah's individual stories), you'll comr across Lisa's and every settlement has its own part of the story. Blending a rich tapestry together.

Bounties are another way to keep things fresher than normal. Each time you kill a group or individual Zombie, you can pick up their ear as a token of how many you killed. The more you have the better (and this is where hunting hordes down would be particularly advantageous). You turn these in at a camp for camp credits and influence. As I mentioned before the more influence or "trust" you have the better, ontop of this you can go hunting and trade any meat you find at a camp kitchen, for the same rewards.

Graphically, it's what you'd have come to expect from an Sony exclusive. The same level of beauty you find in Horizon: Zero Dawn but the stark contrast between a horrorible future and beauty like The Last of Us. It manages to blend itself in to an georgeous mountainside location and owns it. It also lends to the smooth transitions between cinematic and gameplay. They are slightly different in the way they're shown, but it isn't as obvious as the aforementioned Horizon.

It's kept the gameplay itself a bit basic too, making this fairly accessible to most gamers. Crafting it done by holding L1 and then finding what you wish to craft and holding R1 and then R2 to use it without leaving the menu. Crafting Weapons if done exactly the same way, as long as you have the base weapon and components in your inventory. These are also unlocked by clearing out camps of Raiders etc and pillaging their underground bunkers. Others are handed out for completing story missions.

One problem it has is its way points on the minimap. It'll take you on a literal path, meaning that it will sometimes expect you to climb a mountain that you can't climb to get to an NERO research encampment. Although, I've had some funny moments crushing an unsuspecting Freaker (the games name for the Zombies) with my Bike after falling off it trying to climb a cliff on it.

NERO encampments also offer you a chance not only to get a new fast travel point on the map, but an opportunity to expand you health, stamina or focus with a syringe found inside the camp. Although, until you unlock the Focus skill in the Ranged skill tree. It only gives you the option for stamina and health.

I've also experimented with the difficulty settings. Whilst proving really fun. Hard mode isn't so much different to easy. Freakers seem to hit for the same damage no matter if you're on easy or hard, meaning you can struggle with a larger group no matter what, which isn't neccessarilly a bad thing. It just becomes frustrating if you're struggling on a part of a mission and the difficulty doesn't really seem to matter on damage taken. The real difference in finding crafting materials and fuel in the wilds. Fuel seems to be in every single camp on easy mode, I put it on hard and it becomes few and far between, making you play about with your bike less and trying to take a shorter route than what the game suggests you take.

Stealth also seems rather broken. I found it easier on hard mode, havong not failed my mission at all on that difficulty. Put it down to easy and NERO/Freakers seemed to find me regardless. Although, many of you may say it could be because I got complacent, succeeding at hard may give you that complex of something being a bit broken on an easier setting when you fail.

All in all, it's a great game, does it do everything spectacularly? No, not many games do, but it does do what it does very well. Perhaps not a game of the year candidate, but you could see it possibly sneaking a few awards at the BAFTA's.