Days Gone is certainly not a zombie apocalypse game; at least, that’s what the developers have been trying to tell everyone, but it is certainly a peculiar one. Zombies or humans infected with a virus called freakers plague the lands of the United States of America, and you are stuck in the middle of the state of Oregon. A rough biker who sets out in the virus-infected world to seek answers about his wife dying amid this phenomenon.
Days Gone lets you travel out in the vast open world on your trusty motorbike, which you can upgrade and make suit better according to your needs. The constant upgrades mean that you will find yourself grinding for loot and parts all over the map, and this is where things start to go awry, as the long and tedious hours you spend doing this will make you wish you were doing something better. There are plenty of things to customize and craft as you progress in the game, and if you are a fan of stealth mission-type games, then this one will appeal to you.
You have to seek answers about the death of your wife as you travel around the map and talk to numerous NPC’s collecting bits of information every time you progress, the game manages to keep a hold of your interest but the game feels stretched beyond a certain point where you start feeling tired after a bit.
Only after spending a good couple of hours in the game do you feel that the game starts to make sense, and with characters like Boozer, who will keep you entertained throughout the story with some heartfelt moments, will you feel that the game starts to make sense.
The game has about 6 types of enemies that you have to be careful about and as mentioned above this not being a zombie apocalypse game, the main threat will always come from humans. The character design and the story arc is given to the title deserves some praise, people at SIE Bend Studios have made a decent job of making the game feel just good enough.
You must be careful when dealing with hordes as it can instantly turn into a game of hunter v prey, and you are being hunted by hundreds of hungry freakers looking out for a meal. This is the only instance in the game where you will find your heart pumping hard enough in your chest to kick in the survival instinct and hail ass. The good thing about this is that the game features about 37 hordes, but only 3 make are featured in the story. The game does not have any ultimate boss, rather the studio has tried to make this into an episodic tale with a DLC being announced recently which means that this isn’t the end of the tale for Deacon St. John.
The voice acting and visuals are on par with the best of the titles released in the past, and yet the lines aren’t; you will find some cringy dialogues written. I guess this is how you speak when a zombie-like plague is around.
The gameplay feels a bit like Horizon Zero Dawn and other open-world games. Still, this one isn’t as polished and lacks a core story to bind all those elements perfectly together, and as we have seen, many games opt in favor of the grind instead of focussing on the story of the game. Days Gone felt like it wanted to do both but got stuck in between without inclination toward any sides.
It is a fun game to play. If you are patient enough and want to take your time, this game makes perfect sense, but if you rush into it and try to complete it as soon as possible, it somehow feels repetitive and troublesome.
It is not a masterclass of any sort, but it is a fun and immersive game that takes you on a ride through lush forests and human camps scattered along, evading anything and everything that comes your way.
