Days Gone - The Desert That Once Where Your Home

A familiar concept

When Sony last year displayed Days Gone for the first time i was impressed by the world and the large number of angry zombies - or Freakers as they are called in this universe. It looked like a mix of The Last of Us and the latest Tomb Raider. This year we got to see even more in E3 that revealed more of how the game actually looks and it's mechanics, and now i have digged down and made a preview of this dystopian interpretation of USA:s Midwest-territory.

For the moment we don't actually know what has happen in Days Gone, and why the world is as distressed as it is. At first glance it looks like a pretty typical post-apocalyptical scenario, where the survivors are doing everything to stay alive under the current horrific conditions. And as always, just because you survived the disaster that hit the world, you don't automatically get along with others who also survived, many fights is against other peoples just as often as you fight of Freakers - and sometimes both at the same time.

Freakers are pretty, well, freaky. A good thump to the head with an axe often does the trick though.

E3 Spills the beans

From my analysis the content out there is about the same as what was shown & revealed during the Sony E3-press conference, but i managed to compile a good collection of information about the game and what makes it interesting. They really want to show how dynamic the game-world is, and that's why dramatic weather condition's at any time of the day is a big part of the game. Instead of an always clear blue sky we will sometimes see ripping snow storms with large snowflakes softly landing in the white bright snow. During the night, the amount of Freakers out hunting is substantially larger then during the day, but the night also offers some protection against other people as it is easier to play more stealthy. This also goes for the weather, for example gun-shoot sounds can be drowned by the thunder to avoid attention.

If you weren't able to attend E3 here is a quick overview: A guy named Manny has been kidnapped and our main protagonist Deacon St.john goes on his motorcycle to rescue him. Days Gone has many classical survival mechanics, so if your motorcycle runs out of gas you won't get any further. The bike can also start to malfunction or even break (don't ride in rough terrains as this will tear on the bike), giving the same end result. Therefore you should think strategic when making choices in the game in a strategic way. A balanced and prudent way off thinking is required to effectively progress in the game.

Killing people stealthy is often the best choice.

After a short trip you arrive to the enemy camp, and it's full of both people and traps. A quick look in your binoculars gives you a good overview of the camp and makes it easier to plan how to best move forward. By placing a bear-trap in the high grass you can distract a poor guard to get trapped in it after throwing a rock on a sign nearby. When the trap snapped on to the guard, everyone certainly was aware that something weird was going on. The concentration immediately was focused against the victim which makes it easier for us to sneak around and plan an ambush. It's easier to hide in the high grass and then sneak upon your enemies to dispatch them from behind in a familiar stealthy fashion.

A detailed, personal & action-filled gaming experience

There are different ways to fight in Days Gone and there are some things to have in mind when engaging in combat. One thing is that close-combat weapons have a limited durability exactly like in The Last of Us. If you manage to get a hold of some effective weapons it's a shame to waste them on simple enemies. You'll also have access to ranged weapons like guns and crossbows. Crossbows are silent and nice to use, but very scarce in ammunition and has a long reload time. There is a system that let's you craft more ammunition to be able to survive, but we have not yet seen this feature in action. We have seen though how important it is to collect resources both from nature and conquered enemy camps, so we have seen some clues on this system. The bike also has a set of upgrades available to the player and the saddlebags can be used as extra storage for things you don't need to always carry with you.

The dynamic weather system will often make Deacon St.john's journey a difficult one.

Days Gone will most likely be a large game with many big areas to explore. There will be side-missions if you wanna take a break from the main storyline and i assume the world in itself will include Easter eggs and secrets. The weather is as earlier noted very dynamic and will both help and overturn your efforts and your success may also vary upon what the time of day is. All this are things you need to think about as you plan your assaults and missions where both Freakers and humans act different based upon the current conditions. I should also mention that there are Freaker-animals roaming the world, which is a nice added twist to the well-used zombie narrative.

It's looking good Bend Studio, keep it up!

In terms of graphics the game is looking really solid, the open game world is beautifully detailed and generally just eye-catching with nice water effects and a living world with vegetation being affected by the wind and a diverse animal ecosystem. Even the weather is very well done, even if were talking snow or rain. If just the ambitions from the survival part and the narrative work together in a fluid and joyful way, i have all the reasons to believe this one will be a megahit when it's released sometime next year. Until then we can just hope and wait for more content to be released and give us an idea of what this interesting title will offer.