Days Gone is repetitive, typical, predictable, and mostly uninspired. But after looking past its shortcomings, I realized something: it’s also a blast. Not every game has to be revolutionary, and Days Gone is a perfect example of that.
Zombie games (and most other horror-survival titles) make up a lot of my gaming time, so when I saw the launch trailer for Days Gone three years ago, I was psyched. Watching Deacon St. John—a character I would later come to know as “Deek”—run from a massive horde of what the game calls “Freakers” in that first look was exciting. While it was more cinematic than gameplay, it looked intense, fast-paced, strategic, and most of all, horrifying. It instantly sold me.
Fast-forward three years and several delays, and I got the game in my hands on launch day, April 26, 2019. I popped that bad boy into my PlayStation 4 Pro to get rolling (literally—the motorcycle action was something I was looking forward to), hoping for what would ultimately become one of my new top five games.
I went into the game as blindly as I could. I watched the trailers and gameplay teasers as they were released, but avoided reviews so I could go in without preconceived ideas about what the game is, isn’t, should, or shouldn’t be. The intensity of the launch trailer made me think of a specific moment from my favorite game of all time—the hotel basement from The Last of Us—so I had high hopes that it would live up to that. Spoiler: It didn’t.
And that’s okay. Let’s talk about why.
Warning: Major Days Gone spoilers ahead.
A Great Story Can Make a Great Game…
A great game makes players care genuinely about the characters and what they’re going through—I love Joel and Ellie (The Last of Us) on what feels like a personal level. In Horizon: Zero Dawn, I cared about Aloy’s quest—I wanted her to find the answers she was so desperately seeking. In God of War (2018), Kratos showed a side we’ve never seen before and is such an incredibly dynamic, multi-faceted character who makes you feel.
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