About this game
Days Gone is an action-adventure survival horror game set in a post-apocalyptic open world, played from a third-person perspective . The player controls Deacon St. John (Sam Witwer), a former U.S. Army 10th Mountain Division Afghanistan War veteran outlaw-turned-drifter and bounty hunter who prefers life on the road to wilderness encampments. The game takes place two years after a global pandemic occurred which killed almost all of humanity, and transformed millions of others into "Freakers", mindless nocturnal zombie-like creatures that are quickly evolving. In the E3 2016 stage demo, two types of "Freakers" were revealed, Newts and Hordes. In the E3 2017 stage demo, infected animals such as bears and wolves were revealed to also comprise the "Freakers", and human enemies are revealed to be featured in the game as well.
Days Gone was originally intended to launch in 2018, but the game suffered several delays. It was then supposed to be released on February 22, which would have had it competing against Anthem and Metro: Exodus. Sony delayed it once more, when it was currently released on April 26, 2019.
While we don’t know much about the character, we know that the virus affected his personal life. In the trailer, he recounts riding down the open road with a woman, presumably his wife or girlfriend. The assumption here, based on the language he uses, is that she either fell victim to the virus herself, or was taken out by someone afflicted with the virus. A man with a head tattoo, possibly a member of St. John’s biker gang, reminds him that “Phoebe” is dead. St. John appears to be on a vendetta as a bounty hunter, and it seems as if he is a lone wolf, working outside of his biker gang in the present.
He is described as a drifter, and at this time, we don’t know of any close allies. St. John remarks that “brotherhood” used to mean something, implying that he has lost hope in humanity. In the reveal trailer, however, St. John enters through a gate into what appears to be a safe haven, suggesting that there are camps where St. John can regroup before setting back out into the apocalyptic wilderness.
Days Gone has a dynamic weather system. If we watch the reveal trailer, we see St. John traveling both during the day and at night, and there’s even torrential rainfall at one point. At this time, it’s unclear how the weather system will affect the gameplay, but from the footage we can seen, it would appear that it’s safer to work during the day. At nightfall, St. John enters a gated camp with a bonfire.
Days Gone‘s critical path is roughly 30 hours. It’s also clear that you can spend much more time completing side missions and other activities. It’s a traditional single-player adventure with no multiplayer or co-op features to speak of.
The game was the best selling physical game in the United Kingdom in the week of release. It went on to be the best-selling software release in all the format sales chart for three following weeks.
Ratings and reviews
Pros & Cons
Pros
- An open world - Brutal combat sandbox - A captivating story
Cons
- A hostile world - Dangerous regions