![]() ![]() When I discovered that Rippers, one of the creepier human factions, didn’t attack Freakers, I just had to bring one nearby and it decimated the entire squad. When I found a camp full of human enemies and a small horde nearby, I just had to make enough noise to get the horde to come check it out, then they cleared the camp for me while I sat in a bush. That first experience with a horde taught me a few other things as well, such as to use the world around me to overcome obstacles in unique ways. That was the moment I graduated into a grizzled survivor in Days Gone. The next day, I returned to the game and the horde, and managed to kill them all with some clever decisions. I retreated to my safe house to lick my wounds, then left my gameplay session wondering how I could overcome such a force. I was impressed at how they moved and the terror that filled me as I was about to be mauled. Running into a horde is inevitable, though, and my first experience with them was satisfying even though I failed miserably. I never went out at night if I could help it. Hordes will hibernate during the day, then wander around when it’s dark. If one is alerted to Deacon’s presence, the entire horde is, and that’s something that Bend Studio nailed. The same concept applies to hordes, which are large groups of Freakers that act as a single entity. I exercised extreme stealth for the first few nests, but as I got more comfortable, I stopped hiding in bushes as much and started experimenting more. Approach during the night and the nest might be empty, but the world around it certainly won’t be. Burn it out during the day and Swarmers will rush out to attack Deacon. During the night they will come out to play, which gives players a choice in how to deal with these infestations. During the day, Swarmers, a type of Freaker, will hibernate in infestation nests. Thankfully, Days Gone does a lot of gameplay mechanics well, such as the types of Freakers, how they behave, how Deacon’s interactions with them change based on time of day, and a player’s preference for stealth versus guns blazing. It felt more like trudging through mud than flowing freely through water. Far too often I would have to click through menus to figure out what my objective was, or I’d discover a new main quest because of a blinking icon on a map instead of a natural transition. Unfortunately, the grind to get to the good stuff is long, and the narrative presentation falls short of what I’ve come to expect from a PS4 exclusive. ![]() The story Bend Studio is telling in Days Gone is not a short one, and I hit a point of fatigue in the middle waiting for things to pick up, which they do. As players embark on this journey they will be flipping back and forth between present-day horrors and flashbacks to better times. Having lost Sarah, the love of his life, in the early stages of the outbreak, Deacon now mixes his time between jobs for the various encampments around Oregon and trying to find out what truly happened to Sarah. It’s clear early on that he’s a damaged man. John, a biker who is doing quite well for himself in the two years since the virus outbreak that brought about this post-apocalyptic world. In Days Gone, gamers will play as Deacon St. Days Gone certainly has its flaws, but it isn’t without its share of fun and charm. Bend Studio has fallen short of those expectations, but not all meals have to be gourmet in order to taste good. When Days Gone was pitched to fans, the same expectations followed. For years exclusive titles have pushed Sony’s hardware sales forward, and they have delivered some of the best narrative-driven experiences in recent memory. When Sony Computer Interactive Entertainment releases a PS4 exclusive, the gaming world stands up and pays close attention. ![]()
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