74 people found this review helpful
2 people found this review funny
2
2
Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 69.1 hrs on record (68.7 hrs at review time)
Posted: 21 Jan @ 9:05am

”Nothing says true love like dog skulls”
Days Gone is an open-world post-apocalyptic zombie game with survival elements. It's a LONG game. At the time of this review, the 68.7 hours I have in the game is a single playthrough doing only the main story with a fair number of extras.

You'll take the role of Deacon St. John, an abrasive character for sure. The game throws you not only into an active virus outbreak that leads to a zombie apocalypse, but into Deacon's relationships with a number of people. People he seems to not have the greatest history with — “burned bridges”. He's also stuck on his lost love, two sentiments I identify with more than I care to admit in my real life. Ultimately, this makes him slightly unlikable. That combined with the game's length makes this a game for people looking for a certain experience.
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3144447687

My bike, my bike, my kingdom for my bike!
Being reductive, this game feels a lot like Death Stranding meets Far Cry. But I don't think it would be inappropriate to draw comparisons to Red Dead Redemption 2.

Your bike is your lifeline. It's how you travel, it's how you save. It will literally save your life. Fast travel is allowed if you have the gas and the path is not obstructed by things like infestation zones. Otherwise you need to get around without it. The bike does need gas to function but this is relatively trivial as an aspect of the game's survival traits. For one, gas cans respawn and do not run out of gas. And gas pumps are still active in this time, it's only been a few years. When I first started playing, I became rather anxious thinking I'd need to be constantly concerned about gas. You're always getting something as well. Killing stray zombies (freaks) or marauders will earn you XP to upgrade Deacon's abilities. The freak ears and other zombie types can also be sold to camps for credits and that will also build trust.

You do need to be careful however, ambushes can happen out of the blue. Not only this, but the gunfire or explosions can cause more freaks or non-infected wildlife to show up. Wolves, bears, mountain lions. The game can go from 0 to 100 real fast.

Your bike can be upgraded upon building trust with camps. As a drifter, you're able to go out on missions for a number of camps and establish more trust within them. You'll earn both trust (a type of XP really) and camp credits to refill things like ammo. Other resources can be pilfered out in the wild. You'll learn where to find certain types of resources as well — scrap can be found in almost any vehicle if the hood is still shut, gas cans are usually found around industrial vehicles such as tow trucks. Ammo can usually be found in police vehicles, medkits in ambulances — things you'd expect.

Much like Death Stranding, while you aren't a “Porter”, you are effectively playing that same role within this world. You'll learn the map and better ways to navigate it to perform the tasks the camps want. Bounty hunting, horde killing, resource retrieval and more.
https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3144447046

There's also a bit of conspiracy if you investigate the NERO checkpoints and go down that path.

The Gist
I think this game appeals to a rather specific audience. It does have multiple endings and there's a TON to do in this game. Granted, it can be a tad grindy. But the gunplay is great, the bike riding is great and I personally identified with Deacon in a number of ways. More prudently, if you feel... lost in your real life, this game might be the exact thing you need to distract yourself for a time.

https://gtm.you1.cn/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3144448670

If you've found this review helpful, consider following my curation — Station Argus
Was this review helpful? Yes No Funny Award
1 Comments
ᴸᶸᶜᵏᵞ z3r0k3wl 21 Jan @ 5:14pm 
cool!:steamhappy: