Releasing as a PlayStation exclusive holds
high expectations in this console generation. After we were given God of War and Marvel's Spider-Man in 2018, expectations were high for the latest
PS4 exclusive to release Days Gone.
It saddens me to say however, that Days
Gone doesn't quite live up to the level of interest set by the
aforementioned titles. However, while I consider those two examples as
exceptional games, Days Gone is a
very solid experience that is well worth the price of admission wither you
value time spend or a satisfying game play loop.
 |
| Protagonist Deacon St John and your customizable bike [Sony Bend Studio ©, Image source: Daily Express] |
We are introduced to our protagonist,
Deacon St. John and his wife Sarah by way of an intro cut scene that give us a
glimpse of how the world fell to pieces around them. She is injured and Deacon gets
her a ride out on a military helicopter headed somewhere intended to be safe.
Rather than join her, Deacon stays behind to help his best friend and biker
brother, Boozer who has been injured. So far things are very simple. Time jumps
forward a few years, Deacon and Boozer are "drifters" which equates
to handymen and bounty hunters in the open world of Oregon. The story is very
long, even without the side content, there are essentially three large regions
in the whole game to explore. I enjoyed the games story, I wasn’t totally
invested but it was enjoyable. There were moments where the story took turns I
fully expected, those I didn't and then for added measure, turns I expected it
to take that it did but then flipped it on its head. The characters are well
written and well performed, even though Deacon's nattering to himself can get
tiresome at times.
Being an open world game, this is where you will be spending the majority of your time in Days Gone and as far as open worlds go, this is up on the list for "best open worlds in a video game". Traversal on your bike, which in itself is a primary game mechanic, is tricky at first but when you get a hang of the steering and utilizing the drift mechanics, you'll be roaming the land like a pro. You'll find the remnants of the old world everywhere, full of supplies and materials to craft with. Although if you're anything like me, you won't use a lot of the crafted traps and bombs until very late in the game, using a Molotov at most for nests.
There are a decent variety of locations and side objectives on the map that you'll want to go to and complete as doing these in certain sections of the map will grant you favour and "camp credits" which is the games primary currency. For better bike parts and stronger guns, you'll need to increase trust and trade in meat and bounties (Freaker ears) to get a bit of extra pocket money. Raising trust isn't too difficult either, by the end game I'd maxed out all but one camp's trust level but aside from a cut scene that brings all the camps together, I don't think there's much else you get from that (besides a trophy probably).
It's worth investing time into roaming the open world and completely jobs as they come up as you want the better upgrades for your bike. In the early stages, you'll seemingly run out of fuel straight away, giving a layer of strategy to getting around and surviving. Petrol stations are at select locations, but you can use petrol cans to refuel (they're infinite and always re-spawn in the same place, pro tip). The bike mechanics are very well designed, trying to ride a motorbike in any other game is ruined for me now! I played Rage 2 almost straight after this game and those bike controls were shocking, tried Watch Dogs 2 more recently and while speed was good handling was none existent. The only difference between the bike in Days Gone and other games is that you only get one bike; if you leave it somewhere miles away, it's not going to be able to be brought to you while you are out in "the shit" and if it takes damage you need scrap to repair it. It can be summoned back to you and fixed up at camps, for a price.
Something that needs addressing from its release is how many critics wrote off the game as being riddled with bugs which affected its end score. In my play through that lasted somewhere around the 60-hour mark, I didn't encounter any big bugs or glitches. The only things of note were a sound effect for a trip wire snapping going off whenever I passed the same point on the map in the very late game. The other was the constant frame rate dips whenever I started to really get some speed in my bike (and I was playing on a PS4 Pro too). Other than that, I honestly couldn't recall any other bugs or glitches in my time with Days Gone. Not to say that there aren't any there, I just hardly noticed any.
With all that said, it really comes down to what you want out of a game. The missions can feel a little repetitive (go to location and kill humans or Freakers) but the investment for doing that meant getting better bike parts and guns. It's very lengthy so if you desire game length in relation to money spent, you'll easily be pleased with how much time you'll spend in Days Gone. The developers have stated they plan for DLC at some point so I know when that drops, I'll be more than happy to jump back into the world of Days Gone. I don't really have a scoring system for my reviews as I never really thought it was necessary but to sum my opinions on this game, get it!
Being an open world game, this is where you will be spending the majority of your time in Days Gone and as far as open worlds go, this is up on the list for "best open worlds in a video game". Traversal on your bike, which in itself is a primary game mechanic, is tricky at first but when you get a hang of the steering and utilizing the drift mechanics, you'll be roaming the land like a pro. You'll find the remnants of the old world everywhere, full of supplies and materials to craft with. Although if you're anything like me, you won't use a lot of the crafted traps and bombs until very late in the game, using a Molotov at most for nests.
There are a decent variety of locations and side objectives on the map that you'll want to go to and complete as doing these in certain sections of the map will grant you favour and "camp credits" which is the games primary currency. For better bike parts and stronger guns, you'll need to increase trust and trade in meat and bounties (Freaker ears) to get a bit of extra pocket money. Raising trust isn't too difficult either, by the end game I'd maxed out all but one camp's trust level but aside from a cut scene that brings all the camps together, I don't think there's much else you get from that (besides a trophy probably).
It's worth investing time into roaming the open world and completely jobs as they come up as you want the better upgrades for your bike. In the early stages, you'll seemingly run out of fuel straight away, giving a layer of strategy to getting around and surviving. Petrol stations are at select locations, but you can use petrol cans to refuel (they're infinite and always re-spawn in the same place, pro tip). The bike mechanics are very well designed, trying to ride a motorbike in any other game is ruined for me now! I played Rage 2 almost straight after this game and those bike controls were shocking, tried Watch Dogs 2 more recently and while speed was good handling was none existent. The only difference between the bike in Days Gone and other games is that you only get one bike; if you leave it somewhere miles away, it's not going to be able to be brought to you while you are out in "the shit" and if it takes damage you need scrap to repair it. It can be summoned back to you and fixed up at camps, for a price.
Something that needs addressing from its release is how many critics wrote off the game as being riddled with bugs which affected its end score. In my play through that lasted somewhere around the 60-hour mark, I didn't encounter any big bugs or glitches. The only things of note were a sound effect for a trip wire snapping going off whenever I passed the same point on the map in the very late game. The other was the constant frame rate dips whenever I started to really get some speed in my bike (and I was playing on a PS4 Pro too). Other than that, I honestly couldn't recall any other bugs or glitches in my time with Days Gone. Not to say that there aren't any there, I just hardly noticed any.
With all that said, it really comes down to what you want out of a game. The missions can feel a little repetitive (go to location and kill humans or Freakers) but the investment for doing that meant getting better bike parts and guns. It's very lengthy so if you desire game length in relation to money spent, you'll easily be pleased with how much time you'll spend in Days Gone. The developers have stated they plan for DLC at some point so I know when that drops, I'll be more than happy to jump back into the world of Days Gone. I don't really have a scoring system for my reviews as I never really thought it was necessary but to sum my opinions on this game, get it!
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