Days Gone is quite the stunning return for Bend. This is a PlayStation 4 exclusive that demonstrates just how powerful the console is, putting former bounty hunter Deacon St John (played by Star Wars: The Force Unleashed’s Starkiller actor, Sam Witwer) in the middle of a huge, openworld post-apocalypse event the likes of which we’ve never seen in gaming. The world is sprawling and gorgeous, the numbers of enemies on screen at any one time quite honestly staggering, and the combat intuitive and stressful; even if you’re bored of zombie games, Days Gone is doing just about enough to renew interest. While it’s a few years off from release, Days Gone has immediately established itself as one of the most impressive games in the pipeline, an engaging new action adventure that’s looking to push convention through its systems and expand the notion of emergent gameplay in an open-world setting.
1 THE PREMISE IS PRETTY UNORIGINAL
DAYS GONE LOOKS like a lot of things. Ultimately, this does it a disservice, but it’s easy to draw comparisons. It looks a little like a spin-off from The Last Of Us when in motion, featuring a dishevelled biker instead of a dishevelled Joel. On paper, its plot – an ‘event’ ravaged the world two years prior to the game beginning that turns most of the population into flesh-frenzied Freakers, leaving the survivors to operate as gangs – is a pretty hackneyed combination of The Walking Dead and Sons Of Anarchy. Basically, we’re all a bit bored of zombies; thankfully the execution of the game’s mechanics and systems make up for any story shortcomings.
2 THERE IS NO RELEASE DATE IN SIGHT
WERE YOU TO judge Days Gone on what has been shown publicly, perhaps you’d believe a release date is in sight – that tenminute demonstration seemed more polished than a lot of full, final releases. While the game has been in production for more than three years, it’s still in early development. Bend Studios has finalised the core mechanics, themes and ideas behind the game, but now is where the hard work begins. The vertical slice demo shown has a lot of promise, of course, but now the pressure will be on for Bend – developing its first console game in over a decade – to actually deliver on its promises.
3 IT FEATURES A HUGE OPEN WORLD
DAYS GONE FEATURES an enormous environment that you can travel across at any time with your bike. While there will be a critical path and story missions that have you discovering encampments and fighting gangs, there’s also a big focus on discovering new outposts and scavenging resources. This is integral for progression and survival, with the weapon-crafting system designed to make you feel like a modern-day MacGyver, where you’re forced to find clever solutions with the limited tools in front of you to tackle the ridiculous amount of enemies. Be wary of the environment and the ways you can use it to your advantage, or risk being torn apart by huge groups of zombies.
4 YOUR BIKE IS YOUR BEST BUDDY
IN DAYS GONE, you aren’t riding the open road, you’re riding the broken road – because all of the roads are broken up by roadblocks and carnage and zombies… don’t worry, you’ll get it later. So, anyway, all these broken roads necessitate a lot of off-road riding, which you’ll do with your heavily customised bike, called a Drifter. It’s a grounded item in the world, meaning you’ll need to know where it is at all times to survive – ditching it to escape Freakers on foot could cause more trouble in the long run – especially as its saddle bags hold your entire inventory.
5 IT’S RUNNING ON UNREAL ENGINE 4
EPIC MIGHT BE out of the big budget development game these days, but that doesn’t mean its tech is any less impressive. Bend Studio is building Days Gone with the Unreal Engine 4 and the results speak for themselves. Set in the Pacific Northwest – an unspecified area around Oregon – Days Gone will be leaning on the Unreal 4 Engine to replicate the region’s extreme weather conditions, its hazardous terrain, a detailed day/ night cycle and, oh yeah, huge hordes of the walking dead. The engine has been heavily modified by Bend, which is allowing the team to achieve staggering-sized hordes composed of individual creatures – each simultaneously making their own decisions, reacting to the pack and, of course, hunting for blood and brains
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