5/5 ★ – Hill417's review of Days Gone.

When a game is reusing a tired trope, then it is vital that it offers either something entirely new that hasn’t been seen before or offer a compelling experience that inspires the player to see the story through to the end. In the case of Days Gone, it features a couple of cool ideas that do not by any means reinvent the wheel, but the real draw was the story and its characters. Sometimes that is just what a game needs instead of being new and innovative. Our setting is in Oregon and our protagonist is Deacon St. John, a former member of a biker gang turned bounty hunter, who’s just trying to survive the zombie apocalypse (or Freakers as they are referred to) long enough to ride up north with your best friend Boozer, but he gets injured after a run in with a cult known as “Rest in Peace” or as everyone else calls them: Rippers. So now the trip is delayed so in the meantime Deacon will be doing favors for different survivor camps, but he also has a lead on wether or not his missing wife, Sarah, is alive. There are more story lines to keep track of, but don’t let that overwhelm you because as you dive deeper and deeper they all surprisingly interconnect with one another and lead to payoffs that have been building up long term. That is how I would sum up Days Gone, a slow burn. I don’t mean that it in a “it gets good after the first ten hours” way, but rather it plants the seeds in the first few hours and calls back to those moments later on. The best way that I can describe the narrative is that it is broken into three seasons. In act one it lays the ground work. Introducing us to our main characters, backstories, learning about the survivor camps and setting up major plot lines like NERO (the organization that was suppose to help people) and the ripper cult. When we get to act two a new region of the map is available to you, you’ll meet new characters in a new environment and the plot line with the cult is resolved. Then we get to act three where the final area is unlocked and we find ourselves with a new antagonist and an all new status quo. Other then the story you’ll be building trust with the multiple survivor settlements by accepting bounties (wether they want them alive or dead will differentiate in certain cases) and burning down freaker nest. The more levels of trust you reach the more bike upgrades and weapons will become available they’ll sell you. Now I know locking off items can be frustrating, but think about it: would you sell high grade weapons to someone who isn’t officially apart of your camp? Back to those nest. Fast travel through certain routes is prohibited until you burn them with Molotov cocktails. I actually opted to NOT use fast travel because you’ll miss out on certain calls that instigate the side content. Plus riding my motorbike was a nice way to collect my thoughts. Whether it was scavenging an enemy base after a gun fight, or just barely surviving a horde. I found it relaxing to just ride and clear my head. Now let’s talk about the hordes. The main draw was you against hundreds of fast paced zombies on the spot with nothing but your wits and improvisation. I am happy to report that fighting them off is the most exciting aspect of the game. I did fail quite often because I stumbled upon a horde completely unprepared. Seriously, if you are curious enough then you might accidentally fight a horde on the spot by complete chance. When you aren’t mowing down hordes then your best option is to take the stealth approach by knifing them or laying down traps like mines and bear traps. Use those as distractions while remaining unseen. Unless you come into contact with a Breaker. Huge muscular zombies that soak up bullets and I kid you not, they eat other Freakers. Those aren’t even the most unsettling zombies, Bend Studio actually had the guts to include infected children and it was never fun when I had to confront them. Hence why riding on my motorcycle was preferred because I really had to process everything I was doing. Unlike Deacon who yells out his frustrations whenever he gets annoyed. Seriously his rants whenever someone pisses him off are funny and helps ease the tension. Sam Witwer in general does a fantastic job at making Deacon so compelling and sympathetic. You start to appreciate his growth as a character when he starts out jaded and pragmatic to compassionate and learning how to become a leader. Even the bike starts to grow on you. I was annoyed that the motorcycle was mandatory because it starts out so weak. You aren’t even allowed to pick a new one. It’s an investment where you have to buy new parts, but guess what? The more you invest the stronger it becomes and I didn’t find it to be an inconvenience anymore. That is pretty much the game in a nutshell. There will be certain choices that don’t click right off the bat, but I implore you to see it through to the end for a very rewarding experience.