Review for Days Gone. Game for PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 26/04/2019
"10 hp motorcycle, all chrome, it's yours if you say yes" sang Lucio Battisti in 1970, forty-nine years later, in the era of remixes and video games, we would sing: "motorcycle and 10 hp I run away and I save myself". In the first half of 2019 the most important IP coming out of the home Sony in terms of exclusives it definitely is Days Gone: title developed by Bend Studio that after a troubled path made up of postponements and obstacles lands on shelves all over the world trying to have its say in a market that now seems almost saturated with the zombie apocalypse.
The first myth that we want to dispel is that it is not a "The Last of Us like", the title Bend Studio is detached from what Naughty Dog has done with his masterpiece in the past generation and is ungenerous on both sides even if only approach them. The apocalypse told by Days Gone wants to touch certain chords of the players, trying to drag them into an emotional context that exploits shots and music in a skilful way, almost as if to underline the competence of the development studio in working independently. Days Gone will tell you the story of Deacon St. John and how overnight his life was turned upside down by the infection that caused the zombie apocalypse. The with Boozer (his best friend), his love story with Sarah, the mysteries behind the NERO entity that seems not only dedicated to the study and repression of the infection but also decidedly inserted in various Machiavellian affairs; the narrative proposed by Days Gone has solid foundations that present within it numerous clichés of the genre to which it belongs but also different original solutions capable of enchanting the user.
Despite all this, however, the choice to divide the plot into "Stories" or fragmented narrative arcs concerning different macro themes (Sarah, Boozer, NERO, etc.) is like a double-edged sword that emphasizes the excellent script of the title but which at the same time emphasizes the marked differentiation between the two / three main narrative arcs and everything that is secondary. Precisely the characterization of the secondary narrative arcs is what made us turn up our noses on the plot side. Several wingmen, NPCs, secondary characters are really flat, shallow and often driven by motives for their own sake. In a world so open but at the same time desolate due to the zombie epidemic and with a game ecosystem so focused on exploration by motorbike, fully characterizing the characters you meet is essential to give depth to the title.
From the point of view of gameplay instead, we are faced with the major problems of the Bend Studio title. As already pointed out in the preview phase, although the differentiation of the weight of the weapons makes itself felt, it is how they impact the opponents and the problematic side on the gameplay. Not only have we often found ourselves not seeing hits that clearly hit the enemy hit, but even with weapons of greater rarity the situation has remained the same. Precisely the rarity of the weapons within the survival component is not the most sublime, it is in fact linked to the state of the condition of the weapon (on the other hand we are in a desolate world and now reduced to ruin) placing little emphasis on the importance to find better ones.
The management of sidearms is different: they are in fact the real strong point of Days Gone fights being the most responsive, the most satisfying to use (you have to try the finisher moves with which to create spectacular kills) and incredibly layered in use given the presence of the durability of the same. Whether you're facing the furious (infected zombies) or bandit marauders, a pack of wolves, or the cult of madmen that populate the desert world of Days Gone, melee weapons will be one of your main solutions, anytime and anywhere.
Even the survival and crafting component resides at the center of the Days Gone ecosystem, although even in this case it is not perfectly in focus. Playing following the flow that Days Gone will show you from the first minutes, the game will allow you to never find yourself in shortage of ammunition and above all to be able to make the most of what crafting has to offer. You will have plenty of materials to collect and ammunition scattered among disused shacks and police car bonnets too. If you don't play as Rambo during a zombie apocalypse, the game won't punish you and that's not entirely a good thing in our opinion. If you want to create a coherent survival world, with tough zombies able to withstand more than one hit and even certain types of burns, the management of materials and ammunition must necessarily be greatly amplified, forcing the player to use firearms only and exclusively in emergency circumstances. Unfortunately Days Gone will never make you feel overwhelmed and oppressed by the shortage of objects and we are a little sorry.
Even the progression of the character linked to the skill points accumulated by performing different types of actions contributes to increasing this sense of little oppression, since over time Deacon will be able to overcome numerous difficulties too effectively. Unfortunately in a game of this kind, an RPG-like component such as character progression, or stamina management through a bar do not fit together very consistently. In this sense Days Gone seems like a jumble of excellent ideas that little mix synergistically and harmoniously as if the binder was missing between the various parts. An equally important key component of the title is the Horde. The intense images already proposed by Bend Studio on the encounters with the zombie "river" are true, the Horde offers that feeling of undeniable power that has been shown and when you meet them you will understand that often running away is not an option to cowards. Finally, the bike, Deacon's faithful companion as mentioned several times, will be a real appendage of the player and will be supplied and maintained just as if it were a playing character. Your actions in terms of side missions will also allow you to upgrade from the mechanics scattered around the map, your inseparable bike. A real companion of adventures that will also give you unforgettable journeys through the wastelands of the Bend Studio title.
From an artistic and technical point of view, the title offers an excellent characterization, despite some problems of pop up textures. The characters and the environment are very inspired especially on an aesthetic level. Furthermore, the day / night cycle and the changing climatic conditions will have repercussions on zombies and on the bike, thus increasing the variables to be taken into consideration during your gaming sessions.. Even at the sound level Days Gone offers an excellent experience with ambient noises, background music and emotional soundtracks that will accompany you during your raids on and off the bike.
Days Gone is a complex title to judge because as a whole it has several extremely positive and other very negative aspects; thus avoiding all that gray scale that often sweetens the judgments making a masterpiece an excellent game and a bad game a game not entirely successful. In our opinion Days Gone fits right in the middle; its fragmented but compelling narrative, its main characters that you will still get attached to and a fluid main plot collide with a problematic shooting, with a not very harmonious progression system and with a not always optimal management of everything that is secondary. Days Gone is a title that must be played, which must be savored and internalized as the first taste of a food unknown to us, a food that could initially leave us confused, baffled, but which once swallowed pushes us to taste it all to understand if it is really as good as it looks.
► Days Gone is an Adventure-Survival game developed by Bend Studio and published by Sony for PlayStation 4, the video game was released on 26/04/2019
