After more than seven years in development, Days Gone has finally arrived, delivering Bend Studio's take on the zombie apocalypse. It's a large-scale open world experience with a heavy focus on narrative and characters. To boil things down to their essentials, it's basically The Last of Us meets Far Cry and it works.
As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people
Saad from eXputer: "I'm glad I don't have to choose between Square Enix, Atlus, and FromSoftware due to bad release windows and Shadow of the Erdtree."
Atlus is releasing their game one week before Erdtree, SE is releasing theirs one week after.
HZD released four days before Zelda, HFW released one week before Elden Ring.
It seems to me like they are still releasing their games too close to Erdtree.
Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.
This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.
"Days Gone may have taken years to develop but it feels as if the studio has grown immensely - and it's a solid foundation on which to build its next (next-gen?) console game."
We can only hope. Better management and better experience with the engine and tools can result in a better future. We need more studios with potential, not just the few that matter to review scores.
Got my copy a day early and have played the game for just a little over two hours. Here are some spoiler free initial impressions. I'm playing on a Ps4 Pro 4k HDR set up.
The graphics are absolutely tremendous and are crystal clear. For comparison's sake, Red Dead 2's open world was a blurry mess on my pro and the HDR implementation was very sub standard. Whereas the HDR on Days Gone is tremendous.
Atmosphere. This is absolutely top notch and is my favourite thing about the game so far. The day to night cycle and the stormy wind & rain effects are superbly crafted.
Controls on foot. Buttery and silky smooth, very intuitive and easy to get to grips with. So yet again, another area, along with graphics where it trounces the awkwardly cumbersome controls of RDR2.
Controls on bike. Initially this felt a smidgeon on the light and flighty, but with upgrades and a few subtle changes, my ride is weighty and a joy to slide around on. I would have liked the bike to be a little quicker.
Gun combat. Another area where it is far better than RDR2.
Hand to hand melee combat. Surprisingly weighty and visceral after the earlier videos from last year. Another area where it betters RDR2.
Story. I'm too early into the game to give a valid opinion, but I have enjoyed what I've played so far. This is where RDR2, In my opinion may win this round.
Sound effects and music are absolutely fantastic.
Have not yet encountered the huge hordes. So far, I have loved what I have played up to this point and I'd score it a very solid 9.
Knew this game would polarize but it shouldn't. If you are tired of open world games, you probably shouldn't play it. I saw a 1.5 and I don't put much stock in reviews(if they line up with my impression, cool, that's how most things work with people) especially numbered reviews. If I did a 1.5 would mean a broken mess! I know it's easy for people to look at and go oh it's a 9 or ouch it's a 3 but games that are so big like Days Gone, HZD, AC Odyssey, Wild Hunt for me I couldn't imagine just blowing through it for a dead line. I've spent years playing some of the games I mentioned, years and the enjoyment I've gotten from those adventures is amazing.
The point is emergent games are hard to nail down because so many variables are in play. I'm not always looking for a reinvention of the wheel, I like fun and as long as it controls well, looks and runs good and the world is immersive I'm good.
Again knew it would polarize because it's a Sony exclusive and that is a high class to be in but Eurogamer's stealth in depth breakdown really reiterated my feelings towards Days Gone. I can't wait to get it installed!