The game got bad reviews because most reviewers played a buggy build of the game which there was a massive patch for on day one. I played the game on day one and didn't experience any issues that were talked about in a few reviews I watched. Days gone is an amazing game and the developers should have sent out a build of the game without a lot of the issues to reviewers.
Days Gone wasn't a bad game .... technically it was a really well made UE4 game that had a terribly buggy launch.
Yes, compared to other Sony first party of that gen, like horizon, god of war and spiderman, it was no where close to those. So if those games can be awarded 8.5s-9s-10s, then .... Days Gone (in its current iteration) is 7.5 at best (without delving into the silly controversies and politics).
However it isnt accurate, unless you have something substantial to add to the discussion, that is. Do you have anything substantial, adding to these claims?
^This collection is the best evidence I've seen when talking about Garvin's woke criticism. He's also relying on one of Sam Witwer's quotes regarding the whole "they didn't even finish the game." Witwer saw one unnamed review that never mentioned the Horde gameplay and had some plot-related tells.
Personally, I can understand where he's coming from even though he's still making an unfair generalization against *CRITICS* as a collective. When the Gamespot reviewer gives a scathing score and then provides supplemental commentary like "omg girlfriend flaunting her ass to boyfriend" on Twitter, it's just... weird. There's an odd fixation some of these writers have that - I believe - harms their professionalism.
Uhh, they clearly were quoted knocking it at ign for it being starred by a “straight white male protagonist.” The staff did on one of their podcasts. And if you think the entire staff doesn’t ay role in the decision making of a score you’re a bit naive.
When are people going to drop this? The game came out years ago.
The game didn't magically get dropped from a 10 out of 10 across the board because a couple dumb reviewers tried to stir up identity politics.
Way to pull a random comparison out of your butt. Did Red Dead receive numerous internet articles docking points from it for the fact that he was white? Or that he stared at his GF's butt when she bent over? I sure can't find any.
Did Days Gone? Absolutely. I even recall one pointing out the fact that none of the zombies were black or other colors besides white lol
The game gets very very good in the back half, but of course reviewers didn't get that far to notice.
But it is accurate because there isn't any mention of straight white male in red dead redemption but there is mentions of it with days gone. Red Dead redemption is not a new IP and days gone was a new IP. It was the opening they needed to go against any kind of white male protagonist and especially a biker. All you have to do is look at the user reception versus the critic reception and there's your answer. And if you actually want to be informed just read all the articles written around the time of days gone release and prior to its release and you'll start seeing some patterns. Unless of course you're unable to see the patterns but that's not my fault or anyone else's
And the someone mentioned to your comment there was an article about how the zombies were somehow racist or at least the design of them was racist because there were no black zombies. Which was of course ridiculous as they're not exactly zombies and it goes with a lore. If that isn't enough to convince you that they were clear narrative against the game based on wokeism I don't know what else to tell you.
And yes a few or in this case quite a few articles stirring up identity politics and pointing their wagging finger at a game can and does influence other reviews. You think review sites will praise a game that's being labeled as racist, toxic masculinity and a bunch of other crap? No. They won't praise that game. It would place a cross hair on their heads.
I remember the main criticisms of Days Gone forms critics was the presence of bugs and performance issues. Many critics had issues with the gameplay too. Docking points from games for perceived gameplay faults, bugs, performance and other issues is perfectly fair. Days Gone director is overly disgruntled, as the game released 3 years ago.
For a game to get 7s and 8s by some, thats pretty good imo. Back then was a little harsher to. Today you have whack games like pentiment getting 9s and 10s lol. Ill take days gone over that anyday. Days gone I played after about a year from release and enjoyed the hell out of it. There was one review I remember from poloygon that killed the game(kayliee something or other) but we must of played different games. Thats also one of the reason I dont trust reviews.
@shinoff2183
"Today you have whack games like pentiment getting 9s and 10s lol"
have you ever thought that simple low budget games can be really good?
example Hades, Celeste, Disco Elysium, Dead Cells etc etc ...
and AAA games being really mediocre?
example Callisto Protocol, Mass Effect: Andromeda, Order 1886, FO76
and AAA being also bad?
example Anthem, Metal Gear Survive, Marvel's Avengers
Days Gone was one of the BEST last gen games. As for reviews? Gavin was absolutely right. You could tell some reviewers hadn’t played the game through to completion.
Just like Rico’s swearing in Killzone 2. I guess in times of war. You’re not aloud to swear. Well F that
No one said you can't swear while at war. It's just about the absurd frequency of it. Literally every sentence, sometimes multiple F bombs in the same damn sentence. It was cringe, reminds me of Kane & Lynch which had the same issue. It didn't take away from Killzone 2 being a great game but it was still annoying.
It's funny because my dad was special forces and he curses every other word, the same as his team. Perhaps there is some validity in the depiction of Rico to the men who put their lives on the line for people too offended by their linguistic vanacular choices. They're hard enough to fight for our freedoms but let's dissect their vocabulary to diminish their contributions. I guess speech is free as long as it doesn't rub anyone the wrong way. Why would the way someone communicates annoy you if they're getting the job that you're not doing done. Art often imitates life.
If the reviewers are too sheltered to realize that a individual's communication style is usually determined by their life conditions they shouldn't be reviewing it. They did crucify Deacon/Rico every chance that they got as society does to any masculine depiction today. They were just victims of the beginning stages of what we're witnessing currently.
@surgical
"They're hard enough to fight for our freedoms but let's dissect their vocabulary to diminish their contributions."
Wtf are you talking about? No one is diminishing anyone's contributions.
"They did crucify Deacon/Rico every chance that they got as society does to any masculine depiction today."
Masculine? Since when is swearing an exclusively male trait?
@shinoff
1) I'm not knocking the game. I literally said it didn't take away from Killzone 2 being a great game.
2) I swear a lot as well. I don't have an issue with swearing, hell two of my favourite films are Casino and Goodfellas. I know plenty of people who drop a lot of F bombs, again myself included. Rico was on an entirely different level though. I know several veterans both younger and older, and while they all swear profusely like me none of them swear as much as Rico.
If his dialogue felt natural it wouldn't have been an issue but instead it felt like it was written by a teenager who just learned to swear. Guerilla admitted they got it wrong and toned it down for Killzone 3, though if I'm being honest I think they cut it back too much.
Only if you've been under a rock or are already effeminate there's no way that you haven't encountered the double standards concerning the conduct in masculine men that are found in females as well. If I have to explain it to you, it's too late as there's no way to come back from being neutered. Or maybe you prefer your women to exhibit qualities more associated to men.🤷🏾♂️
Speaking on the diction of soldiers, who gives a fuck how they talk in an environment of life or death. Hell, since you put your life on the line you can talk however the f*** you see fit. This is my meaning as both men where not depicted to be Nancy types who gets offended when they hear too many naughty words.🤣
"Since you put your life on the line you can talk however the f*** you see fit"... Wow, spoken like a true wannabe.
Also you can say "fuck" on this site, in fact you just did a sentence before that, why you backing out? Afraid too much swearing like cheapens your argument or something? According to your own bullshit you better watch out that weak ass swearing don't have you growing a vagina or something.
I will never believe and or trust a director (or whatever he was) that says his game is way better than what people thought it was. It's arrogant and childish. He acts like everyone thought the game was trash and had a political agenda with their reviews (some of them did, but the do that for every game) and now tries to justify the "lower" metacritic score that it's not because the game wasn't good enough.
Day’s Gone was an 8/10 at best. Many reviewed don’t play these open world games to completion unless they get a review copy weeks in advance. Doesn’t help that Day’s Gone doesn’t have options to fight hordes until the endgame. No amount of “wokeness” changes that. (Also, why is caring about other people a bad thing? Societies are built on positive human interaction.)
The sad thing is, he was actually right. I read some of them and even watched some youtube reviews and the fact that the protagonist was a white male was a bad point for a lot of them. As for the bugs and glitches, somehow Bethesda games and Bioware games, which are so much worst, get a free pass, but this doesn't? Yeah, those reviewers were clearly biased.
The critic score is 71, yet the userscore is 8.4. This is definitely one of those games were the userscore is correct and the critics just got it wrong.
Gruff white protagonists games with good reviews: Red Dead Redemption Series, The Witcher Series, God of War Series, (probably) Gears of War series and Death Stranding comes to my mind.
Derivative? Average? Name one game like it today....
Days Gone brought ingenuity, cunning, and adrenaline to the zombie formula like no other game has. It wasn't just about shooting them with the biggest gun until they were all dead, but using strategy and proper execution to get the job done. Add in all the survival elements, and it introduces a whole new level of immersion to the game. To each their own, though I'm curious to know what games aren't derivative and average in your library?
People forgot the game received numerous patches... It released with issues and the critic reviews reflect that. The game got a second wind after word of mouth and some articles stating it was in good playing condition now.
I'm not rewriting anything, but few people got it at launch. It picked up steam after it was patched /heavily discounted and word of mouth grew and when it went free to ps plus. People liked it despite its issues, which were less when it gained popularity due to numerous patches.
as they should. He's out of line
After all this, I totally see Sony disband Bend Studio if their next game is a flop.
They give big opportunities to small studios but they don't tolerate failure.
You get one chance, you either succeed or you're out.
Let's for one second pretend he has a point. As soon as you use a term like "woke" instead of calmly making your case, you instantly undermine your credibility.
Sounds like a guy who can't take criticism or accountability for his own output tbh.
You can go through the rest of her tweets on the game but she complained about these as well:
-The freakers being all white
- Dialogue from wife about being ridden as much he rides his bike
- doesn’t like how character refers to a woman as “ol’ lady”
Now, the review got a 5/10. The issues she had in the review are the following:
- Deacon has no real character development, and the game is uncritical of his more dubious actions
- Deacon's relationship with Sarah is flat and unconvincing
- Many narrative arcs end abruptly or lack interesting or meaningful conclusions
- The open-world activities grow repetitive
- Poor pacing takes the excitement out of horde fights
Now, going by her tweets there definitely seems like a bit of an agenda on the reviewers part and I think that’s why you see a score of 5/10. Because let’s be real… that’s super low for the cons in the review.
Like I get she doesn’t like Deacon, but pacing and open-world tropes (which there are waaay less in comparison to something like Ass Creed) doesn’t make sense as to how this is a mediocre game.
I want a sequel, but it was buggy at launch, and it is a good game, a 7/10 game. The problem is not the game getting 7/10, the problem is gamers treat anything below 8/10 as garbage.
John Garvin, is just butt hurt that not everyone enjoys pabst blue ribbon, biker cuts, grungy characters and the walking dead.
He made a game He liked. Now years later (because he’s got nothing else better to do), he is pissed that it did not score better or get the appreciation he thinks it deserves (all aboard the crazy train next stop, Helena Taylor). Dude…the game was never all that. Sorry we don’t all agree on the game, but damn trying to push this off on wokeness is downright hilarious and pathetic.
He is 100% correct and it appears many people on N4G have no idea what woke even means. The definition on Google is a bullshit definition and incorrect in its meaning, woke means "an uneducated little twat (aka. Social justice warrior) who thinks the world revolves around them and only their simple-minded views (mostly imbedded in their brain washed minds by liberal idiots) are the only way things should be. So, they try to make things better (in their own image) and if what they see hurts their little fillings (or that of LGBTLMNOP’s, beta men, alpha woman, or any other uneducated woke libtard) they bitch about it to everyone (mainly) on twitter” but in this case (and it's not the only one there are lots of them) game reviews. if your still confused and want to know what a woke idiot is look no further then Neil Cuckman and others in the industry like him. Now you know what woke means and if this offends you, YOUR WOKE.
That mob-mentality is at an all-time high. Let's hate a game because everyone said so. You probably got people in here throwing in their two cents when they've never played the game to the end and have only read the negative reviews. They got their pitchforks covered in anime stickers ready to go. He said what he said and that's the climate of gaming today. Nobody is thinking about how straight or gay a character is while the freakers are getting shot. This is some kind of argument that is external to what is going on in the game. Real people, take time out of their day, outside of the game and go out of their way to let others that enjoy the game know that what they're playing is a problem. Nobody ever bats an eye at other forms or media, ever. People are entitled to their opinions whether you agree or disagree. Let's here those opinion jokes.
There has to be some sort of irony here
Of course the studio won't share his opinion even if it's accurate. Far easier to throw someone under the bus and pretend to be the innocent good guy.
Days Gone was one of the BEST last gen games. As for reviews? Gavin was absolutely right. You could tell some reviewers hadn’t played the game through to completion.
Just like Rico’s swearing in Killzone 2. I guess in times of war. You’re not aloud to swear. Well F that
The sad thing is, he was actually right. I read some of them and even watched some youtube reviews and the fact that the protagonist was a white male was a bad point for a lot of them. As for the bugs and glitches, somehow Bethesda games and Bioware games, which are so much worst, get a free pass, but this doesn't? Yeah, those reviewers were clearly biased.
The critic score is 71, yet the userscore is 8.4. This is definitely one of those games were the userscore is correct and the critics just got it wrong.
Hope they don't distance themselves from trying to make an exceptional game.