I. Love. This Game.
This is easily one of the best games I have played in quite a long time.
In a way, I wanted to write a review for this game since it's a very underrated gem of a game. That and it got the shit end of the stick because of game journalist idiocy from trash companies like IGN and Gamespot who completely shat on this game not just based on pre Day 1 copies of the game but also because of the fact that a few of these reviews were biased, unfair, and it seems like the reviewers didn't even want to play or even review the game in the first place.
I get that the game was buggy at launch but what should be understood is that this is the first time developer Bend Studio ever made a game like this.
These guys used to work on Syphon Filter games, so imagine their next biggest project is a massive open world third-person shooter zombie game with heavy emphasis on survival gameplay and narrative. That's not an easy thing to do.
If anything, we should be praising Bend Studio for even managing to make a game like this even possible. They did an awesome job, and I hope they continue to make more games as ambitious as Days Gone.
But then again, this is Kallie Plagge from Gamespot I'm talking about here, who is mostly well known for the infamous Pokemon "too much water" meme and her whiny Red Dead Redemption 2 review.
Which mostly involved her not only spoiling the story for the people who waited many years for it, but also complaining about the gameplay being slow. Were you expecting GTA5 you daft cunt? It's 1899 for fuck sake. That and the fact that you are an outlaw doing outlaw things... in a game called RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2. Holy shit..
She is also known for getting her Twatter (yes that spelling is intentional) "male allies" to dogpile critic TheQuartering to try to get him cancelled and deplatormed, because he called out her shitty half-assed Cyberpunk 2077 review.
But that is gaming journalism for you. Disgusting, cowardly, pathetic scum that should stay away from our precious commodity we call video games. I doubt these "critics" ever survived the Modern Warfare 2 and 3 lobbies.
Instead, let's move on to other types of gamers who actually give a damn about video games and have a passion for talking about them. Instead of these media gamer PRETENDERS who push for identity politic agendas and diversity hire box ticking. Sorry to say, but nobody gives a shit about you anymore, games media.
COUGH THE LAST OF US PART 2
[STORY AND THE WORLD]
Days Gone is yet another zombie apocalypse game that takes place a couple years after a virus had broke out, and you travel with main character Deacon St. John, an ex-military biker who rides along with his best friend Boozer as he attempts to find a reason to live in this horrible world after he lost his wife in a helicopter crash.
And this sounds generic by today's standards on paper, however, Days Gone adds in unique twists to the world that make it feel fresh compared to other zombie games.
The infected in this game are unlike the infected in most other games. They're more like feral humans. They act like animals. A few examples would be, they eat more than just meat. They're omnivores, meaning they also eat plants, berries, etc. They also move in packs, they sleep during specific day and night cycles, and they build nests to sleep in.
And it turns out that the infected are adapting and evolving, meaning they are becoming more sophisticated. There is a secret ending where one of the important characters becomes infected, however he is still acting like a human. Zombie humans?? That sounds fucking amazing, I'm totally down for that if there ever comes a sequel to this game.
There are also more than infected humans. There's also infected wolves that can pursue you while you're on your bike. And not to mention, zombie children. Which is just horrifying, gives me a lot of Left for Dead 2 vibes.
And the wildlife can be a threat to you as well. Cougars, grizzly bears, etc. So pretty much, trust no animals.
Unlike a lot of other games where the goal of the story is to find a cure for the virus or get to a safe place to call Sanctuary, Days Gone doesn't have a goal like that. Days Gone is about everyone's every day life, as they try to find reasons to keep in living in the world. It's about Deacon, what he goes through on a daily basis, and how the characters around him motivate him throughout the course of the game. It's about the characters, what they go through every day, what they do to survive, and how they develop.
No one is in a rush to find a cure because they are self aware that the world has been completely ravaged, filled with Infected, bandits, psycho cultists, and rival camps. Even if a vaccine were to be discovered, it wouldn't fix how fucked up the world has become. So now people have to make the best of what they have, and that's what makes the story in this game different. You're either a loner out in the wilderness or you work day and night for the camp. But to some, being a part of a camp is better than being out in the wild, which many people refer to as "The Shit."
Days Gone is a pretty character-driven, story heavy game. And if I was to be honest, this game has one of the best narratives I've seen in a game yet. It's just as good as The Last of Us 1 from a narrative perspective.
Every character in this game is interesting, there isn't really a single character I genuinely dislike. I love the personalities behind them. None of them feel copy and pasted or phoned in. Each of them have unique styles that make them stand out as individuals. They feel like real, relatable people.
Even the main antagonists of the game have quite unique personalities. And at one point, I actually felt really bad about one of them dying, which is rare to see in games these days.
The voice acting in this game is also really damn good. There are some corny lines of dialogue here and there, especially in the flashback sequences between Deacon and his wife, but that's the fucking point. Those scenes are meant to be awkward, that's just how their relationship melds together. It just adds onto the overall strong narrative.
This is a 30-35 hour long game. The first 6 hours do start off slow, but after you get to that 8-10+ hour mark, it starts to pick up and as you keep playing the game, it gets better, and better, and better, to the point that I just couldn't get enough of it.
And I'm also not afraid to admit this but this game made me cry, quite a lot actually. Once you get to the 3/4 quarter mark of the game, the game starts hitting you hard with sad moment after sad moment.
It's very rare for me to cry when I play games, but I don't think I've cried this much playing Days Gone since The Last of Us 1, and that game came out in 2013. That's how good the storytelling is in this game.
Because the game makes you care about the characters, and it makes you care about Deacon.
I feel for Deacon, I want to see him grow and love again, because Deacon reminds me a lot of Joel from The Last of Us, and maybe that's why I got attached to him as much as I did.
You want to see Deacon and Boozer become stronger people. I kept playing because I wanted to see how all the other characters grow.
I also really love how whenever something is happening in the world, Deacon makes side talk. He could be in the middle of a gunfight against a group of bandit rapists and he'll make snarky remarks about them.
Or he'll tell himself to hurry up while he's reloading his gun, or he'll shout when he hits something while on his bike. He also has a lot of smartass things to say whenever he speaks with someone on his radio.
I also bursted out laughing one time when he made a certain facial expression after coming to the realization of "Shit, I just asked someone a really stupid question."
Small details like that add onto his character and makes him that much more believable.
I felt really satisfied with the story to this game, and it motivated me to replay it, that's how much I enjoyed my first time going through it.
[SOUNDTRACK]
The soundtrack to this game is fantastic. The song that plays always fits the mood of the situation. It can go from tense to relaxing, and it has excellent variation on instrumentals. The main menu music is one of the best video game songs I've heard, period.
The soundtrack is also just another layer to the storytelling.
When the scene calls for it, the music will kick in for maximum emotion, very effective. There are also times where you will reach critical moments in the game in which you will get vocals in the music, which again, is very effective for setting the mood of the situation.
[GAMEPLAY]
It's a survival third-person shooter with a large emphasis on driving your motorbike to get around the massive world. It's a beautiful world, one of the most detailed I've seen besides Red Dead Redemption 2.
I really love the apocalypse setting, there's just something really beautiful about just stopping and taking a good long look at this destroyed world.
I play this game on a base PS4, and I can tell that it was built for the Pro because I do get the occasional frame drops, but it's nothing game breaking.
I did encounter some texture pop-up issues later on in the game but it was funny more than anything, and I understand why it can get like that. Everything in the environment is rendered in 3D which is why it looks so good, which must be why anomalies like this can happen.
Either way, the game is very playable on a base PS4.
I mentioned driving your motorbike to get around, but in fact, your bike is your only source of transportation. Your bike has a fuel mechanic. Run out of fuel and you'll have to run on foot to either find a gasoline canister lying around somewhere on the ground, going to a gas station, or going to a camp or safe house to respawn the bike.
Your bike will always be marked on your map so you won't lose track of it.
At first it will get tedious to have to refuel your bike, though you will get fuel tank upgrades as you play through the game. Also, gas stations never actually run out of gas, so you may as well just stop for a minute and refuel on your way to a mission.
You can also repair and refuel your bike at the many camps around the map, it's quite inexpensive.
There's also gas canisters either lying in random spots on the ground or they're always at NERO Checkpoints, facilities that contain medical syringes that permanently increase your Health, Stamina, or Focus meter (Bullet Time). There's gas everywhere, so running out of fuel while out on the road shouldn't be as big of an big issue as people were claiming.
And speaking of the NERO syringes, I recommend dumping all of your syringes into Stamina. Why? Because crafting materials are very common so you will always have crafting materials to make bandages.
Deacon's stamina is very shit starting off, it drains quickly. And rolling also drains stamina, which you need to dodge attacks. Unless you stock up on Stamina Cocktails, you're gonna run out of stamina frequently, so you need all the stamina syringes you can get. There's also a Skill that you really should get that reduces the stamina cost of rolling.
Also, some NERO Checkpoints can only be reached if your bike is upgraded to a certain extent, which is all the more reason to get as much stamina as you can before you regret it later on.
If I remember correctly there are 4 levels of difficulty. However on Normal difficulty, the game is way too easy. I recommend playing on Hard difficulty for your first playthrough if you want a good, balanced challenge.
I also have a gripe with the shooting mechanics in this game. The aiming is clunky. The acceleration is too slow, and there are times where my crosshair is right on the enemy but my shots can still miss, though this is mostly an issue with semi-auto shot weapons like pistols and rifles, sometimes it feels like they're fighting against you.
When you get anything that's either a shotgun or a full-auto weapon, it's not as bad. The Focus bullet time also does help, and there is a Skill that increases accuracy, but I never really put any syringes into more Focus, because again, stamina is the most important to me since you do just as much running and rolling as driving around.
You can also obtain suppressors for your guns but I never use them because I always go guns blazing anyway because I always have the bullets and healing items to spare.
Your bike can break if you crash it too much, so you have to use Scrap to fix it. But just like the gas, scrap is really easy to come by. It's always inside of cars and human enemies can drop it. There is also a Skill you can acquire to reduce the amount of scrap needed to fix up the bike. You also use scrap to fix and upgrade melee weapons, however, I barely ever did that because ammo is common, especially since you can just buy it at any camp.
Not just the fuel tank, but the bike itself can be upgraded. More speed, better handling, better traction and braking, as well as a nitro boost that lasts for a few seconds. You can also unlock Saddlebags which you can fill up with ammo, in case you need to restock but you don't have time to run all the way back to a camp. You can also customize the bike's appearance, and again, more stuff unlocks as you progress through the story.
It would have been nice if we could customize Deacon's appearance
like we could with Kratos from God of War 4 and Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn.
When you're not on the bike, you're running around either shooting at enemies or looting. Pressing the R3 button gives Deacon a type of Eagle Vision which highlights all the items in the area as well as anything you can interact with. Human enemies drop loot when they die so always be sure to scavenge them after a gunfight.
As you play through the game you come across the few different camps spread across the map, and as you complete missions for the locals there, you gain XP for level ups and respect for that specific camp. Getting your camp trust to a certain level will unlock guns and bike upgrades exclusive to that specific camp.
Leveling up earns you Skill Points that you can use to enhance Deacon's Survival, Shooting, and Melee abilities. Skills are divided by tiers. So if you want the stronger Skills you have to acquire a certain number of other Skills first.
Upgrades like more ammo capacity, more crafting material capacity, more melee damage, less scrap required to upgrade melee weapons and fix up your bike, upgraded Survival Vision which highlights enemies, double plants obtained (used to craft crossbow bolts), faster reloading speed, more bullet time, etc.
There are quite a lot of things to do in the open world. Taking down Freaker Nests and Marauder Camps not only makes the roads safer but you unlock more Fast Travel points, however there is one problem with Fast Travel. Using it actually depletes most of your fuel, which I assume is supposed to make it more realistic, but I still think it's kinda bullshit.
Regardless, I never used it, mostly cause it's more enjoyable to just drive around and run Freakers over as I take in the beautiful environment, it just feels very immersive.
Alongside the main story missions you can also do Side Quests, and they took the Ghost of Tsushima approach where doing optional side missions actually lead to more character development and world building, so they are worth doing. There are also collectibles you can find in the world which again, adds in a sprinkle more of world building.
There also optional mini-games you can access from the main menu and you get to choose who you want to play as. You get to choose between the many different characters you meet across the game such as Boozer and Rikki. These mini-games range from fighting off waves of human enemies or Infected, time trials, and even surviving a horde of Infected as long as possible.
If there was an online two player option I would be playing that shit for hours on end, even more than I already have. These are fun to do when you want to take a break from the main story.
Speaking of hordes, there are many different hordes scattered across the map. At first getting near them is asking for suicide, but as you get geared up and acquire powerful skills later on, the game will force you to take on these hordes head-on, single-handedly, and these hordes are fucking MASSIVE.
I've seen as many as 200+ Infected on the screen at once without any frame drops, that is incredibly fucking impressive. I remember getting chased by a horde for the first time and it was the some of the most scary, blood-pumping tension I've ever felt while playing a game, it genuinely set off my anxiety, and it still does at times.
But watching Deacon taking down a horde like he's a Kino Der Toten character is insanely badass. Just like the Nests, taking down hordes will make the roads safer to travel through.
Some missions will require you to tail someone, search for clues to find someone, or to investigate NERO agents researching the virus. And you're gonna be doing this a lot, and I will admit, it does get a bit repetitive sometimes, but the story is so damn good that I can forgive that repetition, because the payoff is worth it in the end.
This game takes place in the state of Oregon, and yes there are historical landmarks to find if you're into that.
[FINAL THOUGHTS]
Amazing story, clunky gameplay, beautiful immersive world, that's Days Gone in a nutshell.
If the optimization was a bit better and the shooting mechanics were more polished, then this game would easily be a 10/10, but honestly, I still think it's a masterpiece worth playing.
Heh, this game and The Last of Us 1 have things in common. Both games have clunky gameplay but have incredible storytelling and world building. Not that it's a bad thing, Days is just more of what I love about story-driven games. This game deserves all the praise it got, but I hope it gets even more love. It's almost like Days Gone is the true successor to The Last of Us 1 unlike that God forsaken piece of shit sequel, God Forbid I say that, or else I'm just a misogynist or a bigot who worships the Patriarchy...
Or maybe just cause The Last of Us 2 is fucking dogshit that needs to rot in the deepest fathoms of hell, and Days Gone is just a way better game, because it was made by a developer who actually cares about both the product and the gamers, the people who buy their games in the first place.
This is easily one of the best games I have played in quite a long time.
In a way, I wanted to write a review for this game since it's a very underrated gem of a game. That and it got the shit end of the stick because of game journalist idiocy from trash companies like IGN and Gamespot who completely shat on this game not just based on pre Day 1 copies of the game but also because of the fact that a few of these reviews were biased, unfair, and it seems like the reviewers didn't even want to play or even review the game in the first place.
I get that the game was buggy at launch but what should be understood is that this is the first time developer Bend Studio ever made a game like this.
These guys used to work on Syphon Filter games, so imagine their next biggest project is a massive open world third-person shooter zombie game with heavy emphasis on survival gameplay and narrative. That's not an easy thing to do.
If anything, we should be praising Bend Studio for even managing to make a game like this even possible. They did an awesome job, and I hope they continue to make more games as ambitious as Days Gone.
But then again, this is Kallie Plagge from Gamespot I'm talking about here, who is mostly well known for the infamous Pokemon "too much water" meme and her whiny Red Dead Redemption 2 review.
Which mostly involved her not only spoiling the story for the people who waited many years for it, but also complaining about the gameplay being slow. Were you expecting GTA5 you daft cunt? It's 1899 for fuck sake. That and the fact that you are an outlaw doing outlaw things... in a game called RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2. Holy shit..
She is also known for getting her Twatter (yes that spelling is intentional) "male allies" to dogpile critic TheQuartering to try to get him cancelled and deplatormed, because he called out her shitty half-assed Cyberpunk 2077 review.
But that is gaming journalism for you. Disgusting, cowardly, pathetic scum that should stay away from our precious commodity we call video games. I doubt these "critics" ever survived the Modern Warfare 2 and 3 lobbies.
Instead, let's move on to other types of gamers who actually give a damn about video games and have a passion for talking about them. Instead of these media gamer PRETENDERS who push for identity politic agendas and diversity hire box ticking. Sorry to say, but nobody gives a shit about you anymore, games media.
COUGH THE LAST OF US PART 2
[STORY AND THE WORLD]
Days Gone is yet another zombie apocalypse game that takes place a couple years after a virus had broke out, and you travel with main character Deacon St. John, an ex-military biker who rides along with his best friend Boozer as he attempts to find a reason to live in this horrible world after he lost his wife in a helicopter crash.
And this sounds generic by today's standards on paper, however, Days Gone adds in unique twists to the world that make it feel fresh compared to other zombie games.
The infected in this game are unlike the infected in most other games. They're more like feral humans. They act like animals. A few examples would be, they eat more than just meat. They're omnivores, meaning they also eat plants, berries, etc. They also move in packs, they sleep during specific day and night cycles, and they build nests to sleep in.
And it turns out that the infected are adapting and evolving, meaning they are becoming more sophisticated. There is a secret ending where one of the important characters becomes infected, however he is still acting like a human. Zombie humans?? That sounds fucking amazing, I'm totally down for that if there ever comes a sequel to this game.
There are also more than infected humans. There's also infected wolves that can pursue you while you're on your bike. And not to mention, zombie children. Which is just horrifying, gives me a lot of Left for Dead 2 vibes.
And the wildlife can be a threat to you as well. Cougars, grizzly bears, etc. So pretty much, trust no animals.
Unlike a lot of other games where the goal of the story is to find a cure for the virus or get to a safe place to call Sanctuary, Days Gone doesn't have a goal like that. Days Gone is about everyone's every day life, as they try to find reasons to keep in living in the world. It's about Deacon, what he goes through on a daily basis, and how the characters around him motivate him throughout the course of the game. It's about the characters, what they go through every day, what they do to survive, and how they develop.
No one is in a rush to find a cure because they are self aware that the world has been completely ravaged, filled with Infected, bandits, psycho cultists, and rival camps. Even if a vaccine were to be discovered, it wouldn't fix how fucked up the world has become. So now people have to make the best of what they have, and that's what makes the story in this game different. You're either a loner out in the wilderness or you work day and night for the camp. But to some, being a part of a camp is better than being out in the wild, which many people refer to as "The Shit."
Days Gone is a pretty character-driven, story heavy game. And if I was to be honest, this game has one of the best narratives I've seen in a game yet. It's just as good as The Last of Us 1 from a narrative perspective.
Every character in this game is interesting, there isn't really a single character I genuinely dislike. I love the personalities behind them. None of them feel copy and pasted or phoned in. Each of them have unique styles that make them stand out as individuals. They feel like real, relatable people.
Even the main antagonists of the game have quite unique personalities. And at one point, I actually felt really bad about one of them dying, which is rare to see in games these days.
The voice acting in this game is also really damn good. There are some corny lines of dialogue here and there, especially in the flashback sequences between Deacon and his wife, but that's the fucking point. Those scenes are meant to be awkward, that's just how their relationship melds together. It just adds onto the overall strong narrative.
This is a 30-35 hour long game. The first 6 hours do start off slow, but after you get to that 8-10+ hour mark, it starts to pick up and as you keep playing the game, it gets better, and better, and better, to the point that I just couldn't get enough of it.
And I'm also not afraid to admit this but this game made me cry, quite a lot actually. Once you get to the 3/4 quarter mark of the game, the game starts hitting you hard with sad moment after sad moment.
It's very rare for me to cry when I play games, but I don't think I've cried this much playing Days Gone since The Last of Us 1, and that game came out in 2013. That's how good the storytelling is in this game.
Because the game makes you care about the characters, and it makes you care about Deacon.
I feel for Deacon, I want to see him grow and love again, because Deacon reminds me a lot of Joel from The Last of Us, and maybe that's why I got attached to him as much as I did.
You want to see Deacon and Boozer become stronger people. I kept playing because I wanted to see how all the other characters grow.
I also really love how whenever something is happening in the world, Deacon makes side talk. He could be in the middle of a gunfight against a group of bandit rapists and he'll make snarky remarks about them.
Or he'll tell himself to hurry up while he's reloading his gun, or he'll shout when he hits something while on his bike. He also has a lot of smartass things to say whenever he speaks with someone on his radio.
I also bursted out laughing one time when he made a certain facial expression after coming to the realization of "Shit, I just asked someone a really stupid question."
Small details like that add onto his character and makes him that much more believable.
I felt really satisfied with the story to this game, and it motivated me to replay it, that's how much I enjoyed my first time going through it.
[SOUNDTRACK]
The soundtrack to this game is fantastic. The song that plays always fits the mood of the situation. It can go from tense to relaxing, and it has excellent variation on instrumentals. The main menu music is one of the best video game songs I've heard, period.
The soundtrack is also just another layer to the storytelling.
When the scene calls for it, the music will kick in for maximum emotion, very effective. There are also times where you will reach critical moments in the game in which you will get vocals in the music, which again, is very effective for setting the mood of the situation.
[GAMEPLAY]
It's a survival third-person shooter with a large emphasis on driving your motorbike to get around the massive world. It's a beautiful world, one of the most detailed I've seen besides Red Dead Redemption 2.
I really love the apocalypse setting, there's just something really beautiful about just stopping and taking a good long look at this destroyed world.
I play this game on a base PS4, and I can tell that it was built for the Pro because I do get the occasional frame drops, but it's nothing game breaking.
I did encounter some texture pop-up issues later on in the game but it was funny more than anything, and I understand why it can get like that. Everything in the environment is rendered in 3D which is why it looks so good, which must be why anomalies like this can happen.
Either way, the game is very playable on a base PS4.
I mentioned driving your motorbike to get around, but in fact, your bike is your only source of transportation. Your bike has a fuel mechanic. Run out of fuel and you'll have to run on foot to either find a gasoline canister lying around somewhere on the ground, going to a gas station, or going to a camp or safe house to respawn the bike.
Your bike will always be marked on your map so you won't lose track of it.
At first it will get tedious to have to refuel your bike, though you will get fuel tank upgrades as you play through the game. Also, gas stations never actually run out of gas, so you may as well just stop for a minute and refuel on your way to a mission.
You can also repair and refuel your bike at the many camps around the map, it's quite inexpensive.
There's also gas canisters either lying in random spots on the ground or they're always at NERO Checkpoints, facilities that contain medical syringes that permanently increase your Health, Stamina, or Focus meter (Bullet Time). There's gas everywhere, so running out of fuel while out on the road shouldn't be as big of an big issue as people were claiming.
And speaking of the NERO syringes, I recommend dumping all of your syringes into Stamina. Why? Because crafting materials are very common so you will always have crafting materials to make bandages.
Deacon's stamina is very shit starting off, it drains quickly. And rolling also drains stamina, which you need to dodge attacks. Unless you stock up on Stamina Cocktails, you're gonna run out of stamina frequently, so you need all the stamina syringes you can get. There's also a Skill that you really should get that reduces the stamina cost of rolling.
Also, some NERO Checkpoints can only be reached if your bike is upgraded to a certain extent, which is all the more reason to get as much stamina as you can before you regret it later on.
If I remember correctly there are 4 levels of difficulty. However on Normal difficulty, the game is way too easy. I recommend playing on Hard difficulty for your first playthrough if you want a good, balanced challenge.
I also have a gripe with the shooting mechanics in this game. The aiming is clunky. The acceleration is too slow, and there are times where my crosshair is right on the enemy but my shots can still miss, though this is mostly an issue with semi-auto shot weapons like pistols and rifles, sometimes it feels like they're fighting against you.
When you get anything that's either a shotgun or a full-auto weapon, it's not as bad. The Focus bullet time also does help, and there is a Skill that increases accuracy, but I never really put any syringes into more Focus, because again, stamina is the most important to me since you do just as much running and rolling as driving around.
You can also obtain suppressors for your guns but I never use them because I always go guns blazing anyway because I always have the bullets and healing items to spare.
Your bike can break if you crash it too much, so you have to use Scrap to fix it. But just like the gas, scrap is really easy to come by. It's always inside of cars and human enemies can drop it. There is also a Skill you can acquire to reduce the amount of scrap needed to fix up the bike. You also use scrap to fix and upgrade melee weapons, however, I barely ever did that because ammo is common, especially since you can just buy it at any camp.
Not just the fuel tank, but the bike itself can be upgraded. More speed, better handling, better traction and braking, as well as a nitro boost that lasts for a few seconds. You can also unlock Saddlebags which you can fill up with ammo, in case you need to restock but you don't have time to run all the way back to a camp. You can also customize the bike's appearance, and again, more stuff unlocks as you progress through the story.
It would have been nice if we could customize Deacon's appearance
like we could with Kratos from God of War 4 and Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn.
When you're not on the bike, you're running around either shooting at enemies or looting. Pressing the R3 button gives Deacon a type of Eagle Vision which highlights all the items in the area as well as anything you can interact with. Human enemies drop loot when they die so always be sure to scavenge them after a gunfight.
As you play through the game you come across the few different camps spread across the map, and as you complete missions for the locals there, you gain XP for level ups and respect for that specific camp. Getting your camp trust to a certain level will unlock guns and bike upgrades exclusive to that specific camp.
Leveling up earns you Skill Points that you can use to enhance Deacon's Survival, Shooting, and Melee abilities. Skills are divided by tiers. So if you want the stronger Skills you have to acquire a certain number of other Skills first.
Upgrades like more ammo capacity, more crafting material capacity, more melee damage, less scrap required to upgrade melee weapons and fix up your bike, upgraded Survival Vision which highlights enemies, double plants obtained (used to craft crossbow bolts), faster reloading speed, more bullet time, etc.
There are quite a lot of things to do in the open world. Taking down Freaker Nests and Marauder Camps not only makes the roads safer but you unlock more Fast Travel points, however there is one problem with Fast Travel. Using it actually depletes most of your fuel, which I assume is supposed to make it more realistic, but I still think it's kinda bullshit.
Regardless, I never used it, mostly cause it's more enjoyable to just drive around and run Freakers over as I take in the beautiful environment, it just feels very immersive.
Alongside the main story missions you can also do Side Quests, and they took the Ghost of Tsushima approach where doing optional side missions actually lead to more character development and world building, so they are worth doing. There are also collectibles you can find in the world which again, adds in a sprinkle more of world building.
There also optional mini-games you can access from the main menu and you get to choose who you want to play as. You get to choose between the many different characters you meet across the game such as Boozer and Rikki. These mini-games range from fighting off waves of human enemies or Infected, time trials, and even surviving a horde of Infected as long as possible.
If there was an online two player option I would be playing that shit for hours on end, even more than I already have. These are fun to do when you want to take a break from the main story.
Speaking of hordes, there are many different hordes scattered across the map. At first getting near them is asking for suicide, but as you get geared up and acquire powerful skills later on, the game will force you to take on these hordes head-on, single-handedly, and these hordes are fucking MASSIVE.
I've seen as many as 200+ Infected on the screen at once without any frame drops, that is incredibly fucking impressive. I remember getting chased by a horde for the first time and it was the some of the most scary, blood-pumping tension I've ever felt while playing a game, it genuinely set off my anxiety, and it still does at times.
But watching Deacon taking down a horde like he's a Kino Der Toten character is insanely badass. Just like the Nests, taking down hordes will make the roads safer to travel through.
Some missions will require you to tail someone, search for clues to find someone, or to investigate NERO agents researching the virus. And you're gonna be doing this a lot, and I will admit, it does get a bit repetitive sometimes, but the story is so damn good that I can forgive that repetition, because the payoff is worth it in the end.
This game takes place in the state of Oregon, and yes there are historical landmarks to find if you're into that.
[FINAL THOUGHTS]
Amazing story, clunky gameplay, beautiful immersive world, that's Days Gone in a nutshell.
If the optimization was a bit better and the shooting mechanics were more polished, then this game would easily be a 10/10, but honestly, I still think it's a masterpiece worth playing.
Heh, this game and The Last of Us 1 have things in common. Both games have clunky gameplay but have incredible storytelling and world building. Not that it's a bad thing, Days is just more of what I love about story-driven games. This game deserves all the praise it got, but I hope it gets even more love. It's almost like Days Gone is the true successor to The Last of Us 1 unlike that God forsaken piece of shit sequel, God Forbid I say that, or else I'm just a misogynist or a bigot who worships the Patriarchy...
Or maybe just cause The Last of Us 2 is fucking dogshit that needs to rot in the deepest fathoms of hell, and Days Gone is just a way better game, because it was made by a developer who actually cares about both the product and the gamers, the people who buy their games in the first place.