Three and Out – ‘Days Gone’

It is Zach’s recommendation that you listen to Jack Savoretti’s “Soldier’s Eyes” while reading. 

Drifters and rippers and freakers, oh my! Before we even have a moment to breathe, Bend Studio throws us into a world on the brink of destruction. Our only hope is a man and his motorcycle. Days Gone begins with Deacon St. John, a veteran and local biker gang member, desperately trying to escape the city with his wife Sarah and his best friend Boozer. Left with no choice, Deacon puts his dying wife on the last helicopter out of the city and stays with his injured friend to keep him safe. Her fate is out of his hands. Fast forward two years: Deacon and Boozer made it out of the city and are doing mercenary work for the surviving communities in an unnamed, zombie-infested area of Oregon. Days Gone boasts a substantial cast of unique characters that are absolutely perfect for this genre. From religious cult leaders to gun-loving patriots to the everyday survivor, each character felt real and my love for them grew every minute. My favorite is our biker protagonist, Deacon St. John. At first he seems like a gruff, bitter biker who doesn’t care about the people around him. As the story progresses, we see through the cracks of his shell and find a man struggling to find a home in this broken world. Our journey together was long, yet the character development that I experienced with him is nothing short of phenomenal. Deacon and his story will remain a favorite of mine for years to come.

After a few tutorial missions, the beautiful Pacific Northwest opens itself up to us. Unlike other story-heavy zombie games, Days Gone presents itself through a multitude of storylines in the form of missions. The sheer number of missions in Days Gone can be a bit overwhelming at first. Thankfully, the in-game interface does an excellent job at keeping track of each storyline’s progress and the rewards that we will receive upon completion. Admittedly, the game stumbles for the first few hours. We’re introduced to a couple characters that we are expected to be familiar with and the story doesn’t seem to go anywhere. It isn’t until we reach Iron Mike’s camp, where the story and characters become fascinating and we finally hit the ground running. Accompanying the story are side missions that can typically be found at any of the various settlements that you come across. Doing these missions increases your trust with the settlement, which in turn unlocks better gear. Although, most of these side missions repeat the same formula throughout the entire game: drive here to kill this group of people, track down clues about a situation, or gather materials for a survivor back at camp. Initially, these side missions were fun, engaging, and ultimately a pleasant break from the interweaving narrative. Nevertheless, they become tedious and repetitive when we reach the third camp and it showed no signs of changing. It became very reminiscent of filler episodes in anime – almost like the developers were trying to pad the game with extra content to prolong the story’s conclusion.

In true open-world fashion, a majority of Days Gone is spent driving all across Oregon’s countryside in an upgradable motorcycle. The detail of the world is simply remarkable, especially considering that you see a majority of it while speeding down highways. Quite often I would take a break from the story to go sightseeing. However, one wrong turn and I could find myself with a broken bike, knocking on death’s door. Luckily for us, a few mechanics survived and can patch her right up for us. Driving your motorcycle is just a small feature though. The main selling point for Days Gone is the implementation of its zombies. Affectionately called Freakers, every move you make has to be precise and cautious. The slightest misstep or gunshot can have these nasty ghouls surrounding you in a matter of minutes. During the day time, Freakers are rather slow and easy to deal with. But at night, they run like the Flash and hit like Superman. The only thing worse than a Freaker is a horde of them. Hordes are visually impressive each time you cross paths with one. This immense collection of Freakers is a force to be reckoned with and to even stand a chance against them, you’ll need to scavenge for supplies and use the in-game radial menu to create explosives and medicine. The downside is that the combat isn’t new or revolutionary. Until the end of the game, most guns feel inherently weak, almost as if to create an unneeded level of difficulty. Even still, the gameplay holds up across the board. With enough perseverance and survival skills, you just might be able to bring hope back to Oregon.

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