I am worried. I am horribly worried.
Days Gone has been near the forefront of my hype train since the horde gameplay was originally revealed. Since we got the first taste of that open world, full of discoveries, saturated with death and danger.
That was E3 2017. We were teased with well scripted, smooth and sleek gameplay that seemed to show so much promise. The bullets seemed rare, there was a sense of constant danger, that if you made the wrong move you would almost instantly be the next morsel for an undead monstrosity – or worse, a human one. I liked that. I liked the feeling of needing to avoid this roaming danger, this impossible to deal with swarm of zombies, deadly even in small groups.
The main issue? From the gameplay that has more recently been released, this doesn’t look to be the case. To me, Days Gone seems to be taking on a more gimmicky feel, and it gets me uneasy. There have been two main releases of additional gameplay. One, the ‘first hour’ of the game, another – very late in the game, where you fight off a horde of massive proportions. Both have in my opinion not only been lacklustre but have also ruined my early impressions of the game.
A big change, though seemingly small at first, are the XP numbers that appear now when you get a kill. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it at first, but in the early gameplay reveals of Days Gone, there were no numbers popping up on the screen with every single zombie kill. Now, if you asked me how to instantly make a game feel arcade-y, there would be my answer. Add little numbers that spring to life as you pop the next enemy that’s thin as paper, preferably with a giant flashing symbol whenever you level up for the 50th time. This instantly detracts from the experience to me, and I don’t quite understand why the decision was made to make this change.
Secondly, the bike gameplay. This was hyped up to be a major part of the game, and it’s disappointing and slow. I was honestly getting frustrated watching the main character and his partner drive their bikes at the start of the gameplay. What was apparently a chase, ended up feeling like I would’ve been able to get there faster jumping off the bike and sprinting instead (only a slight exaggeration). Now, I understand that the bikes can be upgraded, that they can be given nitro boosts, and it may have even been slowed down for the sake of the gameplay demo, but in its current incarnation I can say I just wish the bikes were faster. I need my adrenaline fix, okay?
Thirdly, the story. I admit, we haven’t seen much of this yet. But what we’ve seen so far honestly bores me. Nothing has gripped my attention about the main characters, I can’t identify with either of them and they seem horribly cut and dry. I even have to admit, when I heard during this first gameplay video that the partner would be with me throughout the game, I felt my heart sink a little, it almost feels as though an extra was introduced in place of whatever interesting, complex character could have been there instead.
Now this is just my first impression, and I fully hold onto the hope that I’m wrong, but when the first choice you come across has no impact on the game, I get even more sceptical. You’re given the choice to either shoot, or leave alive (to be eaten by a zombie horde), the man that just brutalised one of your friends, and it seems like you hold all the power. Does your choice make a difference? No, he gets shot by your partner if you leave him to a much crueller fate. Sure, it was mentioned that your partner will dislike you for it, and act differently towards you, but until I see the extent that this is, I’m not impressed. Too many games lately have given the illusion of big decisions, only to yield a negligible change, alluded to but impossible to find the tangible effect of.
See for yourself, I’m not the one that knows whether you’ll enjoy a game or not, you are, and the gameplay I’ve been ranting about will help you decide.
I was looking forward to watching a fight against the horde. The attached YouTube video shows a late-game fight against immeasurable odds. Does it seem that way? No, to me it seems relaxed, there’s no tension, no fear. At no point is the player close to being killed, even remotely so. As the XP numbers ricochet across the screen, the hollow nature of the game begins to be revealed. Run, shoot, run shoot. This is endgame gameplay, and yet, it seems suspiciously similar to any horde encounter we’ve seen so far. If it’s all like this? Honestly, I don’t think people will be completing Days Gone, as unlikely as that would have sounded the last E3.
Days Gone, I still hold hope you’ll be good, but at this point, you seem stale and hollow. Arcade-y, almost. Prove me wrong.
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