Days Gone

Single-player adventure action game Days Gone, in the genres of survival, stealth, and action, with a third-person perspective in an open world, was released in April 2019 after three years of development and several delays. The setting of the project is a post-apocalypse caused by a pandemic of an unknown virus. A distinctive feature of the game is its authentic motorcycle romance.

The use of Unreal Engine 4 allowed for stunning graphics due to high-resolution textures, detailed models, natural dynamic lighting, realistic character animations, and quality effects, including rain, snow, and fog. The game has been called one of the most beautiful projects in the open world for the PS4 generation.

The action of the game takes place in the USA, although the apocalypse in Days Gone happened simultaneously all over the world and very quickly. The few survivors recalled that cities and homes turned into graveyards, planes fell from the sky, and the only question became one of survival.

After the virus, almost the entire population of the Earth turned into "freaks" — zombie-like creatures. Their distinction is that they are alive, active, and quite intelligent. Freakers band together in groups, sometimes roaming in hordes, and love to create nests in various tunnels and hard-to-reach places. However, this is not the only danger — the game world is full of other survivors, as well as marauders who are hostile to everyone else.

Special quarantine zones quickly appeared, managed by an organization called NERO. They quickly took control of the territory of the USA, becoming a sort of government. At the bases of this organization, you can find many interesting items that will be useful later.

Days Gone offers a large open world for exploration, filled with dense forests and underbrush, wide meadows and fields, mountains and hills, rivers and lakes. The main helper in this will be the bike, which not only speeds up movement but also allows jumping to hard-to-reach places. The physics model is at a simulator level.

The main character is biker Deacon St. John, a criminal and daredevil who becomes a bounty hunter after the pandemic. His best friend and partner, nicknamed Boozer, helps in some missions, and throughout the game, players will encounter another 5-6 secondary characters.

The plot tells how John, after a heavy loss, becomes a mercenary. He hardens against the whole world, to the point that his friend has to stop him. Almost all tasks in the game are closely tied to the storyline. In some quests, players will learn about John's past through flashbacks that show the world before the global pandemic began.

Seeking to rid himself of the ghosts of the past, John and Boozer gather supplies and head to a safe zone in the north. Completely unexpectedly, the hero learns that his heavy loss may be nothing but a figment of his imagination. This radically changes John's plans, and he begins to dig for the truth.

The story is presented through cutscenes and dialogues, making it hard to perceive Days Gone as a game — it feels more like a CG movie. However, it has a weak beginning; the story picks up closer to the middle and gains momentum towards the end — more dramatic scenes appear, and the intrigue around the hero's past grows. Information is presented in doses, making the player forget about side quests and focus on the main storyline.

The main gameplay mechanic of Days Gone is advanced stealth with survival elements. You can use weapons such as pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles, machine guns, Molotov cocktails, and even napalm.

The shooting aspect takes a backseat to stealth, as the game world reacts sensitively to noise and flashes. Also, ammunition is limited — you simply can't shoot everyone down.

If you stir up trouble, be prepared to face a crowd of freakers. They are fast, constantly moving, and dodging bullets; they have a lot of health, and if freakers swarm you, it will be hard to resist.

It's much more advantageous to hide in the grass and behind cover, scout the area with binoculars, set up ambushes, and attack in close combat from behind or around corners for a silent kill. You can also provoke freakers to attack enemies by throwing a grenade or blowing up a gas canister.

You can upgrade your motorcycle, increasing speed, acceleration, and fuel tank capacity, and with each upgrade, it will look even cooler. You will also need to take care of it — refuel and repair it after crashes at high speeds.

Gasoline and scrap metal can be found in cars, while other items like bandages, first aid kits, and ammunition can be found by carefully searching through the remains of buildings left after the pandemic. Alternatively, you can buy them at survivor camps.

The gameplay of Days Gone is thoroughly linear — reach a location, complete the task in one way or another, and move on to the next, all while being spiced up by story cutscenes.

There is complete freedom — while riding your bike and hearing gunshots, you can stop at the edge of the forest, check where the noise is coming from, arrive at the scene and see marauders fighting off freakers, attack them, wait for one side to win, or just pass by for other business, or return and leave.

Occasionally, the game sends you into "battles" against several hundred zombies, where you need to act tactically and use the environment.

Freakers love to create entire nests in various tunnels and dark locations, which pose a huge danger. You can clear an area of a large group of enemies using explosives, but you will also need to shoot accurately.

An important part of the gameplay is interacting with survivor camps. There are five of them in the game; they offer trading, sending rescued people there, and taking on missions. Since each camp has its own currency, you will need to establish contact with all of them, as earning well in one camp won't allow you to spend your earnings in another.