Days Gone Reviews
The apocalypse has never been more aimless than in Days Gone
The game meets the baseline level of quality we might expect from a big-budgeted joint, yet it remains a tiresome, empty experience.
Days Gone is the perfect PlayStation game to make its way to PC. It was already a beautiful game, but held back by the PS4 and PS4 Pro. On PC, Days Gone gets it's chance to flourish, running at uncapped frame rates, high resolutions, and touting an FOV slider. While it is missing some cool next-gen upgrades like ray tracing and DLSS, Days Gone runs nearly flawlessly on PC, and serves as a testament to Bend's tradecraft. Even if you've already played the game on PS4 or PS4 Pro, it's worth jumping back into the shoes of Deacon St John on PC to massacre a freaker horde at the highest level of performance possible.
While it tries a few unique things, Days Gone's awful writing, abundance of glitches, and boring cookie cutter gameplay doesn't really make it worth spending time on.
If you’re wanting something to fill your time before the arrival of Naughty Dog’s upcoming epic, then Days Gone may serve a purpose. There is some fun to be had churning dirt on Deacon’s hog, no doubt. But, while we’re yet to go hands-on with the further adventures of Ellie and Joel, we’d be amazed if when it does arrive, that game didn’t teach Days Gone a host of lessons about storytelling, gameplay and all the rest.
Days Gone features some potentially interesting community-building mechanics and the appeal of a bikers vs. zombies game is hard to ignore, but it never lets its best ideas take center stage. Instead, it focuses on lackluster combat and a repetitive set of missions. It moves along on the kind of momentum that exists almost by default in big open world packed with activities, but I could never get fully engaged, partly due to its dragging pace, scattershot story, off-putting protagonist, and frequent bugs.
The zombie apocalypse isn't worth surviving at first glance. Enduring a lifetime of horrible food, abysmal cellular reception, and the constant paranoia associated with living a day-to-death existence sounds overwhelming. Forget about whether or not we can strategically out-sprint an undead horde or can ruthlessly murder other survivors if necessary: the more important question is...
It's the different approach to Days Gone's storytelling that sets it apart from most other open world games. Despite this, the elongated storyline can make some parts feel like a slog but even so it's very much worth your time to experience it.
Days Gone's PC port doesn't fix the game's generic premise or writing issues, but it does offer a slew of technical improvements that takes advantage of the PC's better hardware. Pair those with a compelling world and some great gameplay and you have an adventure that's better than it's often given credit for.
I'm sure you're tired of me saying this, however, this port of Days Gone for the PC is easily one of the best ports I've seen. The game runs well, I haven't encountered a single performance-related issue with my time playing the game. And trust me, I've looked. I don't know what magic Bend Studios worked to get this game so darned optimized, but I'm not complaining either.
Bend has delivered on a largely enjoyable open-world game with Days Gone. It has its fair share of hang-ups and though most are forgivable, some are not. Their depiction of Oregon, while bleak, is truly breathtaking and strikes me as the ideal mould for open-traversal. Its map isn't as big as many in the genre, though it's densely populated by things to do.
While it has some flaws and can get repetitive during long sessions, it's still fun to try and survive in a violent world that is truly out to get you.
Days Gone is so clearly inspired by other pillars of video game storytelling, but it fails to meet the standards set forth by those that came before it. While there are good ideas and a lot of heart in Days Gone, it ultimately stumbles in execution and is plagued by a number of technical issues, making it hard to recommend Bend's post-apocalyptic biker adventure.
The best way to describe Days Gone is good but not great. There is arguably nothing that hits a point where you absolutely must see it, something Horizon, God of War and a few other exclusives have, leading to a mixed reaction. Even if I come off rather critical of a number of elements, it's the type of game where I might not tell people it's a can't miss experience, though it never hits the point where I'd actively discourage anyone from bothering. So, if you're okay with a good game that has hints of something better or simply enjoy the genre, give it a go.
Despite being painfully generic, Days Gone is an engaging game thanks to its emergent gameplay.
In Days Gone I receive all features I like in video games – atmosphere, interesting characters, realism, well-made shooting, and cool stealth mechanics. Despite that Days Gone may be a real disappointment for fans of Ubisoft's open world games – there’s a lot of content but it's all based on the story-driven campaign. It’s a long storyline but there's nothing else to do.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Running on a treadmill and Days Gone are very similar experiences. You put in time and effort, yet you remain in the same spot. Thrilling gameplay and crazed "freakers" cannot save this game from its LONG, uncompelling story. Ultimately, the amount of hours invested in Days Gone do not pay off. This is not a full throttle Sony exclusive that we've come to know and love, it's miles away from that.
Days Gone is an above average open-world game that is brought down by a weak first act, poor shooting, and a lot of technical issues.
While patches may be able to salvage quite a few of its bugs, there are some questionable design decisions that certainly can’t be fixed as easily.
Days Gone is not the final, nor the definitive or the perfect version of Bend Studio's action adventure, as it never was, but with the upgrades coming from the PC release it sure is the best it could ever be.
Review in Italian | Read full review