We reviewed Days Gone

Driftwood
Thursday, April 25, 2019 | 2:01 PM
28 comments

GSY Review PS4

First announced at E3 2016, Days Gone is now ready for release and if you are into single player games, you're probably wondering if it's worth your while. To help you decide, we have a few more gameplay videos along with a Gamersyde Offline in English to watch. If it's not enough, check out our verdict inside.
Note: Our review is based on the 1.02 version of the game, before it was updated to 1.03.
Note 2: Why not discover our review with it's new layout in our upcoming v3?

Verdict

Despite the lack of originality of most of its gameplay mechanics, Days Gone belongs to this category of games that makes you want to keep playing. It sometimes feels that it's not as polished as some other PS4 exclusives, but it remains a pretty ambitious game which makes a really good use of Unreal Engine 4. It may be not as memorable as the likes of God of War, Uncharted 4 or The Last of Us but it has undeniable qualities, like it's coherent approach to the open world genre and its excellent atmosphere. As a new franchise, Days Gone has its flaws but it is nonetheless a good basis to build something promising for the future if it manages to get the most of its more unique features. As it stands, Bend Studio's game is entertaining enough to give hordes of single-player games enthusiasts a very good time. We can say so because that's exactly what happened to us in the last 2 weeks. We're not sure you'll feel the same obviously but if you don't stop at the fact that this new PS4 exclusive does not really bring anything new to the table, chances are you won't even realize the days that have gone between the first time you launched the game and the moment you complete it.

On the upside
Endearing characters
Makes you want to see the end of it
Solid atmosphere
Efficient gameplay mechanics
The trust system works well
Excellent use of the touch pad for once
Bike customization is cool
A beautiful game
Great weather effects and superb lighting
HDR works wonders (up to 1500 nit peak brightness)
Very detailed characters
Great sound design and voice work
Impressive crowd engine
Animations are great overall

On the downside
It's all too familiar
Some cutscenes aren't always justified
Not as powerful as TLOU in terms of story
Getting a call for a new job 2 minutes after leaving a camp (every time!)
Running out of gas way too often
Some stuttering in 1.02
Pop-in can be more visible on some PS4s
Loading times can be long
Human AI is either blind or dumb
A few bugs

What we think about the game (EN)

What we think about the game (FR/new sequences)

Commented on 2019-04-25 14:41:23

Blim doesn't like lo-Gs. 7/10 would not jump again.

In reply to

AndreasZ94

Commented on 2019-04-25 14:52:46

How was the difficulty overall? Im debating if i should play on normal or hard

Driftwood

Commented on 2019-04-25 15:10:17 In reply to AndreasZ94

Except against hordes, normal isn't difficult. Only played the first hour in hard and it seemed manageable.

jmd749

Commented on 2019-04-25 15:15:31

The game looks amazing. I can't wait to get my copy tomorrow. :)

Seth

Commented on 2019-04-25 15:23:20

Sons of Apathy!

The best thing about Days Gone? It's finally out, so Sony can start talking about TLoU Part II in next few months.

Commented on 2019-04-25 16:16:16

Oh no, the reviews for Days Gone aren't sounding good. :( Lots of tech issues etc. I never learn(never pre-order new IPs before reviews) lol
Even Jim Sterling is saying it's not that good.
IGN 6.5
Easy Allies 7.5
Ah well, I'll decide for myself tomorrow when I have it in hand.

Sdarts

Commented on 2019-04-25 16:46:00

Hi, Drift.

Thanks for the review, videos and images. If you don't mind a few notes about the review:

"The trust system works well" - What is this system and what does it do?
"Excellent use of the touch pad for once" - Could you expand on this?

This part is some criticism:

"Not as powerful as TLOU in terms of story"

Not fair to use this as a negative point. Specially since this could be used against 99% of all games. Then there's the fact that TLoU is a very linear Story-Driven game, while Days Gone is an Action Open-World game, I understand that it shares a lot of elements with it, like crafting and zombies, but they are very different games aiming for different gameplay experiences.

Just the fact that you have a partner to enhance and progress character development for TLoU makes it unfair to compare the two. Same if you were to compare Days Gone with God of War (2018), that type of dynamic between two main characters really elevates the story and the characters to a whole new level than if only relying on one main character - if both are done properly.

This type of negative point could be used against all games, for example: Sekiro is not as emotionally impactful as Journey, TLoU does not have as great gameplay and gameplay diversity as Grand Theft Auto 5, side quests in Days Gone aren't as great as those in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and so on.

I wrote this not to detract from the review, but because that negative point stood out like a sore thumb in an otherwise very interesting bullet points section.

Hi, Drift.

Thanks for the review, videos and images. If you don't mind a few notes about the review:

"The trust system works well" - What is this system and what does it do?
"Excellent use of the touch pad for once" - Could you expand on this?

This part is some criticism:

"Not as powerful as TLOU in terms of story"

Not fair to use this as a negative point. Specially since this could be used against 99% of all games. Then there's the fact that TLoU is a very linear Story-Driven game, while Days Gone is an Action Open-World game, I understand that it shares a lot of elements with it, like crafting and zombies, but they are very different games aiming for different gameplay experiences.

Just the fact that you have a partner to enhance and progress character development for TLoU makes it unfair to compare the two. Same if you were to compare Days Gone with God of War (2018), that type of dynamic between two main characters really elevates the story and the characters to a whole new level than if only relying on one main character - if both are done properly.

This type of negative point could be used against all games, for example: Sekiro is not as emotionally impactful as Journey, TLoU does not have as great gameplay and gameplay diversity as Grand Theft Auto 5, side quests in Days Gone aren't as great as those in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and so on.

I wrote this not to detract from the review, but because that negative point stood out like a sore thumb in an otherwise very interesting bullet points section.

Commented on 2019-04-25 16:55:19 In reply to Sdarts

When your game is so close to another one, when it tries hard to achieve the same result, it's normal to use it against it.

Touchpad allows quick access to the game's menu. Swipe right and you display the map, swipe down and you reach the skill menu, etc.

The trust system is something they came up with to give you an incentive to help the different camps' leaders. They won't sell you their most interesting equipment unless they trust you, so you need to build up that trust by doing missions for them. It works well in this world, it seems pretty realistic to me as Deacon also has a reason to give them a hand. It's nothing more though.

PS : I would never ever qualify a Rockstar Games title as great when it comes to gameplay. To me, they're even the worst in the department...

Commented on 2019-04-25 17:16:36 In reply to Driftwood

Thanks for the reply and expanding on the touchpad and trust system, they sound very good, specially the touchpad. I use both Xbox 360 Controller and the DualShock 4 with DS4Windows for PC Gaming and often lament the lack of support for the touchpad, since it means more extra buttons and functionality.

I don't want to argue - even though it is what I'm doing in a way - and I agree they share a lot of stuff, but not in the story department, with the very big ass caveat that I haven't played Days Gone, so you know significantly more than me about that.

Still, I never got the impression that Days Gone was going for a TLoU type of story telling, at least not from the trailers, gameplay videos, articles or interviews with Bend Studio's developers.

Since I haven't played the game, I could be very wrong, but nothing up to the game's release gave me that impression. The closest connection with TLoU were some gaming press people complaining most PS4 exclusives were copying elements of TLoU, like being more gritty and serious in tone, as well as God of War (2018) having you journey with a young partner.

Anyway, I will take your word on it until I play and get to judge it for myself. I also don't want to seem like I'm trying to defend Days Gone, after the first trailer, everything else they showed always seemed very generic with the exception of the zombie horde system. It has a MetaCritic score of 72 (from 77 Critics) at the moment, so that says a lot about the game. Not bad, but not great either.

I don't want to argue - even though it is what I'm doing in a way - and I agree they share a lot of stuff, but not in the story department, with the very big ass caveat that I haven't played Days Gone, so you know significantly more than me about that.

Still, I never got the impression that Days Gone was going for a TLoU type of story telling, at least not from the trailers, gameplay videos, articles or interviews with Bend Studio's developers.

Since I haven't played the game, I could be very wrong, but nothing up to the game's release gave me that impression. The closest connection with TLoU were some gaming press people complaining most PS4 exclusives were copying elements of TLoU, like being more gritty and serious in tone, as well as God of War (2018) having you journey with a young partner.

Anyway, I will take your word on it until I play and get to judge it for myself. I also don't want to seem like I'm trying to defend Days Gone, after the first trailer, everything else they showed always seemed very generic with the exception of the zombie horde system. It has a MetaCritic score of 72 (from 77 Critics) at the moment, so that says a lot about the game. Not bad, but not great either.

andrewsqual

Commented on 2019-04-25 18:32:52

What are the issues with the loading times like? Is it when you die or when you fast travel?

Commented on 2019-04-25 18:46:22

Some cutscenes can be a bit long to load. Fast travel is too obviously. As for dying, I'd say it depends.

Commented on 2019-04-25 18:49:51 In reply to Driftwood

Oh dear, cutscenes shouldn't have to load at all if they are ingame. That's great to know.

I can't believe how they pulled it off in the visual dept on Unreal Engine 4 with it also being a fairly ambitious open world game. And they still managed to hit that sweet spot of native 1080p on standard PS4 too although the performance on the console stutters here and there.

warmech25

Commented on 2019-04-25 21:30:01

It does snow better than RDR2

Commented on 2019-04-25 22:29:42 In reply to warmech25

Posted by warmech25

no need to bend over, the check payments are cancelled after the reviews.

GunsnSwords

Commented on 2019-04-25 23:30:15

the reviews now in. reception "Ok-ish". major sites describe a pretty mellow experience.

5/10 from Gamespot
https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/days-gone-review-...

6.5/10 from IGN
https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/04/25/days-gone-...

6/10 from TheSixthAxis
https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2019/04/25/days-gone-...

Eurogamer - "a shallow copy of many better open-world action games"
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-04-25-days...

Commented on 2019-04-25 23:37:17

I'm off to watch the DF tech video of Days Gone.
https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-...

so far no mention of a leap over Red Dead 2. still doesn't look bad for a UE4 title.

Commented on 2019-04-25 23:48:16 In reply to GunsnSwords

Not all exclusives will be masterpieces. Even Nintendo which is the best when it comes to exclusives, doesn't knock it out of the park every time. Still, like I've read in another review, Bend Studio made a solid foundation to build upon in a sequel if Sony greenlits it. And I hope Sony does.

Commented on 2019-04-26 01:31:19

just finished up both DF tech videos. plenty of visual praise received in both of them. currently has the best implementation of checkerboard rendering for the PS4-Pro. very good usage of screen space shadows also. definitely a looker from UE4.

apart from it lacking substance and narrative direction. everything else seems pretty decently well crafted. much of what I've gathered it received the same criticisms as Ryse and the Order 1886.

KORNdog

Commented on 2019-04-26 01:39:08 In reply to GunsnSwords

Posted by GunsnSwords

The game looks better than RDR2 In a lot of areas. Especially regarding world, weather, character models and textures. But RDR2 is handling a lot more dynamic elements within it. physics, character interaction etc. The fact Bend achieved this with a 7th? Of the Dev team of rockstar is impressive as hell though. But then they put uncharted on a handheld so maybe it's not that surprising. Lol

alitig

Commented on 2019-04-26 07:42:34

Oh gamersyde how much I luv your hq screenshots

kutkat

Commented on 2019-04-26 08:20:51

Thank you, GS.

Wow, the breaker looks as generic as possible. No creativity at all in his design.

catfish

Commented on 2019-04-26 22:34:49

Thanks for this. I think the ground detail and foliage may be the most impressive I have seen in an Open World game. It doesn't surpass RDR2 but I think it looks excellent. The snow build up is really impressive too.

Commented on 2019-04-27 00:06:03 In reply to catfish

Yeah Days Gone has better textures, foliage and weather system (real time snowfall is great, but the game lacks great snow deformation i think that we have seen in RDR2 and Horizon expansion). That said, RDR2 has quite an edge artistically and the game has so many physics/simulation things going on with the wildlife/npc's etc and on top of that it is one of the few open world games without textures pop-in issue (or at least R* made it extremely hard to notice if it happens).

Commented on 2019-04-27 17:23:17 In reply to nostradamus

Posted by nostradamus

Haha relax, not every comment has some sort of agenda behind it like your comments.

clairesdumbface

Commented on 2019-04-27 19:15:04

Wow! This looks boring AF! Wouldn't waste my time on it even if it was free.