Days Gone: 10 Gameplay Details You Need To Know
Whatever you do, don't call it a zombie game.
With its announcement trailer debuting at E3 2016 - and a follow-up gameplay trailer unveiled during E3 2017 - Bend Studios’ Days Gone looks to be a visually impressive, open world action survival game, exclusive to the PS4.
Though we’re still waiting for an official release date to be announced, interviews with the developers and the aforementioned feature spots at E3 have provided us with quite a few details.
Here's what we know: It’s two years after an apocalyptic event wiped out the majority of the human race. Many who are left have been transformed by a virus into cannibalistic, mindless creatures that are out to kill. In desperation, the last of the living have taken to setting up small guarded encampments within the thick Pacific North West forests of the United States of America, in hopes of eking out some kind of life for themselves.
John Garvin, creative director at Bend Studios describes the game as “A brutal world, where everyone and everything is struggling to survive."
With so many games already occupying the 'apocalyptic survival adventure' genre, can Days Gone do enough to separate itself from the horde?
10. It’s Not A Zombie Game
Hordes of zombie like creatures attempting to eat the living were the focal point of the first gameplay demo. However the developers were quick to point out these are not zombies, but in fact they're flesh-hungry beings called Freakers.
Freakers are people (and animals) that have been infected with a virus that makes them ultra violent and cannibalistic. You might say that sounds a lot like a zombie but the notable difference is that Freakers are still alive, they eat, drink, and get tired.
The human Freakers come in a variety of types. So far in the released gameplay we’ve seen a horde, swarms, and newts, each with their own unique qualities.
The most exciting thing so far has to be the sheer number of Freakers that have been shown on screen travelling in hordes. Akin to the zombies in Brad Pitt's World War Z, huge numbers of Freakers flow almost like water in pursuit of their victims. If the frame rate can keep up with the on screen numbers (and that seems like a big 'if') it will be intensely fun to try and take on such a mass of enemies.