Days Gone Review: 8 Ups & 5 Downs

4. It Makes A Terrible First Impression

Even if you love Days Gone, there's no getting away from the fact that it puts the wrong foot first at the beginning. The opening hours leave a bad taste in your mouth, and even the very first thing you do, a "blistering", "high-octane" chase sequence makes you resent the way motorcycles control. Likewise, the story itself is quite jarring initially, riddled with odd presentation issues (that we'll get to later) like intrusive loading screens and fades to black which constantly kick you out of investing in the game.

Likewise, the first few story missions are nothing special, introducing you to the title's core mechanics (which, as previously mentioned, you've probably experienced a whole bunch of times in other games) and characters whose complexities aren't initially apparent. Likewise, while you're getting used to how the bike works you'll no doubt run out of fuel, which can be frustrating, or die over and over again as you learn the importance of being sneaky and knowing when to attack.

The game does get better once you start playing on its own terms, but there really isn't much of a hook across those first couple of hours and, while it is worth sticking with to get a better view of the experience more holistically, you can't blame people for making a snap judgement.