Just finished (and got the platinum for
) Days Gone. I actually really, really enjoyed it. The first 1/3 of the story is slow and the gameplay doesn't pick up until later either when you get the better weapons and items (napalm molotovs
) and I honestly think the low metascore for the game MUST largely be down to reviewers not getting past the first maybe 10 hours of the game. IMO the storyline and characters are actually great, but they don't really start to develop at all until you reach the third camp.
And fighting hordes is just plain fun.
Even riding around on the bike; fun once it's maybe 50% to fully upgraded and beyond, a bit frustrating before that when it's junk. Some poor design choices I guess, putting people off the game in the opening act.
Some poor design IS there (the stealth NERO missions are frustrating and boring), it's not groundbreaking technically other than the huge hordes (human AI and gunplay is serviceable but nothing new).
There were minor bugs throughout, I was going to say nothing major, but then an hour or so from the end of the game I was riding full speed across a bridge high over a river and it just... popped out of existence. The entire bridge. Leaving me sailing through the air at top speed to my death in the river below
... but meh, it was funny so.
Anyway, I had a great time with it, the twist if you get the "extra" ending sets up an interesting sequel.
It's an easy 8/10 imo. A rare harsh critique from the reviewers who usually over-inflate ratings if anything.
Oh I would also add though - the game is not scary. The first few hordes you encounter are pretty scary for the "WHAT??" factor but once you unlock some of the weapons in the second region, Deacon St John is a zombie massacring
machine armed to the teeth with heavy machine guns, anti-materiel sniper rifles and explosives. They throw some bigger / tougher enemies at you later but the .50 cal rifle will take their head off and the machine guns cut through swarms of weaker enemies like butter
. So it's fun in a power fantasy "Just Cause" sort of way, more than a "heeelp meee" Last Of Us way.