In Bloody Disgusting’s Days Gone review, find out why an uninspired post-apocalypse makes for an uneven slog, but the hordes decimate your boredom.

Infected and undead enemies should be dead and buried as a staple by this point, such has been the saturation of them in all forms of entertainment in recent years means you’re never far from something featuring them. Yet they persevere time and again, even as failures stack up, the undead, rather fittingly, come back, defying logic.

Yet to stand out in that horde, you need a pretty effective hook at this point. Days Gone sort of has one, but it clearly suffers from the saturation of likeminded media.

No game in Sony’s roster of big exclusives has had it as tough as Sony Bend’s Days Gone. For a start, it gets to be ‘that other post-apocalyptic PlayStation exclusive with zombies in it’. Sure, its Freaker Hordes stand out, but the big question has always been ‘what else you got?’. Bend Studios has made its first big-budget blockbuster game, and it faced an uphill battle to please from day one.

The problem beyond unfair and frankly lazy The Last of Us comparisons is that Days Gone is yet another single player open world game, and Sony itself has provided the world with some pretty damn good ones in the last few years. For many, Days Gone just didn’t look like it would offer anything new or exciting. It doesn’t have to, of course, but exclusives are measured in a different way to most games.

the story of Days Gone is set in a post-apocalyptic America where a mysterious disease has turned much of the population into feral monsters and humanity survives in the rural wilderness by building communities, raiding communities, and killing anyone and everything, but all share a common threat; the Freakers.

The player is a former biker gang member, Deacon St. John, trying to live a relatively quiet life with biker buddy Boozer, but after a run-in with the local lunatic clan known as the Rippers, the pair find themselves thrust back into the daily drama of what remains of civilization, and Deacon uncovers information regarding his supposedly dead wife that drives him to work with and for people in pursuit of answers. It’s a decent story, if not always delivered in a coherent manner (among other things, there are scenes that simply don’t feel like they fit chronologically or logically).

Days Gone Composer Nathan Whitehead Speaks to Bloody Disgusting.

Deacon himself comes off as rather abrasive at first, but does show some flickers of charm and personality as the story progresses. He, much like the story, suffers from coherency and consistency in how he’s portrayed. Sometimes Deacon ends up getting immeasurably riled up about little things while being blase about the more impactful threat, the rest of the time he’s fairly rational and logical with a wild streak that borders on bravery and recklessness. He’s almost a great character, but he’s consistently let down by strange writing and vocal tone choices. His friendship with Boozer provides most of the highlights for levity and drama, which is a nice turn of events given how focused on Deacon’s continuing grief for his wife the game seems to be.

While Days Gone is a story-led game, there’s more than a little of the survival game genre running through its DNA. Weapons degrade (just melee ones mercifully), medkits and bandages need to be created to heal wounds, and ammo can be crafted for your crossbow. Deacon travels the great wide open on his trusty bike, which also requires repair and fuel where appropriate. You can salvage scrap, items, and indeed fuel, whilst out and about, but naturally, the Freakers are almost everywhere and you’re not some superpowered badass, so caution is necessary.

The Freakers are the stars of the show in Days Gone, so much more than the cookie cutter infected enemy type they first appear. Not only do they come in a wide variety of types (including disturbingly young and sneaky ones), they act animalistic and often travel in large hordes that roam the wilderness. They’re fascinating to watch from a distance, and just when you think you’ve seen the largest horde, another, bigger one is rarely far away. You’ll be able to try and eradicate them later in the game, but early on, getting spotted by even the smallest of hordes is a panic-inducing affair.

Outside of this, you’ll mostly be riding from place to place, picking up supplies and completing tasks for other survivors that range from fixing broken equipment to collecting medical supplies to rescuing people captured by the Rippers or Marauders (bandits, basically). The structure for missions is largely rigid and uninspired. It still does enough to be enjoyable, especially with the unpredictability of the hordes, but Days Gone stretches its gameplay hours on for far too long, creating several lengthy stretches of mundane repetition before the next set piece moment, important plot beat, or interesting enemy introduction occurs.

Despite Days Gone‘s many problems, there’s something comforting to traveling the wilderness. Freakers, bandits, and savages may lurk around every corner, but mostly there’s an air of peaceful solitude when Deacon is riding his motorcycle through forest paths, catching the odd glimmer of light from a camp in the distance in an otherwise dark night. The bike is a bit unwieldy to begin with, but with time and upgrades, it becomes an absolute pleasure to handle, sliding around corners at speed as a horde chase you is consistently thrilling.

The melancholic, almost mournful musical score adds to that atmosphere. Composer Nathan Whitehead blends folksy strings with more modern musical menace to create Days Gone’s most strikingly unique aspect.

Days Gone doesn’t rip up the rulebook for open world games, brings very little new to the tired zombie genre, and while its story is enjoyable, it’s far from compelling. Yet that doesn’t mean you won’t have a good time with it. While the riding and horde dynamics elevate the dependable, yet humdrum, nature of the rest of the game, just remember that patience is definitely required for the stretches of repetition between the more interesting parts.

Days Gone review code purchased by the writer

Days Gone is out now on PS4.