DAYS GONE
Dynamic engine is worth freaking out over
Format PS4 ETA TBC Pub Sony Dev Bend Studio
When Bend’s ambitious open-world survival adventure got its unveiling at E3 last year, it was hard to see the gorgeous Pacific Northwest scenery through the swirling swarms of Freakers terrorising Deacon St John. So colour us intrigued when our behind-closed-doors demo for Days Gone hardly features the rabid monsters. Instead, we get a guided tour of a confident and dynamic mission that offers more depth than we’d previously imagined.
The mission we see is the same one Sony showed at its E3 conference, but played in a completely different way. We pick up with survivors of an attack trudging back into Copeland’s Camp, as Deacon St John is about to head off. Snow falls constantly as our lead runs into the head of the settlement. Unfortunately, the news isn’t great, as he finds out that his buddy Manny has been
kidnapped by a group of squatters. Whatever plans he had are now out the window as he sets off to rescue his pal.
Deacon’s clearly an angry man but technical game designer Geoff Hammon tells us how that might change over the course of the game: “The story is going to be about exploring him as he moves through the world, how he changes, and one of our big themes is hope. Even if you live in the shit, how do you get out of that and how do you make a life worth living?”
BIKER BLUES
For now, that means saving Manny. Revving up his motorbike, Deacon screeches into the forest and heads in the opposite direction to the injured camp members limping back to safety. As a biker, you’d expect him to have a lot invested in his chopper, and that will play
“WHILE CAPTAIN HUBRIS HAS HIS FACE GNAWED TO A PULP, OUR BIKER SCOPES OUT THE CAMP.”
a part with the game’s mechanics (no pun intended). Hammon explains: “Because it’s a survival-based game, we do have health on the bike, it gets damaged as you drive. You also have to deal with gasoline and be able to find those things in the world.” Hopefully, petrol tastes just as disgusting to Freakers as it does to us.
Riding towards Manny’s last known location, Deacon comes across a body that’s being pecked by crows, but fortunately, it’s not our guy. This tiny detail might feel scripted, but it’s a part of the game’s dynamic engine. We’re seeing crows in our demo because of the snowy weather and time of day, whereas another playthrough of this level has wolves tearing a corpse apart.
This might seem like an insignificant detail, but it has big consequences. For instance, without the distraction of a Freaker wolf chasing him, Deacon is able to spot a group of the aforementioned squatters laying a trap on the road ahead. Stretching a rope across the road, they clearly don’t have our Freaker fighter’s best interests at heart. Hammon offers a few ideas for what Deacon can do in this situation: “You could sneak around and attack them from behind, or you could take a sniper rifle and shoot them from afar. Stuff like that is going to be very variable and depend on how you want to approach a situation.” In this instance, Deacon takes a different path ahead and circles around, ghosting up on the two would-be attackers and ensuring they won’t be a problem again.
SNOW PROBLEM
With Deacon seemingly on the right track, we see him take a breath and use his survivor mode to highlight resources we can scavenge from the environment. As survival is central to the game and ammo and items will be at a premium, it’s a handy skill to have that should provide the right amount of help. Not that there’s too much time for a rural supermarket sweep, so he sneaks on to a small squatter outpost.
There are a few guards at this camp and Deacon has options. This time he opts for a little more force and plants a bear trap in bushes close by the campsite. Luring a few guards over is as simple as chucking a rock towards the trap. When one gets their foot clamped, the ensuing scene sees all the camp members gather around, giving Deacon the perfect opportunity to light them up with a Molotov cocktail. It’s a smooth transition from stealth to outright attack, and a great example of the flexibility you’ll have to approach missions. As he pushes forward, he discovers the large camp where Manny is being held.
FREAKER ON A LEASH
You’ll notice that we haven’t come across many human Freakers so far, and that’s because they come out in greater numbers depending on the weather and time of day. So while we’re undertaking this mission at night time – something the grotty prefer – the creatures aren’t fans of snow, so you’ll see fewer when it’s freezing. It’s an interesting problem for Deacon to have. Large numbers of Freakers might be hard to deal with, but he could always lure the swarm into attacking his enemies.
For now, though, we’ll have to make do with a solitary Freaker chained to a tree. Deacon watches as a cocky squatter starts teasing the monster and, hilariously, sets him free by shooting off his restraints. While Captain Hubris has his face gnawed to a pulp, our biker scopes out the surrounding camp and finally discovers Manny. There are a fair few squatters on the ground and snipers up in the trees, but the snow provides enough cover to navigate through. Deacon even manages to take out a few without attracting attention.
Of course, that doesn’t last for long. When he is eventually discovered, he grabs a rifle and starts letting loose, proving a bit of ultraviolence is just as viable (there’s that excellent transition from stealth to action again). The assault on the camp is a messy, scrappy affair, but also an effective one. He manages to make his way up to Manny and, one bullet to his captor later, Deacon’s job is done. Well, he thinks it is until a giant Freaker grizzly wrapped in barbed wire turns up. The shambling bear’s deafening roar echoes through the room, but also signals the end of our demo. Considering the size of that thing, we’re almost glad our time with the game is over.
While zombie games are becoming increasingly passé, Days Gone’s real promise lies in its dynamic open world. As Hammon informs us, “The open world in Days Gone is really coming at the player. It’s a very dangerous world and we’re really trying to push that as hard as we can.” It’s one where how you approach missions will change dramatically depending on the weather conditions, the time of day and how much ammo you can afford to spend. One where a single tiny change can be the difference between life or death. Whether you’re facing swathes of Freakers or just getting the occasional glimpse of them, there’s plenty of life in this apocalypse.