Days Gone was one of the games shown at the surprisingly short PlayStation E3 press conference this year, focusing more on the gameplay aspect.
Days Gone was originally announced at last year’s PlayStation E3 press conference as a new IP from Bend Studios, who have also created Uncharted: Golden Abyss for PlayStation Vita.
“Set in the beautiful, volcanic scarred high-desert of the Pacific Northwest, Days Gone is an open-world action-adventure game where you play as Deacon St. John, a Drifter and bounty hunter who would rather risk the dangers of the broken road than live in one of the ‘safe’ wilderness encampments,” said Bend Studios creative director John Garvin in a PlayStation blog post from last year. “The game takes place two years after a global pandemic has killed almost everyone, but transformed millions of others into what survivors call Freakers – mindless, feral creatures, more animal than human but very much alive and quickly evolving.”
The gameplay trailer made for last year’s E3 also showed off part of the story. Deacon St. John used to live a normal life, and is seen riding on a motorcycle with what is assumed to be his girlfriend or wife. “You know what I remember the most,” said Deacon to an unnamed companion sitting next to him, “riding the open road… the smell of your hair, the touch of your skin… I remember you.” As he stands up on a hill, alone, with his motorcycle, he says “But those days are gone. Now, I’m a Drifter, a bounty hunter, a mercenary… and for me, the broken road is all that’s left. But I’ll always remember.”
In this gameplay trailer, the audience sees Deacon trying to hunt down someone he is hired to kill while avoiding a Horde, who are lurking around the campsite. When chasing after his kill, he is quickly attacked by a Newt, also known as a child who was turned into a zombie. After he leaves his kill to be eaten by the Horde, he is chased by the rest of the pack. He sets off explosives, traps, and uses a machine gun to keep his enemies at bay. The end of the trailer shows him stuck on a platform, with the Horde closing in on him.
This year’s E3 trailer introduced zombie animals into the mix. So, not only does Deacon have to fend himself from zombies humans, but he also has to protect himself from zombie wolves and bears.
In this trailer, Deacon goes on a mission to rescue his friend Manny, who has been kidnapped by squatters during a supply run. While riding on his motorcycle to find him, he is chased after by a group of zombie wolves and manages to kill all of them. Unfortunately, a trap was set up for him and he is attacked by another group of survivors, who he manages to defeat by stabbing one to death and wrapping rope and asphyxiating the other.
Using tracking skills, one of the shown features in Days Gone, Deacon picks up on Manny’s tracks and follows them. He sees a camp in the distance, and while trying not to make noise, bumps into something that causes alarm. Deacon kills the guard that comes to see what the noise is all about, then sets up a bear trap and sends another guard towards it. When he gets stuck in the bear trap, he starts yelling, which causes a Horde to come to the camp.
Deacon encounters another Horde near where Manny is. Since the outpost is behind a dam, Deacon sets up an explosive to destroy it, causing the Horde to come running to attack the survivors. Deacon then kills the man who kidnaps Manny and saves him, only for them to encounter a zombie bear, which Manny accidentally gets to notice them by making noise.
Days Gone will be released on December 29 of this year and is a console exclusive for the PlayStation 4.
Featured image via PlayStation official website.
