How often do we think about the past? I think it’s quite common, especially considering the love for everything vintage. Experiencing losses is not an easy task, especially when the whole surrounding reality is going down the drain along with the personal one. But for a seasoned one-percent biker, it’s not fatal. It will withstand everything: zombies, looters, fanatics, high expectations, an obscure remaster and an unreleased second part. Ladies and gentlemen, today we have an interactive guide to the sights of Oregon, the game “Life after”, or, more commonly, Days Gone.
In the outside world, this game has a very strange story. One of the selling projects of the fourth curling iron could not really sell the console. The fact is that the project didn’t really provide anything new. Like the main character of the game, the owners of Sony’s entertainment division watched too much in the days gone by. From a gaming point of view, Days Gone looks like the most typical game from this console of current generations: open world, cinematic, dramatic plot and realism. All of the above, of course, evokes associations with the Last of Us, but I haven’t played the last one, so there will be much more comparisons with Mad Max than anyone anywhere expected.
The road always leads somewhere
The Walking Anarchists
First impressions don’t deceive you at all: the narrative part of the game is not just inspired by Sons of Anarchy and the Walking Dead, but literally sells the game to the same audience. The only thing missing for full ammunition is Norman Reedus in place of the main character. However, he has already managed to give his appearance to the hero of another curling iron game, which we will also definitely get to. Moreover, there is also a post-apocalypse and motorcycles, even if they are electric.
In the plot, fierce biker Deacon St. John tries to save his beloved Sarah and his friend Boozer (an absolutely normal call sign) from the impending apocalypse. In the best dramatic traditions, salvation can be achieved by exactly half. And now, already in a burnt-out world inhabited by zombies, a pair of bikers are trying to survive and ride off on a total of four wheels to a warm land. But suddenly Boozer is attacked by fanatics, which is why he is injured, and Dickon wants to find a loyal friend.
That’s the plot. And yes, it almost entirely consists of stamps. The clichedness of the narrative is partly saved by the presentation, performed at a very high-budget level. But the real highlight is the locality of the game. This is the same story about small-town Americans who do not trust the damned feds from Washington, who love hunting and fishing, and who constantly appeal to the second amendment to the constitution, which was abolished by the game. And if in the case of Far Cry it all looked like an entertaining caricature, then here it is served seriously and respectfully. For example, the character Copeland, the owner of one of the survivor camps, a pirate radio host, and just a conspiracy boss. On the one hand, his nonsense is clearly not groundless. The end of the world has finally come, an unknown virus is turning people into inhumans, and then there are the feds flying black helicopters. There are no men in black, as in the famous urban legend, but the combat gas masks of these guys inspire no more confidence than the power armor of the Enclave from Folych. By the way, they were also kind of feds. It all fits. Literally, “I told you so” is a moment. However, Copeland is still a conspiracy theorist, at least in the eyes of Deacon, who constantly grumbles that he shouldn’t have helped Copeland fix the radio tower.
Drake Face can be considered an Easter Egg from Sony
Deacon generally reacts actively to everything that happens in the game, which makes him very lively. He is literally attentive to details. A big journey is stitched together by a lot of small emotions that the main character shows. And this is the second project after Death Stranding, where this is conveyed so qualitatively. In fact, Deacon himself brings together different gameplay aspects. At the same time, empathy does not allow the player to fool around. In any case, I had no desire to test the game mechanics for strength, forcing the protagonist to climb into frankly ridiculous situations. Is it often possible to achieve this in a large open world?
Perhaps Deacon is a healthy manifestation of that very new masculinity. By taking the classic image of a charming, dangerous biker, which, it would seem, has been preserved since the time of Marlon Brando, the authors were able to revive it. It is a pleasure to share anxiety, anger and joy with the hero. But the most interesting thing lies in the fleeting moments. Small remarks about the frequent rain or a sigh of relief when you successfully break away from the chase — this is what turns a computer dummy into something tangible. And this is not necessary for serious stressful meetings. Everything can be a lot of fun. The scene from the prologue, where Dickon lost his precious motorcycle, was bound to explode into memes, no worse than the phrases of the Lord of the Witcher! But alas, the game did not become a popular enough hit. Most likely, the reason for this is the early console exclusivity.
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance
The first curling iron was associated with survival horror films like Resident Evil: static camera, tank control, etc. Now, consoles for numbers 4 and 5 have realistic third-person action games as their main genre. Partially open world, stealth in the grass, that’s all. And Days Gone has it all. But here, as with the narrative part, there is nothing new, but everything is done very efficiently. For complete authenticity, I preferred to play with the Dualshock gamepad from the fourth version of the console, which I recommend to you. The vaunted analog control in stealth allows you to better feel the tension. And shooting from the keyboard will be excessively easy.
As for the motorcycle, it’s just like in Mad Max: you need to take care of your car, cherish it and pump it up in every possible way. But, as with the character, everything is more realistic. You will have to pay for any crazy trick with the fortune of an iron horse. Off-road driving does not forgive mistakes. Of course, if there is a resource, Deacon will fix everything instantly, but this resource, scrap, still needs to be found. It won’t work to carry a couple of extra tons of auto parts in your pocket, but they are also used to repair melee weapons that are as fragile as a feather. And as for ranged combat weapons… absolutely right! There are always not enough bullets.
And this is also patriotism!
A separate piquancy is added by the mechanics of saving. You can only stay next to your bed or motorcycle, in a calm environment. So we also get attached to this particular motorcycle, just like the main character.
The main value of Days Gone lies in the feeling of traveling, risky and exciting. We are playing for a rather dashing, but still a man. This is not an action movie hero who can’t take any punches. The feeling of danger is quite real and you will have to leave a lot of places. But difficulties are created in order to overcome them.
Go through the forest
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Oregon state government sponsored this game. Its natural expanses are so well shown here. The joke about screenshots from the game as vacation photos is no longer such a joke here. The forest, like everything in this game, causes a lot of emotions. It is the aesthetic pleasure of the dawning sun, the dull calm of the rain. The joy of how daylight plays in the crowns of the pines. And fear… the real fear of the forest at night. And it’s not just the freaks, as the local zombies are called, crawling out of their nests at night. The very sight of tree trunks in the light of a single headlight looks really creepy. But the game is not a horror and is not going to intentionally frighten. Such moments are very valuable.
The localization of the game is quite mysterious. Nomads are just free bikers.
You can add a pinch of Southern Gothic to the aesthetics. Yes, you can’t call Oregon the south, but if you focus on backwoods and folk mysticism, then this is quite suitable. Huge nests made of twigs and scarred fire worshippers fit in very well.
Perhaps this is the best digital way to breathe in the rich aroma of the pine forests of the west coast of the United States, head and shoulders ahead of the Alan Wake series. Even though there wasn’t a very mandatory remake either. To enhance the effect, I recommend not using fast movements. Just the trusty iron horse and no off-screen teleportation!
As a result, we have a very interesting product. There are all the charms of a big budget, but at the same time it does not hit the most extensive audience. And this audience may well be the readers of our magazine. We love motorcycles here, right? Before that, only Kojima was able to assemble interactive reality according to his personal wishes. But the real value of the game is not in tag hits. For example, I’ve never really watched the aforementioned series, and I’m very neutral about bike culture.But that didn’t stop me from enjoying the game. Days Gone has tremendous power as a work of art due to its integrity. Pay attention to her. Perhaps this is exactly what you’ve always been looking for.
