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Days Gone (PS4): The Origin of an Antihero

Dead Rising 4 is a timed exclusive only and will be coming to PS4 a year later. But anyway

Days Gone just looks so generic. There's nothing exciting about it. Take it back to the drawing board and start again. Just make it a Dead Rising clone, what's the problem sony?

I don't know where you're coming from. This doesn't look like Dead Rising at all, it's clearly trying to be something completely different, so why are you suggesting the straight up copy Dead Rising?!
 
I'm with the camp that said we didn't need more zombies. And that was before the game was revealed and we saw it somehow managed to fit in a boring, broken, white man, who's crossed lines before the apocalypse and so is well equipped to deal with it. And also managed to fit in an overgrown America a few years post-apocalypse - as if we haven't seen that aesthetic enough. And I'm not just talking about The Last of Us here... On either counts.

If they manage to find a way to distinguish this game then good on them.
 
Game looks fun. TLOU comparison is fair, however this is open world, bigtime shit. TLOU was very good, but pretty scripted so I'm ready to see what Bend can prove thats a push forward in the genre.
 

JoduanER2

Member
I know its not new, but I havent seen this pic until this PS Blog post, impressive stuff

27046963313_b55c38a40c_b.jpg

Is looking like what i wanted of a modern dead rising game, i hope it can have at least 500 zombies at the same time.
 
On one hand, I'm excited that Bend gets to work on a home-console title and create a new IP. On the other, I'm dissapointed it's another zombie game. And so similar to TLoU in art-direction.
 

nel e nel

Member
Days Gone has the most eye-rolling character type. I have really low expectations of the game after seeing the game feature White American Dude with Traumatic Past (lost his wife) for the millionth time



:lol

Pretty much. "We really liked Sons of Anarchy" The Game.

I agree that the horde mechanics look great, but first impressions put it into the "technically and mechanically it's good, but it leaves one with an empty feeling".
 

Keihart

Member
When it was rumored that Bend was working in a open world horror game i got excited, now that it looks like an action game with zombies not that much. A horror open world game would have been something very fresh to tackle on, there is nothing really like that on the market, zombies on the other hand....zombie waves look intimidating at least.
 

The God

Member
Maybe they should focus more on the bike the next time they show the game, the fact that is a central part of the game should get people's head off the TLoU thing

Yeah, I think they showed the game too early. The stage demo should've focused on everything that makes this game stand out from everything it's getting compared to.
 
Yeah, I think they showed the game too early. The stage demo should've focused on everything that makes this game stand out from everything it's getting compared to.

Precisely.

Unless of course it's gameplay focus is exactly what it's getting compared to. Which is OK if everything else is executed at a high level.
 
I like the motorcycle / hitman aspect they have going , and the horde tech is impressive , but I kind of wish they did it in a "I am legend style"

Make nighttime when they appear , make shadows in buildings be scary, but of course that's where most of the supplies would be.
 
When it was rumored that Bend was working in a open world horror game i got excited, now that it looks like an action game with zombies not that much. A horror open world game would have been something very fresh to tackle on, there is nothing really like that on the market, zombies on the other hand....zombie waves look intimidating at least.

Basically my train of thought. Nothing about the game looks like anything new. The zombie waves looked intimidating though, but quite the dissonance with it being an apocalyptic setting and having enough ammo to counter it.

When the rumors were floating around about it being an open world horror game, I was thinking more supernatural thematically. This is thematically very similar to The Last of Us. At least its not like what I thought of when the codename "Dead Don't Ride" leaked. Was thinking of some awful goofy Ghost Rider game.

Need to see more anyway. I did really like the slower pace before the zombie waves showed up and went full of Dead Rising with crowd control.

Best wishes.
 

Damerman

Member
I'm with the camp that said we didn't need more zombies. And that was before the game was revealed and we saw it somehow managed to fit in a boring, broken, white man, who's crossed lines before the apocalypse and so is well equipped to deal with it. And also managed to fit in an overgrown America a few years post-apocalypse - as if we haven't seen that aesthetic enough. And I'm not just talking about The Last of Us here... On either counts.

If they manage to find a way to distinguish this game then good on them.
Pretty much this. I'm going to play the game regardless because its sony bends first try at AAA console development. I hope they manage something cool and distinct.

Cant help but feel they have backed themselves into a corner going for yet another middle aged white grizzled male witha questionable past.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
I wish you could be around more often. Your brand of level-headed enthusiasm for gaming in general is sorely needed. Agenda and jade is all too prevalent nowadays.

Its not enough to enjoy games anymore, but the need to justify characters and the motivations behind them have gotten ridiculous lately. This character is borne out of the experience the developers have as bikers themselves. I don't have any knowledge of what it is to be a biker, and I wouldn't mind the experience.



Don't get me wrong: As a black male, I want more black leads, but I do not want them shoe-horned in. Mafia III is taking a great approach as far as I can tell; you aren't just a character with a shade change, you are treated as a black male would be treated in the mid-1900's. I want developers to feel comfortable implementing non-white characters, because you wind up learning something about the culture and the social stigma(s) associated with it. Turning Deacon into a Black man becomes a bullet point instead of strong portrayal of (for many) another race.

We absolutely need a Michael B. Jordan in games (Not looking for 'black' roles, but good roles to play), but not in all games and not at the expense of making complete characters.


I want to see more of this, as well. Art imitating life.

I think a lot of people took my point saying he should be a black guy. Personally I don't mind that he's a white guy or was married to a white woman. I just see it all the time so if they would have gone another route I would have been more interested just because I don't see many of the other style of leads. Wife could have been white and in a wheel chair and I would have liked it because its something different. As I said, I like diversity. It doesn't have to happen but if it it does it piques my interest.
 

Gold_Loot

Member
But they're bikers, obviously they're rednecks and douchebags.

Seriously, the amount of preconceived bias in here is alarming. People (game characters) getting shat on simply for their dress or the way they look. Wouldn't be surprised to see someone saying he looks like a terrorist next because he has a beard.
This is a much more elegant way if what I was trying to say. Thank you for that.

Also, apologies for my snarkyness earlier in the thread. More diversity is a great thing to have .. hell , so.e of my favorite games featured either black leads (GTA.SA, Shadowman) or women (Mirrors Edge, Heavenly Sword ect. )

I always try to tell my kids to never judge anyone by how they look, talk, or gender. Knowing this, it's easy to get turned off by seeing a game get unfairly critized just by a few minutes of gameplay. I don't think it's too much to ask for to see how things play out as the game gets closer ( or played through rather) to completion...

It would be nice to see more energy devoted to praising games with diversity rather than dismissing games so early in their life for only showing so little of what the game can bring.
 
Dead Rising 4 is a timed exclusive only and will be coming to PS4 a year later. But anyway

Days Gone just looks so generic. There's nothing exciting about it. Take it back to the drawing board and start again. Just make it a Dead Rising clone, what's the problem sony?

So you disparage the game for being generic and suggest Sony clone Dead Rising to make you happy? Gotcha.

By the way, game looks terrific to me. If they make the combat encounters as dynamic as they are saying it will be and if they can get the open world motorcycle traversal down - those two aspects alone will make the game stand out from other games in the genre such as Dead Rising, Last of Us, etc.
Add in the single player focus (with a strong narrative thread), day/ night cycle, dynamic weather and bounty hunter missions...all of these elements in combination will further differentiate the game from it's contemporaries.
I hope Bend don't get discouraged by some of the negativity surrounding their game and stick to their vision. Really excited for it and hope to see more at psx.
 

Loudninja

Member
Maybe they should focus more on the bike the next time they show the game, the fact that is a central part of the game should get people's head off the TLoU thing
I mean its a bike not much they can show.

Now that I think about it maybe they can show some customization for the bike.
 
They said he adapted it (He’s adapted this thing to work in the wild) so yes i hope for customization and to put weapons on. Scythes to the side. And some spikes on the front.
 

ZoddGutts

Member
Also disappointed with the zombie inclusion, I was interested when in the beggining of the trailer being a biker in now hostile world with other people. Was thinking something like Mad Max 1, taking place a few years after the fall of society. Wish they had gone with that.
 

Shin-Ra

Junior Member
Id like if they can really do something more with the biker gang culture thing and zombie horde.

Those are the only two things at the moment that make it slightly different than Tha Last of Us.

The 'birth of an antihero' article is literally describing Joel from TLOU, so Im a bit worried they still dont get what will make their game stand apart...
I'm not getting a picture of Joel from the blog description or what they've shown.

By the way, Days Gone appears to be using the same temporal AA solution as Uncharted 4.
Or just UE4's own.

This is thematically very similar to The Last of Us. At least its not like what I thought of when the codename "Dead Don't Ride" leaked. Was thinking of some awful goofy Ghost Rider game.

Need to see more anyway. I did really like the slower pace before the zombie waves showed up and went full of Dead Rising with crowd control.

Best wishes.
Slower pace would be much more like The Last of Us..
 
Unfortunate that people automatically assume grizzled, violent anti-hero= Joel, as if someone can't have more character traits to differentiate themselves from one another. I'm already interested in his past, the motorcycle gang and his role as an actual bounty hunter.

Anyway, I'm extremely excited for the game. I love games with dark tones and survival. Crafting, heavy emphasis on the motorcycle, dynamic world and weather in a big (and gorgeous) open world is right up my alley. Can't wait.

I'm right there with you man, i was in day one with the first trailer. It really tugged at the heart strings. It's an interesting sub culture they are going with. I hung out with a few 1%ers one time it was a good time and I can see the draw of it. It's like the military you don't really know about a brotherhood until your in one. I hope there are still a few people from his mc and I hope they nail that dynamic.
 
I mean its a bike not much they can show.

Now that I think about it maybe they can show some customization for the bike.

Yep, they already said that the bike can be customized, show us how the next time.

Honestly, traversing this broken open world on a motorbike is probably the thing which is interesting me most at the moment. I really really hope they nail the physics and handling of it. I can't think of any game with motorcycle riding outside of perhaps GTA which isn't sub-par.
 

Loudninja

Member
The cool thing about the horde is they can show up all over the world, but there are going to be hotspots," Jensen said.

The sawmill featured in the demo was one such hotspot, and the horde was drawn there for a specific reason. A derailed train left the ground littered with corpse-filled body bags, providing the Freaker horde with a much-needed source of food.

"The horde is drawn to those areas where they can eat, because they're living, breathing creatures," Jensen said. "They need to eat food, they need to drink water, they sleep."
Those behavior patterns play out naturally without any interference from players. It's a key piece of the "systemic" open world in Days Gone, with Freakers and other beings just doing their own thing until you interrupt them.

In practical terms, the game's "living world" quality opens up different approaches for tackling its assorted challenges. In the case of the sawmill demo, everything from the time of day to the weather to the ruckus you create can affect how everything plays out.
"If you're making a ton of noise and [the Freakers] are making a ton of noise, there's potential for them to bring other guys out of the forest," Jensen said. "If you know you're at the time of day when they might be sleeping, then you may be less likely to bring other guys out."

Freaker sleep patterns open up the tactical possibilities as well. Even with a big, blockbuster "kill the horde" challenge, stealth is an option.
"You're riding around on a bike that you've outfitted to take on this terrain, but it's rugged terrain. It can hurt you, it can hurt your bike," Jensen said.

"There's other people out there that could potentially come after you [as well]," he added. "Everything out there is trying to kill you, but everything out there wants to survive just like you."
"In the coming months we're going to be showing different examples of gameplay that will be a big contrast to what the horde is," Jensen said.
http://mashable.com/2016/06/23/days...w/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-link#Ny4ddkHBckqS
 

bunkitz

Member

Sounds really good. Glad to hear they'll be showing different examples of gameplay because it sounds like there's really a lot of different types of things that can happen. Also, hopefully, it'll lessen the number of people who think it's "generic" and like The Last of Us, because it really doesn't seem like it from everything I've read/seen so far.

I would have preferred if the Freakers didn't eat human flesh, though. Would have been a simple but great way to differentiate them from zombies.
 

Loudninja

Member
Sounds really good. Glad to hear they'll be showing different examples of gameplay because it sounds like there's really a lot of different types of things that can happen. Also, hopefully, it'll lessen the number of people who think it's "generic" and like The Last of Us, because it really doesn't seem like it from everything I've read/seen so far.

I would have preferred if the Freakers didn't eat human flesh, though. Would have been a simple but great way to differentiate them from zombies.
I dont think it would make much sense though lol.
 
Sounds really good. Glad to hear they'll be showing different examples of gameplay because it sounds like there's really a lot of different types of things that can happen. Also, hopefully, it'll lessen the number of people who think it's "generic" and like The Last of Us, because it really doesn't seem like it from everything I've read/seen so far.

I would have preferred if the Freakers didn't eat human flesh, though. Would have been a simple but great way to differentiate them from zombies.

Well at least they drink water and sleep unlike zombies.
 

bunkitz

Member
Well at least they drink water and sleep unlike zombies.

True. It's more than The Last of Us' infected and other "not zombies" that I know of. Guess I should be content with that, haha.
Yeah would not really work if they were herbivores :p

No, no, I was thinking of just being like, regular humans, you know? Eating not-human meat and all. Then again, could just be that the infection's driven them mad enough to not bother with human or animal flesh.

Off topic-ish question: Zombies, in general, also eat animals, right? I seem to recall having seen some the carcasses of cows and horses in some zombie shows/movies. Then again, they usually just go for the brains...
 

Loudninja

Member
True. It's more than The Last of Us' infected and other "not zombies" that I know of. Guess I should be content with that, haha.


No, no, I was thinking of just being like, regular humans, you know? Eating not-human meat and all. Then again, could just be that the infection's driven them mad enough to not bother with human or animal flesh.

Off topic-ish question: Zombies, in general, also eat animals, right? I seem to recall having seen some the carcasses of cows and horses in some zombie shows/movies. Then again, they usually just go for the brains...
Yeah I know what you meant juts messing around :)
 
I believe one of the devs said that you may need to make some jumps to get to an area, assuming you want to reach it.

The demo of this game and the trailer I think were chosen pretty poorly. Pretty much every aspect of the game that sounds like a unique take on the zombie apocalypse, I have learned about via developer interviews. Hopefully the next time they show this game, it's to show off the fact that the freakers are actually living and that the world is dangerous rather than just giving lip service to these things. Though, it may be that the game is too far off with an optimistic 2018 release date, and they simply have nothing to show for it.


ah yes, the typical quote MLK to maintain the racist status quo fuckery.

Yes, they really need to show just how different it is.
 

Kinyou

Member
The whole Biker culture thing could make for a more interesting story. Don't think there are many games about that.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
I don't see lots of open world games out there about bikers fighting hordes of zombies. Or by generic did you just mean, I don't like it?
Story wise it seems pretty bog standard and elements of the gameplay look rough (animations, gun feedback) but the stuff they've talked about in interviews for their gameplay goals sound really neat and are much more exciting than what was shown. I don't think people will really come around on the game until we've seen more of the dynamic world elements. I'm keeping a cautious eye on it.

I do hope the biker stuff gets a lot of spotlight. Could be cool. Something like building up a post apocalyptic biker crew would be cool.
 
The gamer in me finds this trailer so frustrating to watch.

I get they are trying to show some of the gameplay, what the zombies are like, and the things you can do with the environment.....

but the gamer in me keeps screaming out "why the fuck are you wasting ammo.....stop turning around and shooting, keep running...get to your motorcycle....Why would u trap yourself on top of a structure!?"
 
The gamer in me finds this trailer so frustrating to watch.

I get they are trying to show some of the gameplay, what the zombies are like, and the things you can do with the environment.....

but the gamer in me keeps screaming out "why the fuck are you wasting ammo.....stop turning around and shooting, keep running...get to your motorcycle....Why would u trap yourself on top of a structure!?"

The demo they played is an in-game mission which require the player to kill all zombies in that area. It would have been better if Sony'd had commentary demo in keynote to explain it but they only said about demo after the keynote
 
The demo they played is an in-game mission which require the player to kill all zombies in that area. It would have been better if Sony'd had commentary demo in keynote to explain it but they only said about demo after the keynote

Oh ok....yea based on the context of the video...it made no sense what he was doing.
 

Mezoly

Member
The gamer in me finds this trailer so frustrating to watch.

I get they are trying to show some of the gameplay, what the zombies are like, and the things you can do with the environment.....

but the gamer in me keeps screaming out "why the fuck are you wasting ammo.....stop turning around and shooting, keep running...get to your motorcycle....Why would u trap yourself on top of a structure!?"

The extended demo had stamina indicator. So the stamina bar was refilling each time the player stopped to shoot.
 
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