Days Gone (Remastered)

Days Gone is fun, bloated, and a little convoluted, often all at the same time. At its core, it’s a solid open-world game with decent mechanics and a satisfying gameplay premise. The shooting feels good but not great, the bike handling is enjoyable but too over used, and the systems mostly work. The one consistent annoyance is the pickup registration. Holding the button just right can be frustrating, especially during scavenging or when trying to re replenish during a quick get away, but it never quite crosses into deal breaker territory.

The most infuriating part, and this applies to other open-world games like Red Dead Redemption 2, is the constant travel. Getting from mission to mission can easily take ten minutes. Add scavenging, detours, and random encounters, and suddenly you’ve spent half an hour to complete a single short objective.

Sometimes that immersion works. Other times it just feels padded. At least with RDR2 you could auto-lock into a road with your horse and zone out. Here, debris litters the road, often just out of camera, causing crashes if you don't pay attention. Tbh I think 90% of my deaths came in this manner than in actual missions.

That said, it is a fulfilling game. It is approachable enough to 100 percent without feeling punishing, but it is absolutely longer than it needs to be. By the final stretch, the effort starts to outweigh the reward. When all I had left was hunting down hordes, I was more ready for it to end than excited to keep going.

The remaster itself is excellent. It looks great and ran without hiccups on my handheld, which honestly impressed me more than anything else. Performance is smooth, visuals are clean, and it feels like a proper upgrade rather than a lazy touch-up.

The acting is solid across the board. Sam Witwer is great, as usual, bringing a grounded intensity that helps carry the story even when the pacing falters. The characters are believable, even when the plot occasionally meanders.

Where the game really misses an opportunity is mission and enemy variety. The zombie types feel limited. You’ve got the yeti slasher types, the tanky bruisers, the shriekers, and not much else. Given how creative the horde mechanics are, it feels like a missed chance to introduce more experimental or unpredictable infected that could have kept the late game fresher.

By the end, Days Gone made me appreciate other games more than anything else. RDR2 for its world building and restraint. Left 4 Dead for how tight and focused it is (and so much more fun). Days Gone sits several rings below both. Fun, ambitious, occasionally exhausting.

Had it been tighter and more disciplined, this could have easily been an eight or higher. Instead, it’s a good game that overstays its welcome just enough to wear you down. But you'll feel pretty good when you hang out up in the end.