Developed By: SIE Bend Studio
Published By: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platforms: PlayStation 5
Reviewed On: PlayStation 5
I always wanted to try Days Gone on the PlayStation 4 but didn’t quite have the chance to. Luckily with the help from our friends at Sony, I can experience the game on the more powerful PlayStation 5. So let’s get on our bikes and ride along the grey zombie road.
Ride or Die
The story in Days Gone feels like it’s already over before the game even begins. You’re quickly dropped into a short cutscene where the main character, Deacon St. John, sends his wife, Sarah, to safety on a helicopter while he stays behind with his injured biker friend, William “Boozer” Gray, to fend off a zombie horde—called Freakers in this world.
Deacon’s decision to let his wife go while he stays with Boozer seems to reflect some kind of “bro code.” Unsurprisingly, both men survive, only for the game to fast-forward two years. Boozer is now injured again, and once more, I find myself playing nurse, trying to patch him up.
I could dig deeper into the relationship between Deacon and Boozer, but the game throws in a whole cast of other characters with pre-established, often complicated histories with Deacon. For someone jumping in fresh, it feels strange trying to piece together these connections after the fact. One or two mysterious past relationships might be fine, but when every major character seems to share some untold backstory with the protagonist, I found myself constantly playing catch-up—and feeling lost in the process.
The story itself is fairly straightforward, with a slow trickle of shady characters, betrayals, and double-crosses to keep things moving. Unfortunately, it never really surprised me. For all its effort, the narrative ends up feeling like the weakest part of the game—predictable, somewhat generic, and lacking any big emotional moments. Nothing here made me tear up, or even get genuinely mad at another character. It just kind of… happens.
A Desolated Place
For a six-year-old game, Days Gone still looks surprisingly good and manages to hold its own on modern hardware. With the updated visuals for PlayStation 5, the remaster offers two main options: 1440p at 60 frames per second, or native 4K at 30fps. If you’re playing on the PlayStation 5 Pro, there’s an additional Enhanced Graphics mode that runs at 1584p using PSSR upscaling to 4K, also at 60fps.
While the original game played on the PS5 version already supported 4K upscaled at 60fps, the remastered version takes things further. Native 4K delivers noticeably smoother edges, improved lighting, and more vibrant visuals. The game no longer looks washed out and benefits from a range of subtle enhancements. A new Field of View (FOV) setting has also been added, and impressively, it doesn’t affect performance—even when running in Performance Mode.
On the audio side, the game delivers across the board. Voice acting is solid, ambient sounds are immersive, and even most NPCs are voiced. Some side quests include surprisingly well-written dialogue that adds depth to the story and world.
Overall, the remastered version offers enough visual and audio upgrades to justify the price—especially for PlayStation 5 Pro users. The Enhanced Graphics mode provides a noticeably better 4K experience at 60fps, making it a worthy revisit for returning players.
Survivalist Bike Tour
The game definitely gives off a zombie survival vibe, with limited resources and a bleak, desolate world. However, while some areas feel empty and abandoned, others are surprisingly rich in supplies—enough to refill your inventory in just one visit. The real sense of survival comes from how limited your ammo capacity is. You can upgrade it over time, but early on, you’ll often find yourself using up everything in a tough encounter, only to restock just as quickly—which I actually found a bit amusing.
Resource management isn’t limited to just your inventory. Your bike also needs fuel, which adds another layer of tension—like driving an electric car while constantly hunting for the next charging station. While this becomes less of a hassle as you upgrade your bike, it can still feel like an annoying interruption that breaks the flow of travel and exploration.
Speaking of travel, the map is large, but much of it feels empty. You’ll spend a lot of time riding through roads surrounded by trees and grass, with little else to see until you reach a point of interest, usually marked by a cluster of buildings. That said, I was impressed by how open the game feels, even early on. You can explore far and wide—and sometimes stumble into intense encounters well before you’re properly equipped, which adds to the thrill.
Satisfying Zombie Action
I hadn’t played a zombie game in a while, but Days Gone definitely scratched that itch. The combat is surprisingly polished—whether you’re shooting, using melee weapons, or sneaking around. Each weapon feels distinct, and I was impressed by how much your early-game gun choices can affect your approach to encounters. Melee weapons are just as important as firearms, whether you’re thinning out a horde or going toe-to-toe with human enemies.
One thing I appreciated was the difference in stealth mechanics between enemies. You can make a bit of noise and still sneak up on Freakers, but you’ll need to move much more slowly and carefully around human enemies. It seems the developers intentionally made Freakers less sensitive to sound, though oddly enough, they’re still easily distracted by Attractor items.
The only part of the controls that felt off to me was riding the bike. It’s fine for basic travel, but when you try to do jumps or hit ramps, the physics can feel awkward—especially during chase sequences that involve obstacle courses or tight turns.
There’s also a solid progression system. As you level up, you unlock perks like slow-motion aiming or increased ammo capacity. To upgrade your weapons and bike, though, you’ll need to build trust with different camps, which unlocks access to better gear and modifications.
Remastered For Survival
As mentioned earlier, Days Gone Remastered doesn’t just come with visual upgrades—it also introduces three new game modes that add replay value and variety.
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Horde Assault Mode offers a roguelike experience, letting players reset runs and apply gameplay modifiers as they unlock them.
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Permadeath Mode, as the name implies, gives you only one life to complete the campaign—if you die, it’s game over.
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Speedrun Mode adds a timer UI that tracks your completion times for each difficulty level and compares them on a global leaderboard.
Beyond new content, the game has also been optimized for the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller. Gunfire now uses adaptive triggers, and Haptic Feedback adds immersion with subtle vibrations—like feeling individual raindrops. There’s also an enhanced Photo Mode, which allows players to adjust the time of day, making it easier to capture that perfect sunset shot.
What I Liked About the Game
- Excellent combat mechanics – Each weapon feels useful and changes how you approach an encounter
- Decent upgrades to visuals for a Remaster – New graphical settings and new modes to boot make the upgrade quite worthwhile if you owned the original
- Vast world to explore – The open world is so big and riding around in a bike can be sometimes breathtaking to know how far you travel
What I Wished Could Be Better
- Biking – The bike physics can sometimes feel a little cartoonish for a serious survival zombie game
- Shallow Story – The story can be quite predictable with very little depth and characters which you barely connect with by the end of the game
Withering Days
Days Gone is one of those games where you can tell the developers poured their heart into it, but unfortunately, it just didn’t resonate with a wide audience. It didn’t suffer from a troubled development cycle, and the marketing was solid—yet it still failed to make a significant impact in the gaming scene. That lukewarm reception ultimately cast doubt on the possibility of a sequel, leaving its future hanging in the balance, especially now that it’s tied to how well the Remastered version performs.
Unfortunately, even that may be an uphill battle. The remaster is launching alongside heavy hitters like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and the unexpected contender Expedition 33, which is already generating buzz as a potential Game of the Year.
Days Truly Gone
Days Gone is an older title that’s received a substantial update through its Remastered edition, clearly aimed at encouraging returning players to dive back in. However, it’s unlikely to attract many new players, as the core issues that made the original less appealing still carry over into the remaster.
Since this was my first time playing it, I can recommend it if you’re looking for a story-driven zombie shooter. But beyond that, it’s hard to say this belongs in the “must-play” category—especially for those who missed it the first time around.
