During Sony’s press conference at E3 2017, we received a nice meaty chunk of zombie-infested gamplay from Days Gone. It’s an upcoming open-world action/adventure game from Bend Studio for the PlayStation 4 set in a post-apocalyptic world where man fights to survive against not only an infestation of zombies, but fellow humans as well. The story focuses on protagonist Deacon St. John played by actor Samuel Witwer (Being Human, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed).
Two years after the “devastating global pandemic,” we see Deacon sitting on his motorcycle at the gate of a local settlement. A group of injured are dragged inside, and Deacon learns that they were on a supply run but attacked by a group of squatters just off the highway. He was going to brush the incident off and let someone else deal with the problem, but he discovered that his friend Manny was kidnapped in the ambush.
The gameplay began with the audience hopping on a camera parked behind Deacon as he raced off on his motorcycle to hunt down his friend. After driving for some time, the player eventually came across a pack of wolves gnawing on a dead body. He determined it wasn’t Manny, and then continued down the road. However, one of the wolves raced after Deacon, and as he whipped out a shotgun to deal with the animal, time slowed and an R1 indicator appeared, informing the player to shoot.
But then a rope draped across the road stopped Deacon by the throat and he tumbled to the ground, gasping for air. Two lurking squatters emerged from the sides, and more controller button designations appeared on the screen as the player fought to dodge blows and retaliate.
Later in the footage, he hid in a bush Horizon Zero Dawn-style and popped out to perform stealthy killing move when Some thugs came into range.
The gameplay footage concluded with Deacon reaching a camp by moving through a barrier made of wooden planks and sheets. He pulled a sticky bomb out of his pocket, placed it on the barrier, ran off, and watched the hordes of zombie wash into the camp when the barrier came down in an explosive heap.
Unfortunately, we still don’t know when Days Gone will hit the PlayStation 4, but based on the footage shown at E3 2017, it’s going to be another massive zombified exclusive for Sony. For more E3 2017 coverage, head here.
