Days Gone was always a good game. The story was interesting if a little drawn out, but the combat and unexpected encounters with the zombie hordes made it worth sticking with. It starts with a heartbreaking scene as Deacon St. John makes a difficult choice in the face of an apocalypse. This one decision leaves Deacon chasing ghosts throughout the story, driving you to survive against the odds. Days Gone Remastered throws you right back into the harsh reality of surviving in a bleak world, but hell, doesn’t it look beautiful?
When I played the original, I enjoyed the feel of unease. I revelled in never knowing what to expect, always anticipating the threat of zombies around every corner. Random encounters led to holding your breath and running for your life, or riding off on your motorcycle as a dead stream of the undead chased you across the baron wasteland of a fallen America. Despite it being set in post-apocalyptic Oregon, it looks utterly stunning. The enhanced draw distance lets you soak in the beauty of distant woodlands or mountains, with incredible lighting and textural improvements as well.
There are moments of peace while riding through dirt trails and dusty mountains, or through abandoned towns or lush forests. It’s easy to forget you’re fighting for your life. Playing Days Gone Remastered is just as impressive. The controls aren’t massively different, but it was one thing I never had an issue with in the original. Combat feels swift, and changing between your weapons and explosives is never a challenge. Crafting items on the fly like a medi-kit and a Molotov is easy enough, and the intensity of melee combat is just as nerve-wracking and responsive as it was before.
Making sure you have enough fuel in your motorcycle adds a great dynamic to Days Gone Remastered. The risk and reward of driving from location to location with the worry of running out of gas in the middle of nowhere makes you think about when to be careful – especially at night – and when to push yourself while running on fumes. The most exciting part of Deacon’s survival comes in the form of the freaker hordes. You can be quiet one minute, then escaping an entire wave of them the next. They move like a blanket of death across the horizon, and it’s terrifying when you finally encounter them.
They can be abused, though. Driving close to them can grab their attention, and leading them into a bunch of raiders, watching the carnage unfold, is glorious. The AI is still a little ropey, as sometimes they’ll see you and act fast, while other times it can take a while. It’s the same for one-on-one encounters, but nothing too bad as to ruin combat scenarios. One thing I detest about riding across the map is snipers. You’ll see a red line of sight fall upon you and your bike, and within seconds you’re rolling across the tarmac, your bike severely damaged, and a pack of bandits trying to beat the crap out of you.
It is all part of the challenge. Days Gone Remastered can be difficult at times, but with careful planning and knowing your limits, most encounters can be managed. It brings home the reality of survival, and it’s a welcome change from games that give you too much in these end of the world situations. If you want more of a challenge, the new Permadeath mode gives you one solitary chance to finish the game without dying. It ramps up the fear of what you’ll find, causing you to be incredibly careful while out there alone, never knowing what is around the next corner.
With most games on PlayStation 5, DualSense support is pretty much a given. Some games harness the technology much better than others. Days Gone Remastered falls somewhere in the middle. Feeling the punch of a shotgun and the rumble of the gravel under your tyres feels great. One thing that I disliked was speeding up on your bike caused a clunk in the right trigger every time you start to go faster. A smoother transition would have been appreciated, as it does become frustrating when you spend a fair amount of time with your bike.
Days Gone Remastered offers plenty of accessibility features, which is always good to see these days. A Speedrun mode allows players to get to the end as fast as they can, and an improved photo mode offers a chance to save those moments of beauty and despair forever, with added features such as changing what time of the day it is. Then there’s Horde Assault. This new mode gives you an opportunity to fight off waves of zombies with a range of weapons. They come at you fast, and it’s easily the most stressful time I had while playing. It is survival in its purest form.
Many of the technical issues of the original game are gone, however, I still encountered problems with the sound. On occasion, I would talk to someone and they were barely audible. Other times, I would finish listening to a radio broadcast, only for Deacon to literally shout his thoughts afterwards. This was one of the main issues from the original, and something I thought would be a focus in this remaster. It doesn’t ruin the game at all, but it does get frustrating having such unbalanced audio.
I’m a big fan of Sam Witwer, mainly due to his incredible performance as Darth Maul in the Star Wars universe. He’s a great protagonist, who’s easy to warm to as Deacon. The supporting cast are also great, specifically his best friend Boozer. The story does take some time to get going, but I was never bored. It’s a slow burn but one that keeps you interested. I had forgotten a lot of it since playing the original, and thankfully I was still surprised by some of the story and the journey.
Days Gone Remastered is the best way to experience Bend Studio’s zombie adventure. It looks gorgeous and plays very well. Despite disliking some of the DualSense features and the unbalanced audio, it is much better this time around. The story is great, the combat is strong, and encountering hordes is just as terrifying as it ever was. Having the Horde Assault mode gives you that little something extra to do, and for fans who want the ultimate challenge, Permadeath mode is about of difficult as it can get.
