Gaming

Days Gone Review: Finding the truth through survival

To know the truth, you must survive against all odds!

Published

April 25, 2019

Gab Orlina

Bend Studio wanted to bring something new to the table for its latest release. They needed a familiar concept, a dramatic story line, a pinch of survival instincts, and a complete rethinking of the term “zombie.” The result, simply, became Days Gone.

I came into the early preview event for the game two months ago with the expectation of something different. Initially, what I got was something that just felt different in concept — but I wanted to believe that it could be different. Now that I finally got to play the game in full, here’s my complete analysis of Days Gone.

Redefining the plot for zombie games

My initial reaction to Days Gone went something like, “It’s just another game with zombies and guns in it.” Most zombie games often end up focusing on survival and combat, without really putting too much attention on the narratives behind the characters. Days Gone, in my opinion, went for the bold approach.

The entire game takes place two years into a global pandemic that shook Oregon to the core. Deacon St. John, an outlaw turned Drifter, must deal with his ever-changing world filled with zombies called Freakers while attending to the people he holds near and dear — all while he’s trying to find out the root cause of the pandemic, and ultimately what happened to his wife, Sarah.

If anything, I feel this is what differentiates Days Gone from most titles leaning towards survival in a zombie-laden world. It gives off a whole new dimension to the approach on developing quality games with an equally good story to supplement the experience. The plot drives a lot of the activities that take place within the game, and provides ample time for you to accomplish them.

Survival through scarcity and stealth

At the heart of Days Gone is survival, which is heavily understated by the number of things you have to deal with. It’s you against the massive horde of Freakers that are out to devour you. If that’s not enough, you also have to deal with all sorts of Freakers — yes, even animals can become zombies!

If you’re still unfazed, you have to deal with the rest of humanity that’s fighting for survival, as well. From enemy Marauders to cultist Rippers, the enemies just didn’t stop coming for me from all sides. And, to make matters extremely difficult, you have to face all of them with relatively limited supplies and a maximum of four weapons.

Obviously if you can’t fight them, you could just run or get on your motorcycle and flee. The motorcycle does stay with you all throughout, especially for traveling across the vast environment of northwestern Oregon! You can recover your motorcycle if you get into trouble, which I found helpful when it got stuck in the river.

But, if you want to be smart, the stealth mechanic works wonders! If you’re someone who just loves to go on the offensive all the time, you’re at an obvious disadvantage in this game. I felt that this game heavily maximized this feature all the way. This was more evident with the NERO missions to discover what really happened to Sarah.

Never running out of things to do

This game, for the life of me, just keeps you busy every time. Along the way, you’ll discover survival camps, each with their own set of main and side missions to accomplish. Accomplishing them gives you credits that unlock upgrades for your motorcycle or weapons. Evidently, a lot of the missions contribute to the main story line, as well.

I loved that there were so many missions to complete, and you’re not kept idle. Missions keep coming in left and right, allowing you to get things going right off the bat. When one mission ends, one to three more open up for you to do, and you can take your sweet time navigating which one you would want to do first.

Some side missions do get in the way of your progression of a main story mission, though. They’re optional in that they hardly contribute to the main plot, but they show up on the map as if they’re that important for you to check out. Also, there are certain missions that you can only do at certain times of the day, and the game just immediately forwards the time into that. I feel that time moves relatively fast in this game, but I could give it a pass.

I didn’t like the lack of free roam in this game. With so many things happening all at once, it feels like you’re not really given the option to freely roam the entire map. Of course, blocked paths are a given — especially if it’s a part that you will only touch on at a later time. Still, you have to deal with Freakers left and right, Marauders/Rippers with snipers and traps in hand, scarce resources, and the rigorous day-night cycle when trying to explore northwest Oregon.

An overall verdict

Days Gone presents a similar concept with a bold twist. At best, it showcases the very same zombie-game mechanic and survival mentality players must possess. At its core, it hinges on survival instincts and resourcefulness, especially in an environment ravaged by overwhelming threats.

However, what really drives Days Gone home is its bold approach to the plot and character development of Deacon. I felt that if anything was going to differentiate this game from all the others, it boiled down to its plot. Most of your actions and missions all throughout make sense in the grander scheme of the game’s storyline. Couple that with almost realistic gameplay, and I honestly believe that the game has delivered on its promise.

Days Gone will be available exclusively on the PlayStation 4 on April 26.

Related Topics:Bend Studio Days Gone PS4

Gaming

All TEKKEN 8 characters revealed so far

Get ready for the next battle!

Published

March 23, 2023

Gab Orlina

Even though TEKKEN 8 is still miles away from being released, there’s no stopping the train on what you can expect. Starting off, no fighting game is complete without the list of fighters themselves. Of course, TEKKEN 8 is no exception to this. Several familiar faces have been revealed over the past few days, with more incoming.

Without further ado, here’s all the confirmed characters for TEKKEN 8 so far. Don’t worry, this list will be updated as more fighters and gameplay trailers are revealed.

Jin Kazama

Honestly, it wouldn’t be a modern TEKKEN game without the main protagonist himself, Jin Kazama. After spending most of TEKKEN 7 healing up and watching from the shadows, Jin is ready to strike back in honor of the Mishima Zaibatsu. Overall, he sports a much buffer look than before. Jin is now rocking the whites and reds compared to previous versions.

What makes Jin different this time around is how he’s harnessing the Devil Gene inside him to power his moveset. From the trailer alone, we see glimpses of the power he wields as he unleashes a barrage of attacks. Also, his character model even reveals one of his Devil’s wings, which most likely means he’s embraced the Devil in him.

Now, the one on our minds is, well, will the Devil Jin character from previous games also make its way onto this one?

Kazuya Mishima

In every TEKKEN game, someone portrays the ultimate villain that holds all the power and will not yield for anyone. For TEKKEN 8, that man is Kazuya Mishima, the leader of the G Corporation and Jin’s biological father. After the events of TEKKEN 7, Kazuya seemed more poised to take over the world than ever before with the G Corporation continuously waging war.

By this point in time, he has fully embraced the Devil and has since showed flashes of its power since TEKKEN 7. It’s not to say that just him alone isn’t already a ton to deal with, as his moveset is just as hard-hitting as before. With the addition of his Devil form as he enters his Heat State, it turns him into a wrecking ball of chaos.

Nina Williams

Nina Williams returns to the roster and is one of the characters that has appeared in every TEKKEN game since its release. The silent assassin has made quite the list of alliances and enemies through the years, and is on the hunt for her next target. However, after the events of TEKKEN 7 and her failure to locate Jin, she’s taking an approach from the shadows.

From a design standpoint, she loses the wedding dress she had on from the previous game and goes back to the leather jacket and purple dress — something familiar and comfortable. Moveset-wise, she retains the cat-like reflexes she showed off in previous titles and can throw punches with the best of them. Also, she had dual pistols now, so be careful when going up against her.

Paul Phoenix

Another staple of the TEKKEN franchise is Paul Phoenix, one of the hardest hitting fighters in the game. In fact, the trailer literally shows off his power as he brings a brick wall with him when he enters the battlefield. Although in TEKKEN 8, he grew his hair out and didn’t really bother to fix it in an upright position as his previous character models showed.

In terms of his moveset, the trailer makes it look as hard-hitting as before, if not more than that. You can tell that the man aged like fine wine in his combat, especially with all the punches he’s thrown. As seen in the last few seconds of the trailer, he even threw a punch that had so much power in it, it resulted in a sleeve getting ripped.

Marshall Law

One of the franchise’s key returnees from previous games is Marshall Law, Namco’s tribute to the legendary Bruce Lee. As with his previous appearances, he is agile, likes to take the fight to his opponents, and has an arsenal of moves relying on quickess and dexterity. In TEKKEN 8, however, it looks like his body has grown significantly.

Law maintains most of his moves from the previous games, with a bit of fine-tuning and power added to them given his growth over the years. Also, this game shows off his nunchakus which make a comeback after appearing as an item move in TEKKEN 6. Unlike that game, however, he only gets to use the nunchakus on specific moves instead of wielding it infinitely.

King II

Yes, for all the wrestling fans out there, King is back! And he is in much better fighting shape than ever before. Of course, the man still dons the same jaguar mask as his predecessor, and is hungry for competition wherever he goes. If all goes well, the eighth edition of the tournament will give him the glory he seeks.

As one of the franchise’s elite wrestlers, his moveset only improved from the previous games. He still boasts a series of gut-wrenching blows and grapples that turn the tide on his foes in combat. Also, he uses a variety of wrestling moves that fans will recognize from a mile away. This time around, as the trailer suggests, he adds more to his kit with moves from WWE superstars, Triple H (Pedigree) and Randy Orton (RKO).

Jack-8, Lars Alexandersson, and Jun Kazama?!

BANDAI NAMCO also released a Story and Gameplay Trailer to help build more anticipation on the upcoming fighter game, and shows what the TEKKEN Saga has in store for us. Also, this particular trailer showed us a few more characters to watch out for:

From this trailer, we can find two familiar faces in Jack-8 and Lars Alexandersson. The former is the eighth iteration of the JACKs since the first TEKKEN. For Jack-8, the main objective remains the same: destruction at all costs; it’s design to learn its opponents and strike at their core. For Lars, coming from the events of TEKKEN 7, the protector of Jin Kazama must now help him in his plot to overthrow Kazuya and put an end to the war.

Perhaps one of the biggest returns for TEKKEN 8 is Jin’s biological mother, Jun Kazama. She was presumed dead prior to the start of TEKKEN 3. Jun reunites with her now all-grown up son to help Jin find some form of inner peace. Whether or not she reunites with Kazuya has yet to be shown.

Let us know who you’re most excited to play for TEKKEN 8!

Gaming

Ubisoft announces an AI writer for video games

To streamline dialogue writing

Published

March 23, 2023

Luigi Leonardo

Video game dialogue gets a bad rep these days. Though a good number of titles come from acclaimed writers and storytellers, a sizable chunk can leave gamers grasping for a mute button. Now, in a move to streamline the writing process, Ubisoft has announced an AI writer to automatically create video game dialogue.

Conspicuously called Ghostwriter, the upcoming AI tool can create dialogue based only on a few prompts. Writers only need to input a character and the type of dialogue to create an exchange. The tool can create a few variations for writers to consider and edit as need be.

The tool wasn’t created to replace writers. Rather, according to the reveal, Ghostwriter will help writers focus on larger tasks like grander narratives and important cutscenes.

Currently, Ubisoft has not showcased any examples of how the writer can work. The company is still working on implementing the tool in its production cycles. With huge sprawling games, using an AI writer to streamline dialogue creation will help deadlines. However, it’s still an unknown whether the tool will improve quality as well.

Over the past few months, companies have tried creating their own takes on AI-based chatbots and creators. Ubisoft is the latest to integrate the technology into its own company and one of the first to try it in the gaming scene.

Gaming

Counter-Strike 2 is official!

Coming later this summer

Published

March 23, 2023

Luigi Leonardo

Finally, it’s official. After a huge leak a few weeks ago, Valve has officially confirmed that Counter-Strike 2 is coming. And it’s coming fast.

On the last full day of Steam’s Spring Sale, Valve suddenly revealed its official plans for Counter-Strike 2. No longer just a rumor, the upcoming title will come this summer as a free upgrade for those who already own Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.

As was leaked previously, the title will come with several upgrades to the existing system. While it’s still the same formula underneath, Counter-Strike 2 will look and feel better than previous titles.

For one, smokes are now volumetric objects, meaning they can react to gameplay events naturally. If you shoot through smoke, the bullets can push a visible hole through the cloud. It will also fill spaces around objects more naturally.

The game will also feature graphical upgrades to the old titles. Classic maps have refreshed designs with better lighting, more realistic textures, and better reflections. Dust II, or de_dust2, looks absolutely amazing in its upcoming iteration. Smaller elements — such as UI and throwable effects — are also improved.

In terms of performance, Counter-Strike 2 is apparently going beyond tick rates. Though the previous leak hinted that the title might upgrade its servers to compete with modern shooters like VALORANT, the official update introduced “sub-tick updates,” a new engine which will supposedly make tick rates obsolete and gameplay more fluid.

Now, if you can’t wait for summer, the upgrade is already available today in a limited test. Valve will also release more updates for the game before it launches in a few months.