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Despite running out of gas somewhat toward the finishing line,Days Gonetried something different and a lot of people loved it for it. With the appearance of Days Gone Remastered it seems that the final touches of spit and polish the original version needed have had quite the positive effect.
Deacon St. John has once rode back onto our screens for another outing back on familiar ground, though this time there’s a few new toys in that familiar saddle bag. It’s a fair amount to unpack for those that might be considering taking the remaster for a spin. So to lay it all out straight, here’s if Days Gone Remastered is worth it.
What’s New?
Before diving into the nitty gritty, it’s worth briefly covering what the remaster brings to the table. On top of graphical enhancements, there’s also a ton of accessibility features that allow for tweaking of every tiny detail of the gameworld to make it easier to parse.
There’s also a photo mode, and the biggest selling point, new game modes. These are Horde Assault, which is basically a new survival mode withmassive roaming hordes. Permadeath for those that like a challenge, and Speedrun. It’s a small selection, but it’s features the game could have done with a long time ago and are welcome now.
Days Gone Remastered Review
Overall the reception of the Days Gone Remaster has been a positive one. From compliments surrounding the new modes, to the graphical overall, there’s been plenty of nice things to say. The scoring from the usual suspects also equally reflects this as over at IGN we have a nine point six, further high praise from Eurogamer, and a reception of Generally Favourable at Metacritic with the critic score settling on a high 78.
The community were also equally favourable at Metacritic, with an average eight point eight from a pool of 467 user ratings. So it’s trending well. At The Gamer, resident Features Editor Jade King took a run at it with afull review of the remasterand she found its new content equally thrilling, if still a little lackluster at the worst times.
The overall impression being that the visual upgrades and overall quality of gameplay improvements still didn’t hide the flaws of the original game. Such as the poor story, pacing, and stilted dialogue.
If you’re already a ride-or-die Days Gone fan, this remaster is only $10 and a great excuse to dive back into one of your favorite games.
But praise was given to the gameplay when it strayed from the plot and allowed the survival mechanics of bike maintenance and zombie hordes to take over. With Jade also pointing out she did like the game when it worked more as a zombie biker adventure rather than a serious narrative adventure. Though she did mention that gunplay and melee combat still feels lacking in impact in the remaster, an issue that plagued the original as well.
How Long Does It Take To Beat Days Gone Remastered?
So the fun thing about Days Gone Remastered is that if we count the new content as separate, the remaster still takes the same length to beat as the original. So your average run for this biker-basedzombie gamefor an experienced player going through the game would be roughly 40 to 50 hours. That’s going from main story beat to main story beat constantly, no stops in-between.
For those that don’t sprint around and prefer to take in some ambience and sidequests, you’ll be looking at an average completion time of about 60 hours. Finally, for those maniac completionists you can slap an extra 10 on top for rounding up those collectibles to hit a top time of about 70 hours. So you’re getting a fair amount of gameplay for your money.
Horde Assault lasts as long as your character does, it’s an open ended survival mode.
What Does It Cost?
Speaking of cash, things get a little funny when it comes to how the remaster is handled. This is because there’s technically two price guides to it, though this depends on whether you owned the original game first before the remaster launched or not.
For those that owned the original, you just have to drop $10 to get the new toys and the shiny skin. But if you’re brand new to the game and are purchasing it for the first time then you’ll be expected to pay out around the following amounts:
£44.99
$49.99
€52.83
AUS
A$92.35
If you didn’t pick up the original then it’s a high price to pay for the remastered version on PS5. But if you’re a PC owner then you may still enjoy the graphical updates for free, though you’ll need to pay for the Broken Roads DLC if you want to access the new gameplay content such as Horde Assault.
What Players Are Saying
Now that we’ve thoroughly covered all our bases it’s worth taking in the opinions that really matter, those that have had hands-on time with the Days Gone Remaster.
Here’s what our team at The Gamer had to say.
Robert Edwards - Contributor
Son’s of Anarchy meets Walking Dead might be the most trite way of setting up Days Gone but that doesn’t stop the description being apt. Like both those series Days Gone is full of good ideas and concepts but can’t quite pull off the execution as well as you’d hope. When hordes of fast zombies are barring down on you as you pray your ammo count will hold just for a few more seconds the game is electric, fast paced, and frantic as your options fade away and it’s just you alone with the hordes.
Then the rest of the game happens.
The story shunts you from camp to camp to perform quests for unlikable NPCs , all the while the protagonist Deacon St John mutters under his breath in way that convinces you he’d be unpleasant to be around. But you’re just itching for another large scale encounter and the sweet panicked adrenaline rush that comes with being outnumbered 200 to 1.
Drew Ferguson - Guides / List Writer
I really did not think that I was going to enjoy Days Gone back when it came out, which is a weird way to start talking about how much I really love Days Gone. It brings in a lot of things that should be tired: bikers, zombies, crafting and survival, and manages to bring all of those together in ways that are constantly engaging.
Characters that might seem flat at first are often hiding behind bluster to protect their pain. Mechanics that might seem well-worn are integrated into a whole and given new life. There’s a creeping tenseness here, an open-world that is one of the most engaging I’ve ever seen, and a blend of survival and narrative that both elevate the other. The Remaster has all of this with a couple of new modes and enhancements thrown in, but the campaign is the star of the show.
