The best game of 2019 was an open world zombie game called Days Gone. I said what I said.
As I’ve gotten older and dealt with health issues, it’s become harder to get immersed in games. However, some have been so good at hooking me that I’ve forgotten about everything and become lost in the magic. It’s a feeling that I love, and I feel like it occurred more when I was younger. As such, I sometimes miss it, when I’m feeling nostalgic for better days and what now seems like a different lifetime.
When it released for PlayStation 4, Days Gone was one of those games. It captured me, and held me hostage in its open world interpretation of backwoods Oregon. I wasn’t complaining though. I simply couldn’t get enough of the game, and beat it thoroughly.
That game truly ended up being my favourite of its release year.
When it was kind of announced that sequel plans weren’t going to result in a second game, I was admittedly disappointed. At least we got the first game, right? Well, then they announced that Days Gone Remastered was coming out this spring, and my hopes got reignited.
In all honesty, even if a sequel doesn’t happen, I’m glad that I was given a second chance to play through a favourite.
For the uninitiated, Days Gone is another in a long line of post-apocalyptic open world video games. However, despite this being a popular genre, it stands out because of how good it is.
Things begin as two bikers attempt to escape from a ravaged city, but fail to do so. That said, they do achieve their main goal of getting the one’s injured partner into an evacuation helicopter, so that she can hopefully receive medical attention for her injuries. However, they, themselves, are left to their own devices in a dangerous and overrun part of the USA.
Fast-forward a couple of years and both Deacon St. John (our main character and avatar) and his friend, Boozer, have settled into a life in zombie filled backwoods Oregon. They ride their motorcycles throughout the varied countryside, scavenge what they need, do odd jobs for different camps and do their best to make an impact on the zombie infestation, while trying to stay alive at the same time. The shit hits the fan, though, after a series of events leads to Boozer being seriously injured and Deacon’s bike being damaged and then getting stolen. That severely changes their situation.
Thus begins a rather lengthy campaign, in which one must travel across an open world filled with trees, dirt and almost desert-like areas. Along the way, they’ll complete jobs for different camps, forge better alliances, piss some people off and do a lot of exploring. Days Gone Remastered is, at its heart, an open world third-person shooter with a heavy reliance on being quiet and using scavenged melee weapons like 2x4s, lawn mower blades, bats and machetes. Those break though.
The general idea here is that you can progress as quickly, or as slowly, as you’d like. Sure, there are a number of main objectives, but there are also many zombie nests to burn, and it’s up to you if you do them all. Clearing the map out will make it easier for you, but doing so won’t be easy by any means. You must also choose whether to tackle such things during daytime or nighttime, because each one has its advantages and disadvantages.
The game’s version of zombies, if you want to call them that, are called freakers, and they’ve been infected. They are fast, they can climb and they come in different varieties. Like in The Walking Dead, they also like to travel in large hordes, which you’ll want to try to avoid. Getting the attention of a horde can be a death sentence, especially early on, as this is a game where it’s ideal to take on one enemy at a time, or three at most. You’re trying not to alert them.
Of course, Deacon has a decent assortment of weapons and gear at his disposal, though a lot of it needs to be scavenged and/or crafted. You’ll make Molotovs out of empty beer bottles, find and make bandages for healing, explore abandoned military quarantine zones for health/stamina/gunplay upgrades, and generally use what’s in the immediate area. Melee weapons can be enhanced, by adding nails or something else to them, and they can sometimes be repaired too.
As you progress, you’ll become more adept at dealing with the freakers and the world at large. Days Gone Remastered isn’t an easy game at the start, but players earn experience points that can be used to purchase new abilities and perks. There are three different skill trees, having to do with things like gunplay and survival. As such, you can lessen the amount of sound you make, gain the ability to slow time down while shooting and so forth.
Things did feel harder this time around but, then again, I hadn’t played this game since 2019 and I’m not the gamer I used to be. Regardless, I quickly got back into the swing of things, and fell in love again. It was hard to pull myself away from the game despite it being 5am and my needing to be up in several hours.
With Days Gone Remastered, which is a $10 (USD) upgrade for those who own the PlayStation 4 version, fans and newcomers alike can look forward to a number of enhancements and additions. There are a number of difficulties, there’s the ability to import one’s PS4 save data in (though I don’t know why you’d want to) and there are also two additional modes.
On top of the main campaign, which is lengthy and very good overall, though its final segment honestly disappointed me, there are two separate modes available from the start. These weren’t in the original game, but are now.
The first of these two new game types is a Horde Assault mode, wherein one must do anything to survive large amounts of freakers. This is easier said than done, given what I said above about trying to take enemies on by themselves or in small groups, and it doesn’t ease you into things. As such, this is a difficult and sometimes frustrating mode that won’t appeal to everyone. While I appreciate that it’s there, I doubt I’ll play it much.
Those who are somewhat masochistic can make the Horde Assault mode even more challenging, by unlocking and using modifiers throughout its several very large maps. This can make things easier, or a lot more difficult, and can also modify the experience overall. You’ll still need to complete objectives, open supplies and do whatever it takes to survive, but you may begin at an even greater disadvantage.
I was honestly surprised that, when I first loaded the one map that’s available from the start, I was instantly greeted by a large group of freakers. That told me a lot about this mode.
The other new addition, in terms of gameplay options, is a challenge mode. This takes Days Gone’s core mechanics — like driving the motorcycle, trying to attack/survive freakers and the like — and turns them into a list of different timed challenges. For instance, there are a couple where you use the bike to deliver supplies or race to a location, all while being timed and receiving bonuses for things like jumps. These were fun, but given some of the game’s mechanical limitations, a bit rigid. This isn’t an off-road racing game, so the bike doesn’t handle as precisely as some will want it to in order to reach the top of the leaderboards, and I fell off a few times. The ramps are fun to drive over, but landing isn’t always the easiest.
Of course, there are leaderboards for this mode, so we know that some will become engrossed in trying to better their scores and those of others. Along the way, those who stick with this mode will earn money that can be used to buy different character avatars (you don’t have to play as Deek in either of these bonus modes), new badges and different looks for the bike.
If these things hadn’t been added to Days Gone Remastered, I honestly wouldn’t have felt like it was lacking or been mad at the developers. I’d just have been happy to be able to play an updated version of one of my favourite games. However, while I probably won’t spend a ton of time with them, I’m happy that these bonus modes do exist. I may not love them, or truly see the need, but others seem to really like Horde Assault.
The main campaign is just so immersive, enjoyable, well made and memorable that I’m happy to revisit it. It didn’t take long for me to get hooked again, thanks to likeable characters, a really good story, an interesting map, really enjoyable gameplay and a motorcycle that is fun to ride, upgrade and customize. Few games give you the type of tension based adrenaline that Days Gone does, because alerting a horde is both a sight to behold and a very scary thing. They seem bigger and more prevalent this time around. It’s either that, or I haven’t had much luck.
I truly adore the gameplay loop that exists here and, while stealth has never been my favourite thing in games, I love how it is handled in this one and titles like the two The Last of Us games. All three are kind of similar, so maybe that’s why I love them all so much.
On top of its new gameplay modes, added difficulty options, improved hordes and that kind of thing, Days Gone Remastered is also an impressive upgrade on the PS4 version. Although it’s not originally evident from the opening cutscene, which still looks a tad dated, it soon becomes so. The draw distances are truly impressive, the visuals are stunning and the game runs like a dream on PS5. At least, it has so far using a PlayStation 5 Pro and its console specific settings. I admit that I haven’t completed the game a second time, but I’ve put a dent into it and can’t wait to go back to it in the coming days.
From the start, it’s evident that work was put into not only making this title look and play better, but also creating a scarier nighttime experience. Now, Deek’s headlight is more important than ever, as he navigates his motorcycle through a darker night. This added darkness makes things all the more scary, not to mention a bit more dangerous.
I’ve been playing this thing using 3D audio through a pair of HyperX Cloud III Wireless headphones. Thanks to them, and the folks who both developed and remastered this wonderful game, everything has sounded pretty damned great. That is, except for a ‘bug’ that has persisted, wherein some of the random survivors you rescue and then send to camps seem to be talking at too low of a level. It’s not a big issue or drawback though.
At the end of the day, Days Gone Remastered is one of my favourite things about 2025 thus far. While it’s not a new game, it’s been one of my favourite interactive experiences nonetheless. If you haven’t played it, and you enjoy these types of games, you really owe it to yourself to. I’ll never understand why the original release received mixed opinions, or why it was never as big as it should’ve been. However, here’s hoping that this really good remaster will do well enough to make them revisit the idea of a sequel to Bend Studio’s freaked filled epic. I know I’d be there day one!
This review is based on the PS5 Pro version of the game, which we were provided with.