While Uncharted 2: Among Thieves’ might put Naughty Dog on the map, few would disagree that the smash hit post-apocalyptic action game The Last Of Us is the studio’s finest work. In fact, The Last Of Us is arguably one of PlayStation’s greatest ever exclusive games and one of the must-play essential titles of the last generation. No surprises then that a sequel to that much revered game is eagerly awaited, and now that the critically acclaimed final chapter to the Uncharted series, A Thief’s End, is done and dusted, many gamers are frantically scouring the internet for any details or clues to its release date.
Indeed, many had predicted that an announcement from Naughty Dog during E3 might well occur, and there was plenty of good reason behind that bold claim. After all, Naughty Dog stunned PlayStation fans back in late 2011 when it first teased trailers for the original The Last Of Us barely a month after the launch of Uncharted 3. Based on that logic, E3 2016 seemed like E3 was a potentially perfect outlet to tease the studios next project. Sadly, that wasn’t to be and we were instead presented with Days Gone, the long awaited unveiling of Sony Bend’s new IP.
Of course, the announcement of Days Gone was exciting in itself given that gamers have tentatively been predicting its emergence for years after radio silence from Sony Bend for what has seemed like an eternity. Ironically, the studio’s last two games, both debuting over 4 years ago now, were spinoff titles based on Naughty Dog’s own Uncharted franchise. Bend has been a lesser known entity in the Sony first party eco system, and while Uncharted: Golden Abyss was a fine game, Days Gone is Bend’s first foray into developing their own AAA IP; a third person action adventure title nonetheless, which are apparently the only sort of games that Sony are interested in commissioning at the moment.
Rumours suggesting the narrative premise for Days Gone had actually long been floating around the internet, with several inside leaks suggesting the game would indeed be an open world survival horror title from as far back as early 2015. Yet, nobody could have imagined the Days Gone would follow such a similar beat to The Last Of Us in regards to theme and aesthetic.
There are those that argue against that comparison, citing differences in tone and game design as significant enough to differentiate the two franchise, and while there is some merit in that sentiment, even the strongest advocates surely can’t deny that Days Gone, a narrative partly inspired by The Walking Dead television show, does put it extremely close to The Last Of Us in regards to overall genre and premise.