In the last few hours of Sony's panel at the E3 2016 gaming convention, the company finally revealed Days Gone, Bend Studio's previously alleged release.
Over the months, Sony has been dropping hints here and there that the developer behind the Syphon Filter series and Uncharted: Golden Abyss for PS Vita, Bend Studio, has been MIA because of its current project; supposedly, the developer is working on another "awesome cool" game.
There's been little information, however, to form general speculations about what type of game Bend Studio is developing, save for Sony's leaked application a couple of months ago to trademark the supposed game title, Days Gone.
Even then, there were insufficient sources to connect the applied trademark with Bend Studio's current project, and Sony seems to have succeeded in keeping any further leaks from happening, effectively surprising attendees of this year's E3 convention.
Sony officially launched Bend Studio's first console game for the PS4 since 2004, Days Gone, during its panel discussion.
The game, previously withheld, features a post-apocalyptic open-world gameplay, set in the "beautiful, volcanic-scarred high-desert of the Pacific Northwest." Gamers are placed in the shoes of Deacon St. John, a supposed "Drifter" and "bounty hunter," whose character design is inspired by the biker gang scene.
Days Gone's setting occurs two years after a global pandemic, wiping out most inhabitants of Earth to leave only a few survivors, as well as zombie-like creatures, which developers refer to as "Freakers."
Bend Studio's version of the ubiquitous zombies in this modern age are described as "mindless, feral creatures, more animal than human but very much alive and quickly evolving." This leads to the fact that different Freaker variants will be featured in the game.
During the panel presentation, Sony offered a gameplay preview within the world of Days Gone that the company posted, and later on removed, on its official YouTube channel. The gameplay introduced two Freaker types, a Newt and a Horde; the former variant depicts an adolescent aged creature that prefers to "hit and run from the shadows," while the latter version is what the name implies, a group of the undead that "eat, move and attack together, almost as one."
What sets the Horde Freaker apart from other games is its supposed massive number, with behaviors that resemble the ones from World War Z. It is unknown, though, if the same amount of Freakers will be included in the official game version as this is, after all, a sneak preview.
It would definitely be a one-of-a-kind experience if players do get to fight against a massive horde in the game's open-world survival setting where every element of the game appears to be useable against the pack. Basically, zombie survival on an epic scale.
There's no release date announced for Days Gone as of yet.
Its official E3 2016 launch trailer, however, can be viewed below and no, it's not the gameplay video (Hint: YouTube):
