The post-apocalyptic survival genre isn’t exactly new, but with Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us having shown what could be done within the space, it was only a matter of time before other developers followed suit. Take Sony Bend, for example. The company’s forthcoming title, Days Gone, almost looks like a spiritual successor to the former — only it revolves around a grizzled biker who’s holed up in the scarred deserts of the Pacific Northwest opposed to the mean streets of Pittsburgh and Boston.
Unveiled during Sony’s press conference at E3 2016, the open-world Days Gone sees players players taking on the role of Deacon St. John, a “drifter” who prefers to forgo the protected wilderness encampments to fend for himself on the open road.
According to a recent post on the PlayStation Blog, the title takes place two years after a global pandemic has wiped out nearly everyone, leaving the story’s protagonist to fend for himself amid a onslaught of mindless, zombified creatures known as Freakers. The recently showcased demo features both the aforementioned Freakers and a collective monstrosity known as a Horde, which is made of hundreds of Freakers who prefer to eat, move, and attack like a single unit hell-bent on eating you alive.
For a title that revolves around a never-ending sea of undead, Days Gone does look appetizing — at least visually. The developers have clearly taken their home in the Northwest to heart, and as such, the gameplay footage showcases a lush setting that’s heavily rooted in the trees, mountains, and rural vastness that surrounds Oregon, Washington, and other parts of the West.
Sony also plans to showcase other aspects of the game’s sandbox mechanics — including crafting, traps, and the game’s alternative paths — during an extended gameplay demo at this year’s E3, but for now, you’ll just have to settle for 10 minutes of bullet-laden gameplay and a sweet-ass embroidered jacket that looks like it was culled directly from Sons of Anarchy.
Days Gone is set to arrive on PlayStation 4 at an undisclosed date.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.