After an initially mixed reception, Days Gone has grown into something ofa cult classic. It’s garnered a loyal fanbase, including myself, who are always on the hunt for similar gaming experiences.
As a unique blend of bombastic action, atmospheric horror, emotionally poignant storytelling, and open-world exploration, all experienced alongside a trusty customizable two-wheeled steed, it isn’t always easy to find games that match the sheer grit and soul Days Gone delivered.
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But be it through atmospheric, thematic, or mechanical similarities, here are ten titles that’ll scratch that itch and allow you to re-experience some of the best aspects of Days Gone once again.
10Helldivers 2
Horde Horror At Its Finest
Helldivers 2
Helldivers 2 is, admittedly, unlike Days Gone in most ways. But if you’re anything like me, the frantic horde-induced run-and-gun panic was among your favorite parts of the experience.
In that case, I think you’ll find that Helldivers 2 not only captures it like no other title has but turns the dial up to utter chaos.
This third-person co-op shooter has you and up to three friends pitted against relentless swarms of aliens or robots, constantly outnumbered, outgunned, and one misstep from death.
It offers those exact same adrenaline rushes I would get encountering freaker hordes. Each new confrontation feels like a climatic last stand, always teetering on the edge of disaster.
9The Last Of Us Part 1
Finding Something To Live For In What Remains
The Last of Us Part 1
The Last Of Us Part 1, despite its linearity, shares plenty with Days Gone. It offers that same visceral combat that shifts seamlessly from stealth to chaotic skirmishes in an instant. There are also ample heart-pounding encounters with grotesque zombie-like monstrosities.
Yet, what connects these two games beyond surface-level resemblances are the thematic threads they both contain. Finding meaning, the will to live another day, and how to care once again are themes that both titles explore.
Dare I say, though, that The Last of Use Part 1 actually does so far more compellingly. So, if you found Days Gone to have a worthwhile story to tell, you’ll absolutely adore The Last of Us Part 1 just like I did.
A Gut-Wrenchingly Cruel Survival Experience
DayZ is an incessantlybrutal survival experience. If the zombies didn’t kill me, starvation, infection, sickness, or an unlucky encounter with a hostile player would.
The opening hours of Days Gone are filled with dread, uncertainty, desperate scavenging, and a sense of uneasy loneliness, but I didn’t want it to be interrupted. DayZ is, in many ways, what would happen if you took those moments and stretched them out into a constant reality.
I’d find myself scavenging for hours, losing it all, and spawning in fresh once again, flustered with frustration yet eager to make this new run last a little longer.
In spite of all the pain DayZ inflicts, the small moments of triumph and survival have kept me playing nigh countless hours.
A Gasoline-Soaked Wasteland Adventure
One of the most enjoyable aspects of Days Gone for me was the motorcycle. It was my lifeline for exploration or escape, customizable, upgradable, and generally just plain fun to ride around the map on.
Mad Max saw me trading in my two wheels for four. Beyond that slight difference, it not only shares the same open-world vehicular reliance and fun but kicks it into overdrive.
Though there were still plenty of on-foot fistfights in the sun-scorched wastes, Mad Max’s emphasis is on explosive vehicular combat.
This added focus not only provides another layer of customization of and reliance on your vehicle, but also makes the hunt for gas that both games incorporate even more crucial.
Killing Zombies Cowboy Style
Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare Pack
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare is as fun as it is wonderfully wild. Withthe Old Westtransformed into a zombie-infested nightmare, you’ll have to use all the cowboy skills you’re able to muster and attempt to make sense of this absolute mess.
From lassoing mythical creatures to dousing the dead with holy water, I never had a sole dull moment in this delightfully macabre and equally absurd apocalypse.
For fans who want to relive some of the mindless zombie-blasting fun Days Gone offered coated in a thick Western aesthetic, I couldn’t recommend a wackier, more charming, or more enjoyable experience.
5Metro Exodus
Different Ride, Same Struggle
Metro Exodus
Metro Exodus, now outside the claustrophobic tunnels of Moscow to trek across Russia, is undoubtedly one of the most atmospheric and immersive games I’ve ever played.
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With an old worn-out train as my ferry and make-shift home for this adventure, each new location I would arrive at was always more stunning and more hostile than the last. It often seemed like the irritated monsters and bandits were a little too eager to ruin my view on a whim.
However, just as with my initial playthrough of Days Gone, it didn’t take long for me to realize that this adventure was going to be much more than just beautiful vistas and action. More so than most, Metro Exodus has heart.
It’s a journey filled with a palpable struggle to survive. It’s about the desperate search for hope, about taking a moment for quiet appreciation of the beauty that remains, even in the world’s state of relative ruin.
4State Of Decay 2
Rebuilding, One Bullet At A Time
State of Decay 2
Days Gone has you strapped into the perspective of Deacon, an often-reluctant lone hero to the small communities he helps on his journey.State of Decay 2instead has you directlyhelming a group of survivors.
There’s no script and no guarantee of success, or even survival. It’s an open-world filled with zombies, resources, and adventure. One where each scrap scavenged, shot fired, and decision made has the potential to impact the communities' fate, for better or worse.
While playing Days Gone, I frequently found myself wishing for more agency in my interactions with the survivor groups I met. State of Decay 2 is an incredible fulfillment of that wish, able to continually surprise me with the ripples my individual decisions would send out across the entire game.
Survival Never Seemed So Fun
Days Gone certainly has quiet atmospheric moments, with eerily silent drives through scenic pine-draped roads and scavenging runs interrupted by distant echoes and little else.
However, Days Gone likewise revels in violent chaos and is filled to the brim with desperate shootouts, gore-filled horde face-offs, and frantic melee brawls. So, if you’ve ever found yourself wishing for those quiet moments to end and mayhem to begin, then Rage 2 is for you.
In the neon-dense waste of Rage 2’s open-world, it’s not the narrative or the exploration that kept me hooked, but the action found at each turn. With fantastic vehicle combat, gunplay, and overpowered abilities that keep things interesting, Rage 2 is a sandbox of unapologetic brutality and havoc.
2Fallout 4
Exploring The Ruins Of What Used To Be
Fextralife Wiki
Fallout 4 throws you into a post-apocalyptic worldteeming with factionsvying for your loyalty, fellow survivors vying for your help, and countless enemies vying for your death.
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Like Days Gone’s depiction of a derelict Oregon, when adventuring around the old towns and cities of Fallout 4’s world, it was hard for me not to grieve the past. But from the ashes of disaster, something must rise, and in Fallout 4, it was up to me to decide exactly what.
With no one set path, the story is in your hands. Those who survive among the remnants of our past can only hope you make the right decisions.
1Dying Light
More Parkour, A Lot Less Motorcycle
Dying Light
Tension is one of my favorite characteristics of Days Gone. Thoughts will race at a distant sound, the idea that maybe a horde is lurking closer. If it is, do I even have enough gas to escape? Enough bullets to kill them all?
Mobility and violence were the only bastions of hope I had. But even those bastions could crumble in the face of poor planning or a momentary mistake to run instead of fight or fight instead of run.
In Dying Light’s zombie-laden city of Harran, parkour replaces the bike as your method of escape and traversal, while the combat is far more melee-focused.
Yet, a familiar and even more potent desperation, pressure, and tension wafts about in the city’s air. As it does, you’ll know, once again, that survival is a question posed, one that you must be willing to answer over and over again.
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