The Last of UsandDays Goneare two beloved first-party games that I have a soft spot for in their respective areas, with countless hours poured into both, from cruising around Oregon on Deacon’s Bike to navigating Abby and Ellie’s intense conflict.
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I know, I know. You’re probably yelling at me that they’re completely polar opposite games in their presentation and sub-genre.And that’s mainly the reason why I’ve taken the liberty of deciding on a winner between these twopowerhouse titles from PlayStation Studios.
We’ll be comparing the usual elements that you’d expect to give each game a fair chance, based on the mass appeal, and my personal interjections occasionally sprinkled in the mix, so get comfy as I discuss and give you my clear vote between The Last of Us vs Days Gone.
8Exploration
Both Last of Us titles are pretty linear and tightly packagedcinematic adventure gamesthat focus on a multi-layered and transitionary level design, so when you compare them to Days Gone in terms of exploration, we both know the obvious answer here.
While I can understand some of the backlash Days Gone’s open-world gets for its somewhat generic design when looked under a microscope, at least it’s serviceable enough to be one of thefew critically acclaimed zombie gameson the market, with somewhat meaningful content at every corner of the way.
Traversing the world via Deacon’shighly customizable Drifter Motorbikeis loads of fun. Whether it’s bombing the Freaker nests or finding brief solace in its camps, thehighlight of the exploration in this game is easily the Horde battlesdue to their high-octane and adrenaline-inducing action.
7Narrative
The Last of Us
In its initial debut on the PS3, the original The Last of Us captured the hearts of gamers worldwide with itsintricate and emotionally charged storytelling, featuring Joel and Ellie. Though it all led to one of the most controversial sequels, those gut-wrenching and profound elements remained at the heart of the story.
While Days Gone does a reasonably good job of hammering in a promising narrative, it quickly falls flat on its back in the pacing department, plus that twist towards the second act, with Sarah being alive, completely had me in mixed feelings, and they stuck with me even after I rolled credits on the main game.
I really adore both franchises here and can overlook most of their glaring issues, butI’d much prefer a rich cinematic and grounded experience, which The Last of Us ultimately provides in full force, even the sequel, which is fantastic if you don’t have someone in your ear constantly and annoyingly telling you otherwise.
6Characters
With a solid narrative foundation,it’s also vital that the characters stand out as the stars of the show and the driving force behind the story,keeping the audience engaged in anticipation of what unfolds next. The Last of Us and its characters are at the pinnacle of that statement.
Don’t take this as me shoving Days Gone into this discussion’s shadow realm. Despite his gruff demeanour, Deacon is a protagonist who, deep down under his hardened exterior, has some cherishable traits, and hiswholesome banter with Boozerand a few other characters is one of the few things that keeps you hooked.
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But even with those redeeming qualities, it falls short of matching the profound quality of The Last Of Us—characters that have phenomenal performances and voice-over work, with several moments that add further complexity to their character, making it almost look like an A24 production movie.
From a visceral combat system where you can take down enemies in either stealth or run-and-gun fashion, to relentlessly mowing down a ton of Freaker hordes with your LMG, it’s fair for me to say that both games excel in delivering a grounded yet dynamic combat system.
Plus,survival plays a key role in both unless you’re in lower-end difficulties.TLOU constantly demands inventory management and incentivising stealth for most encounters. While a little more action-oriented and autonomous, Days Gone also requires you to strategically take down Freakers without consuming too many resources.
I know some may argue that TLOU Part 2 blows Days Gone out of the water due to significant gameplay improvements, but the bottom line is thatboth games consistently manage to keep you on the edge of your seat with their respective combat systems.
4Soundtrack
While Days Gone has a couple of my favorite tracks, like Soldier’s Eyes playing on your ride with boozer and Hell or High Water whilst heading up north, it’s hard to undermine Gustavo Santaolalla’s simple yet unparalleled composition while producing the soundtrack for both Last of Us games when put next to the table.
Almost every track has a poetic message, a different tone that symbolically represents the characters on-screen or the tension-heavy stuff, from Abby’s rare moments of ease with Lev to capturing the intensity between the two female protagonists as they clash at the theater.
Even besides the sequel, the original game and itssoundtrack are partly the reason why the game’s highs in the story hit the hardestand leave a poignant feeling. It’s why the soundtrack is almost like an identity for the two games, and it gives greater meaning to why they’ve left such a lasting impression, even after all these years.
3Enemy Variety & Design
If I had a dollar for every aptly-named zombie type in these games, I don’t think I’d be hysterically rich, but at least I’d have a few bucks to my name and know that both The Last of Us and Days Gone have an assortment of infected and Freakers for you to take down.
Of course, almost anyone would immediately yell at me about the inventive superiority of the Clickers, Stalkers, and Bloaters, but I won’t let that take away my appreciation for how Bend Studio crafted its Freakers either, especially with the Screamer and Newts being just as unique as the former from TLOU.
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And,surprisingly enough, both games seem to have these scripted scenarios with a particular enemy type showing up during those occasions.It creates a special kind of presence in the game for them specifically, because no one would ever forget Joel encountering a Bloater for the first time or Deacon’s run-in with a Rager Bear.
Look, I’ll be honest here, just like with the rest of the categories, this one wasn’t an easy pick,but in a side-by-side comparison, it’s a fairly easy win for The Last of Us—thesheer graphical fidelityhere is on par next to other powerhouse engines in the industry like the Decima and RE engine.
The dynamic foliage, environmental density, and architectural design are absolutely mesmerizing and further testament to the magic that Naughty Dog has crafted for their modern titles. It’s still a core memory of mine when I launched Part 2 for the first time on my base PS4 and saw it look so visually stunning.
After replaying through the PS5 versions of both TLOU games,it’s only then that you begin to notice the finer and intricate details of the character models and their expressions,which, to me, also heightens the replayability factor for both of these titles.
I’ll probably get someone to remind me of the obvious here, of how they’re two equally great games, and that you should try out both—and I’d agree. But after all the comparisons and putting both of these zombie survival games head-to-head, The Last of Us series takes the spoils home.
I adored most of the time spent with Days Gone. Heck, I’m one of those in the flock that still believes in a sequel someday. But, alas, as unfortunate as it is with the game’s initial reception and standing with Sony,it seems like a bleak future to see Deacon riding his Drifter Bike on the horizon.
But hey, doomer sentiments for a sequel aside, this should hopefully serve as an example thatboth of these games are worth your time.One’s an underrated open-world survival game, while the other is one of gaming’s most beloved cinematic action-adventure titles and a technical marvel in the industry.
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