Days Gone Will Punish Players Who Use Excessive Ammo

We already know Days Gone has no difficulty slider, and that at times it can be a punishing game. [...]

days gone running
(Photo: Sony Interactive Entertainment)

We already know Days Gone has no difficulty slider, and that at times it can be a punishing game. And this makes sense, Days Gone takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where zombie-like creatures called 'Freakers' hunt from atop the food chain and chaos governs life.

However, beyond confirmation that the game will be difficult, developer Sony Bend hasn't provided any details on how said difficulty will be realized and play out. But now we know at least one way the developer will challenge players: ammo scarcity.

There's two type of post-apocalyptic games: ones where every bullet counts and others were the only thing stopping endless carnage is reloading. Like most games of the genre these days, Days Gone is leaning more into the former, and perhaps a bit harder than most.

Speaking to Geoff Keighley, the topic of resource scarcity and making a difficult game without going too far to the point of frustration came up. Speaking on the former, Sony Bend mentions that it has an escalation system in play that punishes players for using excessive amounts of ammo.

Not only is ammo scarce at times, but the more you fire off the more noise you make. According to Sony Bend, the world of Days Gone is a responsive world, full of predator-like enemies that aren't just going to attack you if they see you, they are actively trying to find you. So, the more noise you make through gunfire and explosions, the more attention you will attract. And attention in this game is something you want to avoid.

The developer hopes this will make players really think about how they engage encounters, whether its how they will take down a group of enemies or deciding to avoid them.

Punishing players for making bad decisions sounds great, but one of the most common pitfalls of difficulty is frustration. And according to Sony Bend, balancing the game's challenge was one of the toughest things it had to do and overcome.

Here's to hoping they got it right, because while there is a resurgence in difficult games, there isn't for frustrating ones.

Days Gone is in development exclusively for the PlayStation 4, and is scheduled to release on February 22nd. For more on the game, be sure to check out all of our previous coverage of it by clicking here.

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