While it was recently reported that Days Gone won’t feature any difficulty modes, that might not be the case when Sony Bend’s ambitious third-person shooter releases in 2019. Screen Rant recently spoke with studio director Chris Reese at the recent PlayStation Judge’s Week event and learned that the developer is looking into adding difficulty options. Reese said that the game has to have a sense of challenge since it’s core to their creative vision, but that they’re “looking at” additional options for players.
Previous comments about a lack of difficulty settings came from director Jeff Ross, who told Game Informer that the game is “not very good when it’s easy.” The studio’s last major release, Uncharted: Golden Abyss for the PlayStation Vita, featured several difficulty options. It remains to be seen whether or not they’ll wind up implementing difficulties for Days Gone, but it’s clear that latest game from Sony Bend is their most ambitious title yet.
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Here’s all that Chris Reeves had to say about Days Gone‘s challenge, and why they want players to feel desperate when they’re in a tough situation:
We’re looking at that. We’re at the stage now in the project where we’re tuning it. Our plan is, you know – the normal mode, we want it to be a challenge. That’s really what it’s all about, to survive. If you want to feel what Deacon feels, and how he’s going to get out of a situation, then that’s what the world’s got to do. It’s got to be challenging.
Difficulty options are an important part of gaming and accessibility, so it’s a good sign that Sony Bend are looking into additional tuning. There’s certainly nothing wrong with providing a challenge, and it looks like Days Gone will provide just that in its normal difficulty, but it can also greatly limit who can enjoy the game. Considering how much money Sony has spent marketing Days Gone so far, it’d make sense that they would want it to appeal to as wide an audience as possible.
It won’t be long until we see more of Days Gone‘s default difficulty in action. The zombie shooter is expected to be one of Sony’s key titles at their E3 2018 press conference. Considering the developer has been teasing a release date announcement in the near future, it wouldn’t be surprising for it to happen at gaming’s biggest stage.
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Days Gone releases exclusively for PlayStation 4 sometime in 2019.
