The thing about zombie apocalypses, and the reason that they continue to be such a revisited setting in all forms of media over and over again, is because they provide artists with a unique backdrop to explore the breakdown of society, and how individuality holds up in the absence of such social structure. This is the reason that, in spite of their inherently pulpy nature, games like The Last of Us, for example, can be so thematically rich.
Apparently, Sony are going for the same thing with Sony Bend’s upcoming Days Gone, their zombie apocalypse action game that debuted at E3 this year. Writing on the PlayStation Blog, Creative Director Ron Allen explained Sony Bend’s aims with the story of this game.
“It’s about the human condition – this guy’s a broken man,” he said. ” A lot of us are motorcycle riders. It’s a really vibrant culture. It’s often associated with criminals, mayhem, and violence, but it’s also about brotherhood and family. Because Deacon has suffered so much loss he holds on to that aspect of his past, and cherishes those relationships. It’s about him finding himself, because he no longer has a motorcycle gang.”
I understand, and appreciate the direction- but I do have to ask myself why Sony would basically commission two very similar games for their lineup, what with Naughty Dog having explored very similar ideas with The Last of Us (especially since Sony had Bend cancel all their Vita games in favor of this!). But hey, I’ll give Sony Bend the benefit of the doubt, since they’ve earned that, and let them prove me wrong here.