If, as someone said, imitation is indeed the most sincere of flattery, it is to be imagined that both Massive Entertainment and above all Naughty Dog must be almost enthusiastic about The Day Before. This new MMO with an open-world third-person shooter setting takes inspiration to say the least from the atmospheres of The Division and The Last of Us, with game design choices, aesthetics and ideas that literally border on the plagiarism of the titles just mentioned.
The Last Division?
Let’s be clear: not that in video games it is necessarily mandatory to always and in any case invent something new, all the more so considering how well experiences that closely follow the model of others can work well. In this case, however, the setting chosen by the American team Fntastic and the publisher MyTona looks like this directly influenced by Ubisoft and Sony branded productions to leave in fact some perplexity about an operation that renounces to have a personality of its own.
Starting, literally, from the particular character chosen for the logo, which to put it mildly seems to closely resemble the one seen elsewhere, in a videogame that has had overwhelming success in recent years (by the way, it is news these days that The Last of Us Part 2 has become the most awarded game ever). Not that, in hindsight, the enormous similarities with the Naughty Dog epic end there.
Also in The Day Before the world and in particular the United States were put on his knees from a bacteriological apocalypse, with a strange virus that has infected millions of people, turning them into rabid infected at 28 Days Later. Swarms of former human beings transformed into insatiable meat-hungry predators have reduced society to collapse: civilization no longer exists in the traditional sense of the term, and life has become synonymous with a ruthless struggle between small groups of survivors.
–
In a paradoxical retaliation seen and appreciated on many other occasions, the drama was unleashed during a moment of celebration, with Christmas almost upon us. The Day Before promises massacres and tension against the backdrop of an absurdly cheerful city, between tunes in piped music and lights on the streets of a metropolis that seems to remember New York. All while chaos, degradation and the desperate struggle for life rage everywhere. An atmosphere that for tones and expressiveness can’t help but remember the first The Division very closely. By the way, here you will find ours The Division 2 review.
A well-run world
As in the Ubisoft title, even in The Day Before we will have to carry out missions of various kinds, accumulate precious resources and gain experience with our character, enhancing him through increasingly better equipment guaranteed by a loot system. While exploring ruined urban scenarios, the threat will be double, consisting of both other humans and the ever-present hordes of infected.
–
The noise management it will apparently be a factor to be strictly taken into consideration: using a firearm can make the difference in terms of assault potential, but the shots will reveal your presence both to the opponents and to the ravenous infected. In short, strategic choices able to suddenly subvert the clashes, perhaps using zombie-style creatures to numerically overwhelm a group of enemies and run away. Or wait for the law of the strongest to take its course, then take advantage of an unprepared and tired winner and raid materials and equipment.
Note that, as shown in the game’s announcement trailer, the Day Before will also feature a crafting system, with a visually identical menu to those seen in The Last of Us Part 2. A way to offer further possibilities for action, creating traps or improvised weapons on the spot and giving a special sense to exploration. All without forgetting the presence of vehicles, with more or less makeshift vehicles to be found for the map to ensure rapid and armored movements in an open-world context. Here, instead you will find ours review of The Last of Us Part 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI0k1V0t_SI
Speaking of the debut video: apart from the speeches linked to the inspirations so explicit from other titles, the gameplay trailer of The Day Before seems to foretell a production at times almost too good to be true, with a technical realization, a general care and feelings of a great AAA product rather than an independent work. The amount of detail seems really noteworthy, the lighting is quite convincing and there is no lack of details such as the now essential puddles that reflect the surrounding environment. All in the never negligible fluidity of 60fps.
–
We recall that the development of The Day Before is entrusted to Fntastic, a Russian team founded in 2015 and responsible until today for Dead Dozen Escape, The Wild Eight and Radiant One. The publication is currently foreseen only on PC, with a launch date generally set for 2021.
Could a surprise come from cold Russia capable of finding an unexpected meeting point between The Last of Us and The Division? We will find out only in the coming months, even if the sensations given by the very first presentation video are exciting. Maybe, to be honest, suspiciously exciting.
–
