Immediately eliciting comparisons to games like The Last of Us, The Division and DayZ, The Day Before looks to be a multiplayer zombie game that assembles some of the genre's best tropes into a tense, survival-focused experience. Players got a good look at how The Day Before will play back in January, with developer Fntastic showing off a short, four-minute snippet of the title filled with zombies, looting, and intense PVP shootouts.
Today, IGN premiered a much longer gameplay demo of The Day Before, delving deeper into its combat, range of mechanics, and looting system. The new look at the upcoming multiplayer release trades in the first demo's abandoned city setting for countryside roads and farms, with two players scavenging for supplies as they avoid infected enemies.
One of the first big takeaways of the 13-minute clip is that driving will have a range of realistic challenges to overcome, with both players having to navigate their cars through muddy off-road trails. It seems driving through these areas won't be as easy as just staying on the path, as the players' wheels become trapped in the mud, slowing them to a halt and making them susceptible to attacks from nearby zombies or human enemies. Keeping vehicles in good shape appears to be imperative to the experience too, with the players later fixing up their wheels after they become damaged during the ride.
The footage also shows off the standard gameplay cycle of The Day Before, as both players make their way into a gas station, clear out the threats surrounding it, and loot the area for supplies. While that might sound simple, it's made abundantly clear that things can get hectic fast. Venturing to a nearby farm, the players enter a house only to realize they've tripped a burglar alarm, attempting to disable it before it goes off. They're unsuccessful, with the alarm triggering and alerting every zombie in the immediate area.
Although the pair deal with the infected quickly and efficiently, the alarm winds up attracting more unwanted attention, as several hostile players arrive at the farm. The pair are forced to sneak out the back of the house to escape their enemies, locking themselves in a nearby bunker to hide. The clip is yet more proof that The Day Before is shaping up to an exhilarating multiplayer experience and one that players should keep their eye on going forward.
The Day Before is currently in development for PC.