Days Gone’s ‘Newt Zombies’ Are Causing Controversy, But Is It Justified?

Sony’s next big PlayStation 4 exclusive is set to launch next month, and those who’ve played a preview have some concerns about some of Bend Studio’s decisions when it comes to the game’s enemies.

Days Gone is set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun with zombie-like creatures known as ‘Freakers,’ but Freakers aren’t the only enemies you’ll encounter in the world.

Credit: SIE Bend Studio

‘Newts’ are smaller and slighter versions of freakers, and when Stevivor played the game it wrote that the design of the enemies suggested that they were children – children that the game encouraged players to kill.

Speaking to Sony Bend’s Emmanuel Roth, Stevivor expressed concern over the suggesting, drawing parallels to Capcom’s decision to scrap the idea of an orphanage in its Resident Evil 2 remake.

Credit: SIE Bend Studio

Roth responded: “No, they are not [children]. Really, they’re more of a crawling creature and more of a different type of gameplay. It’s a variation on the kind of creature we can offer…

“They’re interesting creatures. They’re afraid of the taller Freakers; they need to protect themselves on the roof — to be away from the swarmers that go after them and feed on them. But they are still dangerous — they will look at Deacon’s health; when your health is low they will jump on you and will attack you. We hide some here and there to surprise the player.”

When asking for further clarification, a Sony Bend representative told Stevivor: “The devastating pandemic infected and killed almost all human life. Some adolescents were infected and transformed by the virus. The survivors call these Newts,

“We don’t think of any of the Freakers as human beings. They are all feral, cannibalistic creatures with ferocious appetites that live on instinct alone. The virus has mutated them into something entirely new.”

Credit: SIE Bend Studio

Over on Twitter it seems that people are considerably less concerned about the prospect of killing infected young zombies, suggesting that it’s adding to the game’s realism, and isn’t something that’s new to video games.

What do you think about Newts in Days Gone?

Featured Image Credit: SIE Bend Studio