Bend Studio’s Days Gone has left many impressed with its atmospheric environments, gripping-if-not-predictable story and gut-wrenching Freaker combat. As any self-respecting PS4 game should, Days Gone is also not without its fair share of Easter Eggs, although this one may be hit a little closer to home for some.
Several curious Days Gone Easter Eggs tease the possibility of the game’s world being tied to that of the classic PS1 stealth title, Syphon Filter.
Back then, Bend Studio was called 989 Studios. There’s actually a Days Gone trophy that you can unlock called “Lend Me Your Ears”, which you’ll get after collecting… 989 Freaker ear bounties.
Throughout Days Gone‘s story, there are several nods to the world of Syphon Filter, which suggest that the connection between these two games may be a little closer than you think.
Firstly, there is the existence of an IPCA Stun Gun that you can find after collecting all 18 pieces of IPCA tech littered throughout the game. Etched on it are the initials “G.L.”
This may some like nothing to many, but some could make a connection to Gabe Logan, the protagonist of Syphon Filter.
If one were to delve deeper than just Logan’s stun gun, there’s actually more to uncover. The IPCA stands for International Presidential Consulting Agency, which is also the name of the governmental organisation in Syphon Filter. And the poster boy for the IPCA for that game was — you guessed it — Gabe Logan.
Members of NERO, the outbreak containment task force, don yellow biochemical suits — a nod to the Chemical and Biological Defense Command (CBDC) personnel that aided Logan in Syphon Filter.
And as a final nail to the proverbial coffin, several audio logs and research documents point to the notion that the Freaker virus was created deliberately, thanks to the likes of Sarah, Deacon St John’s wife.
Now, the IPCA were dedicated to preventing any widespread bioterrorism from occurring in the events of the Syphon Filter games. If we were to make a connection, the fact that Days Gone exists is indicative of the IPCA’s supposed failure in preventing this from happening.
At this point, all these Easter Eggs aren’t really Easter Eggs, but rather a teaser at bigger things to come from Bend Studio. What they did is very similar to the Killzone Easter Eggs in Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn back in 2017.
In any case, Bend Studio’s own creative director John Garvin even admitted to contemplating a new Syphon Filter game in an interview with Eurogamer.
“I really appreciate that question because I was a writer and a director on all the Syphon Filter games,” said Garvin. “I love Syphon Filter but man we have been so focussed on Days Gone but when this thing ships and I can relax… I’ll think about it. Never say never!”
Never say never, huh. Our eyes are certainly peeled for sure.
Marion has a serious RPG addiction. Sometimes it bleeds into real life; he forgets to sleep because he thinks he has a Witcher’s body clock. Forgive him in advance if he suddenly blurts out terms such as “Mind Flayer” and “Magic Missile”, because never once does he stop thinking about his next Dungeons & Dragons game.
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