After hyping up their delayed 10-minute gameplay reveal, Fntastic finally released the long-awaited gameplay of its survival MMO The Day Before.
After a tumultuous month where we saw The Day Before showcased by Nvidia during CES 2023, promptly delayed thanks to a "trademark issue," admission that the delay was always going to happen regardless of the "trademark issue," and then hyping the reveal of its gameplay, it finally happened, though not without its own set of delays this morning.
And the reaction to the footage both in the live chat on YouTube as well as the official Discord and Reddit discussion has been less than ideal if you're Fntastic.
The gameplay really didn't show anything groundbreaking or exciting, especially considering it looks like The Day Before has seen a significant visual downgrade compared to previous reveals. The gameplay footage looked like a blend of The Division, the post-apocalyptic looter-shooter from Ubisoft, and a and really didn't give anything that would excite - or even warrant the levels of hype the company was drumming up.
The footage follows the player character and a companion as they rummage through the remains of an empty city, starting in the suburbs. It spends an awful lot of time early on showing the barebones crafting UI, likely meant to showcase the customization of weapons in The Day Before, but spends probably a minute too long lingering there.
Exploration was also highlighted, with the two characters wandering through what looks like a quarantine zone in the city, shooting a few zombies along the way. Nothing here screamed exciting gameplay, or even showed fans anything new. Some on Reddit pointed out that at this point, barring zero delays, The Day Before was already supposed to be released, making the state of what we saw today concerning. The lack of context as well for what was going on, where players were in the game, and what they were trying to do was also a sticking point.
You can check out the footage in the embed above and decide for yourself whether you think this was a good reveal, or simply an attempt at damage control (especially since a follow-up video shows someone playing The Day Before, proving it's totally real), especially in light of the perceived mismanagement issues surrounding the game right now.
