Days Gone Newts are an enemy type that you very rarely see in games. These small Freakers take the visage of twisted children which scurry throughout the rafters and dark places of post-apocalyptic rural Oregon. The question many will have when playing is whether or not Days Gone Newts are kids or just a monster that happens to look like a child.
The question of whether or not Days Gone lets you kill kids is a dicey one. Realistically, in a zombie outbreak, there would be young people affected as well. However, shooting children is never popular, so we really need to dive into the gameplay and lore of Days Gone to find our answer.
Minor spoilers below!
What are Newts in Days Gone?
Well, Newts are children. They’re adolescents that have been infected with the virus that created the Freaker outbreak. Newts were about 9-to-11 years of age when the disaster occurred, and since their change, have adopted some strange behaviors.
Newts aren’t often aggressive. They’re preyed on by other Freakers and wildlife, so they tend to group up in attics and dark confined locations that are too cramped for larger enemies to fit into. For the most part, when you enter an area with a Newt nest, they keep their distance and observe you. They only tend to attack when you have low health, or you’re outright invading their territory or shooting at them.
Since Newts are timider than other Freakers, you can often just walk right past them. There are times where you have no choice but to fight them, but for the most part, you can ignore them.
Does Days Gone allow you to shoot kids?
This is a big philosophical question. Newts are Freakers and don’t retain any of their humanity except the fact they look like monstrous children. They don’t communicate, and they will attack you. So, it could be said that Newts aren’t human at all, so you’re not really shooting kids.
However, on the other hand, they used to be kids, and part of the plot takes a brief look at how people kill Freakers indiscriminately without any thought to what they once were. It’s never really established definitively that they can’t be cured, and if so then you would be, in a roundabout way, killing children.
At the end of the day, though, Days Gone is just a game. Newts aren’t real kids no matter what, so outside of your TV there are no real ramifications.
Days Gone Zombie Innovations
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Days Gone's Zombie Waves and 10 other undead innovations
Upon the airing of its first E3 showcase, Days Gone picked up steam for one reason: zombie waves crashing against the ground, flowing as one solid mass of undead fury. While there have been lots of zombie games, the quality example atop the pile run with unique hooks that set them apart from the competition. Here are some examples. -
Dead Rising
A generation ago, just the sheer number of slow zombies in Dead Rising was enough to raise eyebrows. The fact that they existed as a barrier for Frank West rather than a real threat was also innovative. He couldn't stop the invasion, he could only hop on their heads and move around them. -
Left 4 Dead
The special zombies are what sets Left 4 Dead's horde apart from the others. From the explosive Boomer to the destructive Witch, these player-controllable mini-bosses created a new style of co-op fun that games like Vermintide 2 are still riffing on to this day. -
Plants vs. Zombies
Even though zombies are inherently representative of a lot of humanity's fears, that doesn't mean we can't laugh at them. Plants vs. Zombies cast the undead as a comedic obstacle to overcome, a kid-friendly strategy that has led to several successful spinoffs. -
Telltale's The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead is about using zombies as a metaphor in all its forms, and especially in Telltale's seasons-long story adaption. Acting as a looming threat throughout the saga, zombies here aren't the focus, they're just the cause for the chaos. -
Zombie Night Terror
Zombie games can be in any genre, even ones not typically prone to the type of violent gore that these characters generation. Zombie Night Terror is a puzzle game similar to Lemmings, only you're controlling undead walkers instead of cute green-haired creatures. -
Atom Zombie Smasher
Another strategic take on the undead is Atom Zombie Smasher, which is a top-down tactics game where you're trying to evacuate citizens from the map as the swarm closes in. With procedurally-generated cities and buildings that crumble, it's a realistic yet abstract take on surviving the apocalypse. -
Undead Horde
Sometimes, you just want to cause the apocalypse instead of surviving it. Undead Horde has you causing the end of the world by summoning zombies and overtaking villages in a medieval countryside. It's a zombie real-time strategy game if you will, although with fun material gathering. -
They Are Billions
Or, if you want to strategize on the other side of things, you get the ominously titled They Are Billions. It's another unstoppable horde, and you just have to hold them off with your building skills. It's like the circle in a battle royale, only with more teeth and claws. -
Stubbs The Zombie
Back to comedy, no game has successfully captured playing as the undead quite like Stubbs The Zombie. You rip your limbs off to perform moves, you feast on brains and you've got a retro vibe to revel in. Bowling for zombie heads anyone? -
Sunset Overdrive
Zombies don't even have to be the "undead." The zombie mutants from Sunset Overdrive turned due to a soda laced with unfortunate chemicals. It leads to some creative designs, showing that if zombies are here to stay, we can at least get some variety in.
