You could say the same for The Last of Us. It's a post-apocalypse zombie, escort mission game, I never thought it looked quite unique aside from its "zombies." It was super hyped because it came from Naughty Dog and they were on top of the world at that point (still are, I would argue). The game itself was praised mainly for its story, the gameplay was basic but effective. Days Gone looks to offer a lot more variety in tackling the enemies and other types of gameplay.
Still, I agree that it's very much a "been there, done that" looking game. It will need to set itself apart by its enemy variety, set-pieces, crafting/weapons (which doesn't look all that innovative?) and story. Originally, I was really hoping that you would be playing as a group of raiders or "bad guys", it would have been a cool little spin rather than just the heroic do-gooder.
I'm still excited for it, I love zombies to death and I hope that the story and characters will be memorable enough to forgive its lack of originality. I hope it does well if it deserves it.
"Trick shot? The trick is NOT to get shot." - Lucian
