Wait what are screen space shadows? First I heard.
Yeah, there seems no point to stopping unless you're cornered but I suspect just looking at a guys arse as he hightails it though and over a building would make for a dull video. Especially when you can show 200+ zombie dudes charging at you every 20 seconds.That looks better, although the constant running away while stopping (why? if you can run away, just keep running!) may have been presented poorly.
I'm confident TLOU isn't comming out so soon.
Also, Days Gone could even steal some of TLOU thunder for certain players. ND is already getting on some people's nerves with their over-directing and linearity, while Days Gone is open-world.