DayZ

DayZ was a game that I followed very closely for a very long time. I say a very long time because this was a game that felt like it was in development forever! It was one of the early “zombie survival” games that I remember getting a lot of attention.

It Is The People You Have To Worry About!

The story that runs alongside DayZ is very barebones, but it does provide the setting for the experience. Set in a post-soviet country a virus has turned most of the population into zombie crazed maniacs and the country has gone to hell. The survivors are part of a daily fight for survival and as resources get in more short supply, people get more violent. What I like about DayZ is the way that the zombies are there, but it is the people who are the real monsters. People who are willing to do anything…… anything to survive just one more day.

Loot Crate

For me, the most important aspect of DayZ is the looting. You can never really stand in one place too long. You always have to keep on moving forward. Hoping that the next place you come to will have some supplies that can help you out. These range from healing items, crafting items and weapons that you will need to survive.

The Infected

Of course, there are infected in the land that wants to rip you to shreds. Now, this, on one hand, works very well and on the other not so much. I have played many builds of this game and the amount of infected around has changed over the years. I think that if anything there needs to be more infected in DayZ. Sometimes these large open areas can feel way to empty. I know that on one hand, this adds to feeling alone and wanting to survive, but the lack of infected is something that does bother me.

Who Are You?

The most exciting aspect of DayZ is not the interaction with the zombies or if you prefer, Infected. It is when you come across another human Player. From my experience, you are on a server with at most 60 players. The land is quite large and you can go a little while without seeing another human player, but when you do…. Wow. You start to sweat, get nervous and a million things run through your mind. If they do not see you should you sneak up and try to kill them? Should you just hide and wait for them to go past you? Should you try and make an ally and see if they want to play with you? Who knows working with another player could work out better for you! This is where DayZ is at its very best for me. Now to be fair, most interactions with other human players end up in firefights, but I have met some players who I ended up playing with. DayZ in regards to playing with other players is almost like some kind of weird social experiment!

DayZ is a game that was in early access for so long and had so many things added, changed and messed around with that as a person who has been playing the game for a long time it is hard to review. I think for a new player coming in today, they would probably have fun and potentially get hooked. I though feel that the game had a lot of promise and while fun, I feel that it could have been so much more.

7/10

Pros:

• Coming across other human players
• A large open world
• Crafting is a lot of fun
• You have to really fight to survive
• Savaging is done very well

Cons:

• Still a little rough around the edges
• Not enough zombies!!!