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DayZ

PC

Not rated

Developed by: Dean Hall (bohemia interactive)



BAJO

Every now and then something comes along which shows massive potential, and highlights a spot in the gamersphere that has yet to be filled. The ARMA2 mod DayZ is one such game. It was made by one man, New Zealander Dean Hall on his downtime from working on Arma 3 and it's a real success story. It's the closest you'll get to a zombie survival MMO, and it's as much a survival horror game as it is a social experiment.



HEX

You're dumped into the world, with basic gear, a handful of bullets food and drink, and no help or guidance whatsoever. You are in a hopeless situation, and just need to survive . And you probably won't for very long unless you're good at making friends , and then turning on them when you need to .



BAJO

The world of Dayz is brutal and unforgiving, but it's one of the most thrilling and compelling gaming experiences I've ever had.



HEX

It's certainly unique. To play DayZ, you need arama2 and it's DLC, and a lot of patience! This mod is still very early in development. So it's surprising that it's running so well for a game in alpha, so take our complaints with a grain of salt .



BAJO

I forgot how beau tiful the ARMA world can look, there's an eerie stillness to the world and it feels post apocalyptic. Abandoned buildings and barns, mass graves and run down towns just scream zombie infestation!



HEX

Yeah, it's creepy! You'll often be looking at a field, thinking "ok this looks safe" and then suddenly, you'll 1 zombie swaggering in the distance, and then scores of them running at you. The zombies in this game are terrifying for a few reasons. Firstly, their AI and models are very basic so that makes them a bit unpredictable, especially the ones that erratically zigzag about. They will spot you if you get too close and aren't flat on the ground, or if make too much noise and they're so fast! If you're in a big city, it's just a matter of time before you do something stupid, and the whole city is on you, and you know you're already dead .



BAJO

Yes, there's no sprinting through a town across gravel in Dayz, unless you want to start a zombie conga line . When you're in a city, you need to get in, get supplies and get out . Gunshots attract a lot of zombie attention, and they'll chase you FOREVER ! It's just best to avoid them if you can. They're relentless. They'll climb ladders and glitch into view if they can't, in fact they can even hit you through walls. If you DO get busted in a populated area, you need to leg it somewhere quiet and then try to take them out to pasture, or run into a building or up a ladder and make a stand . And be prepared for a LONG fight.



HEX

The controls and interface for this mod are an abomination and that will get ironed out in time, you'd hope, although ARMA2's controls were always bafflingly wonky. Sprinting, crouching prone , aiming , eating, bandaging, all of these things are painfully unintuitive to do, and will often get you killed , and in fairness this is mostly because the game is still in alpha. The worst is bag management, moving things from someone else's inventory to yours then to your backpack is like a complex math problem.



BAJO

My best advice would be to make sure you turn the head-bob right off before you even start too, otherwise you'll feel like you're head banging to thrash metal.



HEX

Yeah that gave me motion sickness! I do like that you can stay in first or 3rdperson view, and also use alt or the number keys to look around to see if a zombie is chasing you, or if a human player is still with you . And that's the real game here, the choices and decisions you make when you encounter other players. Do you trust someone you just met? Do you take their gear and move on? Do you let them die if they're under attack ? All of these decisions are so fascinating, especially in a pack .



BAJO

Yeah the pack men tality of it is serious business, and the arguments and decisions you make in game echo what I think a real survival situation would be like. I've never heard our voice chat server so serious Hex.



HEX

Yeah, it's intense.



BAJO

On the whole, people try to be friendly but you really can't trust anyone. I love how high the stakes are at all times in this game, the reason why death is so punishing, is because you lose all of your gear that might of taken a whole day in real time to collect. And you might spawn on some coast line that could be hours away from where your friends are. You can get a map and compass that can help a little bit but even if you are right next to a friend in the forest, it is completely possible to lose them. And then, every now and then, there comes a time where all hope is lost, you have no food, no water and very little ammo. And you just decide to yourself that you're going to walk into a zombie town, fire off a gun and let nature take its course.



HEX

It is hard to get this game going, installing the mod and just getting into a server took me over an hour in the first place, and even then I couldn't find anyone. There's no way to see yourself represented on a map, you can only look at street signs and they're all in freaking RUSSIAN. I could hear you on voice chat chatting away and having a grand old time but I had NO idea where you were. I couldn't speed the process up because of course if you walk or even stand near the zombies or they'll see you and if a mob is on you, things get really tough as you back away shoot, back away, bandage. So you have to CRAWL or at least crouch crawl. Hours of crawling along the ground, trying to avoid getting attacked by scores zombies, slowly making my way to that church you said you were at, and when I FINALLY GOT THERE, it was THE WRONG CITY.



BAJO

Yeah that was heart breaking.



HEX

I couldn't believe it. I died a little inside, that day. It wasn't until the next day after another hour of loneliness and zombies when I was randomly prone crawling past a town when a spied another church, and suddenly. I was so emotional after being alone in this zombie death land that I was practically sobbing, Bajo. I'd crawled alone for so long!



BAJO

A magical hug in a field moment Hex! Except the field is full of zombies, and other players that want to kill you



HEX

And we were rolling. And then, after ALL THAT 10 minutes some bandit stumbled upon us and shot me. ONLY ME. DEAD, after all that!



BAJO

You'll be happy to know Hex, that your gear supplied the team with some much needed ammo.



HEX

And look, that moment wouldn't have been so profound if the simple act of finding your friends in game wasn't so tough. But that, doesn't change the fact that I feel like I wasted HOURS of my life crawling around in the grass for essentially 10 minutes of shenanigans in a church and then having to start the whole process all over again because I spawned, yet again, in the middle of freaking nowhere. I mean needless to say after a string of rather unladylike expletives I called it a night, and it was a few days before I could bring myself to log in again. There were moments when I was just like "what am I doing, I have SO MANY GAMES that I could be playing right now, but instead, I'm crawling in the grass."



BAJO

But that's why it's so good Hex, the only reason this game feels in any way authentic is because it puts you through that real trial of survival. Not counting interface issues, if this game was any easier to play, I think it would be much less interesting.



HEX

All I'm asking for, is to see myself represented on the map, just to save time! I know, and I'm not asking for much, just some more polish, but I guess that's why it is an Alpha, and far from finished. Plus one time, I spawned a bird.



BAJO

Dayz runs on a real time day night cycle too, and happily most of the aussie servers offset daytime so we can play day when it's night in real life. Night time is dark. No need to adjust your set, this is actually Dayz at night. You can't see ANYTHING without a flare lit and you don't have that many. A lit flare makes you a target to humans and zombies. Goose and I spent a whole night in the dark on our first run at this game and eventually I found him running with a flare, and bunch of zombies trailing in the dark.



HEX

There so many stories that come out of even a small session aren't there?



BAJO

Mostly horror stories, but stories nonetheless.



HEX

It's true emergent gameplay isn't it Bajo? we could be witnessing an evolutionary step in game development here, this game is already so popular and it's shaking things up because there's no design rules here, what you make your goal depends on what your team needs the most.



BAJO

Yeah, you persist with all these punishing elements and alpha interface issues because it's just that compelling. For example, I spent about 3 hours with this horrid blurry visual effect throbbing searching for pain killers, and I loved every second of it.



HEX

I spent an hour trying to get into a server, just hitting enter, over and over.



BAJO

I love the different types of emotions this game stirs up as well. I've had some very dark thoughts playing this game too. Walking behind someone I've fought side by side with, shared beans and ammo, constantly thinking, I could just drop my flare right now, let him keep going a bit and then steal his gear and survive a bit longer.



HEX

Harsh Bajo.



BAJO

The more gear you have, the bigger target you are, and the less gear you have the more risks you take. You have to do what you can to survive and you really do feel guilt taking out someone you know and eventually that takes a toll on your own soul.



I love how simple things become amazing in Dayz, such as finding a can of baked beans, having a soda, or seeing a friend through a window. There are extreme highs and lows, and you'll probably learn a few things about yourself along the way too. We aren't going to score an unfinished game like this, but it's something we will be keeping on the radar.



PC

