The Survivor Journal – DayZ Standalone (ALPHA Build)

Disclaimer

The impressions expressed in this article are based on the DayZ ongoing early access ALPHA, now available on Steam. Content present and stability issues referenced in this article are representative of early impressions and your experience may vary based on future patches.

At the start of this review just like the developers tell you at the start of Day Z Standalone Alpha Version I will tell you that this is not a finished game and with that comes many…many problems, bugs, glitches, server issues, aiming issues the list goes on this game as it stands right now is for hardcore fans of the MOD. However, with that being said, this game with all its faults still delivers everything it promises. This is the most realistic zombie apocalypse sim out there and yes it’s still in alpha. Here is a short summary of my first few hours with DayZ Standalone.

I clicked start and was given no instruction on how to play or a tutorial level to guide me through the first critical steps. The moment I spawned into the game I was greeted by another player who began punching me in the ass (yes you read that right) screaming “you’re bleeding from your butt!” As I began to run in fear for my virtual life he began shouting orders at me to take my shirt off. I started to think that this player, who I will call Jim, was a pervert who wanted to become a cyber Buffalo Bill was going throw me in a hole with lotion. He began telling me how to heal myself by taking off my shirt and ripping them into bandages to stop the bleeding. As I went into my inventory and clicked the shirt sure enough I could rip my shirt make some rags and stop the bleeding. It was at that moment when I realized the depth of this game. I was not only healed but thankful to Jim because that was the first and only player that I ran into that has not tried to rob me, kill me, or run away in fear of me trying to rob or kill them.

After Jim wished me luck I began to run off into the woods with no direction on where to go or what to do because I was doing what the game’s only objective is and that is to survive. I was running through the woods for what seemed like 30 minutes before there was a break and there it was a beacon of hope. It was a lighthouse, the first building I have come across in the game, here it is my first shot at loot. As I enter the lighthouse I am imaging what I will find, a Knife perhaps a backpack like the one Jim was wearing or even a gun! I ran up the stairs with such hope and gusto then I got to the top all I found was a brown hat and I was so….happy. That’s not sarcasm this game gives you so little at least for the time I played that the small things feel like a huge win and as I left the light house hat proudly on my head I was quickly stabbed in the face by another player who must have found the light house that held the kitchen knives.

This game does one thing very well and to me it’s the most important thing for any video game, it makes you feel emotion. It doesn’t use a deep story or unforgettable cinematics, DayZ uses a person’s imagination to instill fear, happiness, worry, a sense of loneliness, and terror. The game is so static and closed that when your solitude is broken by the sight of another player, not knowing if he’s friendly or ready to kill you on sight, it can be an immensely tense and nerve-wracking experience. Your own mind is what makes this game great. I have played for roughly 5 hours in the standalone version of this Arma 2 mod as of this writing and I have not even begun to break the surface of what this game can do or what YOU can do in the game. If you pick up this game which will run you about $30 on Steam it will get you into early ALPHA Access, with all future updates and then access to the full retail version of the game once it’s released.

This game has a lot going for it but it will have to improve on some of the gameplay features such as aim mechanics and a problem with bump detection that alows zombies to walk through some walls. But, again its hard to be judgemental when the game clearly states it is still a work in progress.