BAM to the zam through the pituitary gland! I’ma go straight in and say DayZ is worth getting if you like survival games. There are definitely a TON of zombie-related games like Call of Duty zombies, Left 4 Dead, The Walking Dead, Dying Light… Plants vs Zombies to name a few. Whether it’s single-player or not, we just wanna feel the thrill, test our survival skills, and gore is always a plus (at least for me). Let’s put the dim, flickery spotlight on DayZ for a moment, shall we?

Current Status

DayZ is still in Alpha through Steam since Dec 16, 2013. Based on their twitter profile, they plan to release it on Xbox and Playstation in the future.

The devs at Bohemia Interactive seemed to be slacking and the whole community was convinced the game would never go into Beta, but the devs are picking it back up again!

Good Morning Survivors! FYI We'll be working on the Exp/Unstable servers this morning, so you'll see them up/down at random times.

— DayZ Development (@dayzdevteam) May 20, 2016

Gameplay

I wouldn’t consider it much of a zombie game, since you have to worry about other players way more than the actual zombies. The biggest threat a zombie could be is giving away your position. But before this all happens, I have to mention that it’s a pain to get into the “good” servers (amount of lag based on the host). There is a 50 player maximum in a server, which means it can be a pain to get into the same server as your buddies. Another thing– it can take an insanely long time to cross each other’s paths. Sometimes you gotta die a few times to finally meet them, too. There will be times where another player begs you to kill them, so don’t be surprised! The map is HUUUUUGE!! There is no default auto-run key, so you gotta set a macro for it. Because, believe me, your hands start to ache.

Interactions

You could end up in this situation (Image taken from official DayZ website)

I can’t say this enough, but communication is extremely vital in this game. State your intentions immediately. Your ability to negotiate and the level of cooperation in both parties will determine your fate! After all that time and effort looting, it would be a shame to die and become a Bambie (aka fresh spawn) again. You never know what types of people you’re going to encounter, so it would be safer to listen to whoever has the advantage.

Note: if you’re looking for a chillax time, I recommend going to the”Roleplay” and “No KOS” (Kill On Sight) specific servers. Image below is a perfect example of how involved you can get in the community!

My former DayZ family forming a circle around a fist fight. It was after a trial we held about a cheating wife having intimate relations with the man’s best friend

Aside from the cookie-cutter buildings, the graphics look noice. Imagine how it’ll look when it comes out of Beta! (hopefully soon)