Even though it started as an ARMA II mod, DayZ has managed to take a life of its own and create an entirely new genre in the form of survival games. The standalone version not only manages to lose the dependence on ARMA, but at the same time it also provides a great and exciting way to receive regular updates without having to install the mod manually.
To be honest, the idea of having 225 square kilometers in which I can do whatever I please is amazing for me, and the constant fear that zombies can attack it’s surely an incentive to craft items and always look for safety.
The team based gameplay is what makes DayZ such a hit, and the standalone version has managed to solidify that. it’s just like in the case of a normal apocalypse, you do need to stick together with others if you want to survive, otherwise you would be a sitting duck and you want to avoid such a thing at all costs.
DayZ is still in alpha after 2 years of development on the standalone version, but despite not even reaching Beta, the game did manage to create an amazing community which does tend to be very passionate about the title. People like the ability to explore a game world that’s very large and DayZ does manage to give them that in spades. At the same time, the world is your oyster and you do have a ton of stuff to do, with crafting being nicely implemented in the game.
The game is a little difficult but on the other hand we do feel that this is what makes the entire experience so exciting and refined, the fact that you always face perils, and because of that each time you play can be an adventure, that’s for sure.
Also, the entire experience is geared towards realism, and many gamers want to see a post-apocalyptic world or at least how it would look like. The ability to use and have med kits is very helpful, and since the game does plan to add numerous diseases you can rest assured that the entire experience will be even more realistic as time passes.
The issue with DayZ for some gamers is that while they do like the current features such as the melee weapons, the great attack system and the large game world, there are plenty of planned features that still weren’t added in the past 2 years. The disease system, security systems, creating bases in the game world or bringing in programmable computers does sound nice, but some development time did pass and the game still feels unfinished for some users.
And while the mod was created by a single person, Dean Hall, Bohemia is now taking care of it, so a lot more people are actively developing. Regular updates have been added as well, but no exact release date is stated right now, with a vague 2016 not being that encouraging for the gamers.
Yet still, DayZ is the epitome of survival games and one of the titles that everyone wants to play, not to mention that it sells well even at the time of this writing, after 2 years of alpha. Considering that this is half the price of an AAA game but it does offer a lot of enjoyment and value, DayZ is indeed well worth a purchase. It’s surely appealing and fun, not to mention that if you like the idea of realistic survival you will end up having a blast!
