There's already a small thread about it the Arma forum, but I think the game really deserves a bit more attention.
Ok, what is this about?
It's about
DayZ a multiplayer mod for ArmA 2 that's all about surviving the zombie apocalypse. The game features a semi-persistent world where your character's progress is stored on a central server. It's still an
alpha, so there are bugs, problems, unfinished features and lots of work still to do.
But even in its current state it's one of the best games I've played in a long time.If you start playing DayZ you start somewhere at the coast of Chernarus, with some basic equipment, a pistol and ammo.
You're alone, you have no map, co compass, no GPS. The game tells you the name of the nearest city and that's it. So, I start walking until I find a road, then follow it to the next settlement. Chernarus is BIG. Prepare to spend a lot of time travelling. After a couple of minutes I finally find a town.
Great! I check my map (the one I printed out thankfully has both Cyrillic and Latin names) and find my position. Feels better now. And a town means houses! Maybe weapons and food! And Zombies... While carefully walking down the road I eventually hear an eerie moaning. I continue on my way when suddenly the moaning turns into an angry scream! Before I know what happens a zombie runs towards me! Damn, that guy is fast! With more luck than skill I put a round from my Makarov in his head before he tears me apart. More screams! Other zombies have been alerted my the shooting! I kill two more, then realize one has hit me, I'm bleeding. I bandage myself and continue my way. Maybe some other survivor has heard my gunshots? Maybe we can band together?
Then I stumble upon bodies: two other survivors. Killed by gunshots. My blood freezes. Another one. And the remains of two bandits (player killers get a 'bandit' skin in DayZ). I've walked into a deathtrap!
In DayZ your most dangerous enemies are not the zombies, but other players. They can (and will) kill you for ammunition, food, or simply because they won't take any risks with armed strangers.
I decide to leave the coast and head inland as quickly as possible.
I find a small hamlet and, after dealing with the local zombie population search the place for stuff. Yay! Found a Lee Enfield rifle and some ammo!
Continuing to the next town...
Oh... killed the zombie pope...
Then it's shopping time! Lots of goodies in there.
Found a hunting knive and matches! Which means I can now gut animals for meat and make a fireplace to cook food.
Now I just need to find a... oh!
There'll be steaks for dinner tonight!
A little later I got stupid and tried to enter one of the big towns for loot. Got killed by a hidden sniper.
Which means you start from scratch, with your gear lost. Yup, it's harsh. Accept it, because you
will die. Sooner or later. Fortunately it doesn't take too long to find some decent equipment again.
Got me a Winchester, the perfect weapon to hunt wild, dangerous beasts!
Banded together with some buddies and had a great time exploring the world.
When playing DayZ with a buddy or three the game really shines. Not only are you much safer from single bandits and random guys shooting you in the back for a can of beans, the whole atmosphere really changes when you flush out a zombie horde from a village with a couple of buddies on TeamSpeak. If DayZ is a good game when played alone, it becomes awesome in a small group.
Hunting together
Entering a village
Finally: my home in the wilderness.
What do you need to play DayZ:
Arma2+Operation Arrowhead (Combined Operations)
The mod files, available here:
http://www.dayzmod.com/downloads.phpFinally some words of advice:
1.)
Actually, it's an Alpha. If you want a polished, finished experience, wait for the release version.
2.) You
WILL get killed. Especially if you enter one of the "PvP hotspots"
3.) No, it's not fair. You might play for hours, finding great equipment only to get killed by some dude for a can of beans. Or teh lolz.
4.) there's no campaign missions, no cinematics, no achievements and no sex with aliens.
5.) it's a zombie survival sandbox. Create your own story.
6.) the game takes time. This is no Call of Duty. Simply travelling the map will take time.
7.) the servers currently are hammered by a massive influx of new players. Be patient.