DayZ

Designer/Developer: Bohemia Interactive

Platform: Steam, Xbox One. Playstation 4/5

Last Played: 09/04/2023

Total Play Time: 1646 hours

Website: www.DayZ.com

Overview:

This is an open-world zombie survival game set in a post-Soviet country where everything from a fever to gas bombs can and will kill you. You survive by staying warm and dry with a full belly and clean water to drink. You begin with nothing but cropped pants, a T-shirt and a glow stick. You must find everything you need to survive over 230 square kilometers of land on foot or by vehicle if one is lucky enough to find the parts needed to drive it. Clothes, food, weapons and so much more can be gathered, used and stored.

Feature Presentation:

This game has no ending and it is the reason why I purchased the game. That reason however is not why I play the game. The sheer level of effort it takes to get to a comfortable position in this game gives me the joyous feeling of overcoming the odds stacked against you starting out with nothing. You can build a base or stash your surplus goods in case the inevitable happens and you die. I say inevitable because you never know what can happen to you. I died by sickness, zombie, falling off a cliff, other players, by a bear and wolves, the cold weather, drinking gasoline by mistake, poison, car crash, my own grenade, bleeding out by getting cut, wound infection and so much more I can't recall. You would think this game is nothing but a negative feedback loop being punished for surviving so long and making a single mistake to take away all that you've accomplished but you'd be wrong. If you can make it back to where you died your body may still be there. So all is not lost most of the time. A few key mechanics players should be aware of to survive is how to build a fire and what you need to do it properly:

• A knife (or any sharp tool to gather bark from a tree to ignite the wood and build a hand drill to ignite the bark)

• Gloves (or some bandages if you get cut gathering sticks or logs. Having gloves also keeps your hands clean if your skinning an animal for meat or else you will get sick)

• Cooking (find a house or cook outside)

  • Build a campfire out of the stick and bark

  • Make a hand drill out of bark and a small stick (to light the fire)

  • Sharpen a long stick with the knife and put meat on it (if roasting on a campfire)

  • Or if cooking in a house place the meat, wood and bark in the stove and light it the same way with the hand drill.

Fires aren't just for cooking, it keeps the players warm and drys their clothes as well but it is a beacon of light in the dark drawing zombies and other players towards you so you must at all times be aware of your surroundings.

Game Dynamics:

There is no right or wrong way to play DayZ. There is no where you're supposed to go or be. Some people prefer to stay in a town they are familiar with while others know the entire map and traverse it everyday. The implicit rule is to play with close friends as they are the only people you can truly trust playing this game and we all have very different play styles and names for it especially when encountering other players.

• Crash Dummy Players: Upon encountering another player they go straight to offense. Run after the player to kill and take everything they have. This puts them in a peculiar situation. The other player might have teammates or could have placed a bear trap or tripwire at the door to lie in wait.

• Stick to the Plan Players: (If alone) Upon encountering another player will try to be friendly to either grow their ranks or betray them later. (If with a team) Upon encounter will cover the exits for the more daring player or go in after if things go south.

• Scary Players: Don't interact at all the most they do is tell the team what they see from afar, usually through a scope. If push comes to shove they are the last one standing in all out gunfight.

Personal Observations:

• No matter where you die you restart on the coast of the map wearing a T-shirt, cropped pants and running shoes. A single fruit, bandage and glow stick is all that you will have to get you to the nearest town to scavenge for food, water and clothes.

• Cooked food, fruits and vegetables will spoil after a while but canned and other packaged food will not. So stashing your dry goods is optimal as backup in case you die.

• Your food and water levels can be maxed out and if they are, will prevent you from getting sick very easily. Colds and fevers can spread amongst your team.

• If there is one goal it should be to obtain plate armor, a helmet and better weapons as soon as you're able. Head to a town with a military base vs major military bases that are very far away. With the added protection player’s have a better chance of surviving gun battles.

• The further inland you go the better the clothes and weapons are. On the other hand the more dangerous it gets with tougher zombies, wolf and bear attacks and more experienced players.