If you fell in love with franchises such as Assassin’s Creed and Grand Theft Auto, you might want to check out this new title from Bohemia Interactive.
The much awaited standalone version of the ARMA 2 mod was recently released through Steam as a surprise for fans of the open world and survival horror gaming genre. Joining the ranks of Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, and Starbound in Steam’s top games played roster, DayZ is currently peaking at 20,000 plus players just a day after its public alpha release.
First exposed as a modification of a military sim first person shooter, DayZ attracted 2 million players with its survival theme, deviating from common arcade shooters with its permanent death and open world features. It garnered multiple awards such as Mod of the Year 2012 by PC Gamer and Game of the Year 2012 by PC PowerPlay.
(Viewer’s Warning: The video contains excessive violence and themes not suitable for minors)
Public Alpha Release Features
The release comes with a minimalist approach, deviating from other shooters and survival horror games. The HUD only features a status text area, wherein words like “I am hungry” will appear, giving you an idea of the status of your character. Much like Minecraft, a quick-slot item bar can be located at the bottom of the screen. Aside from the HUD, clan and grouping features are not offered to encourage realistic and immersive experience. Players are only allowed to communicate if within realistic range, deviating from common and global chat features offered by most MMOs.
Another deviation from arcade shooters and MMOs is the death notice where you can see players getting killed by other players. This was removed to increase immersion and anonymity of active players within the map.
Much like the mod, the 225km map of Chernarus (now called Chernarus Plus) is retained, with new towns, buildings, and islands added to it. One great feature of the standalone version is the ability to enter all the buildings (yes, even that big ship that you can see in the release trailer). This gives the players a chance to explore all areas for loot hidden in all areas that you can imagine, such as under the cabinet, on top of the kitchen sink, etc., thanks to the new loot spawn system. Items are interactive with each other, giving you options to use various necessities such as water purifiers and can openers for dirty water and canned goods respectively.
The current public alpha release also features upgraded versions of the survival aspects of the game, such as the requirement of eating, drinking, resting, and taking medication when needed. The permanent death feature is also maintained as players are now forced to find more ways of surviving in the open world. The items of the character are attached to the corpse when it dies, leaving room for other players to salvage your prized weapons and items.
Developer’s Note and Public Alpha Notice
Hoping to achieve what Minecraft has gone through (or even more), Bohemia Interactive, together with Dean “Rocket” Hall released the standalone version as a public alpha through the Early Access portion of Steam. A notice was placed on the DayZ Steam page stating that bugs are expected with the release, and that purchase should be avoided if the gamer does not want to participate in the development cycle. The game is expected to have more features (gun modification, base crafting, and more items) added throughout a year of alpha, before it transitions for a public beta release.
The public alpha release is currently priced at $30 at Steam. Once purchased, the owner can enjoy the game while being developed even after the beta and the official version release.
For more info about DayZ, visit the follow sites:
- Official Site: http://dayzgame.com/
- Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/221100/
- For Steam Wallet Codes: http://www.datablitz.com.ph or visit any branch of DataBlitz
