By Jamie Kennett
Before I begin, permit me to say that this is not DayZ; this is a mod based on DayZ. Yes that does mean it's a mod of a mod, but this no-nonsense post-Soviet zombie survival game is all the better for it.
DayZero is a free-to-play online multiplayer mod for ARMA 2 (requires Operation Arrowhead) which is basically a game in its own right. I've lost many an hour/day to the simplistically brilliant gameplay of this virtual human drama, and I've never regretted it. It's by far the most thrilling game I've ever played. Here's why.
Before I begin, permit me to say that this is not DayZ; this is a mod based on DayZ. Yes that does mean it's a mod of a mod, but this no-nonsense post-Soviet zombie survival game is all the better for it.
DayZero is a free-to-play online multiplayer mod for ARMA 2 (requires Operation Arrowhead) which is basically a game in its own right. I've lost many an hour/day to the simplistically brilliant gameplay of this virtual human drama, and I've never regretted it. It's by far the most thrilling game I've ever played. Here's why.
Picture the scene: you're laying on a beach, having been washed up there after the ship you were apparently bobbing around the sea in suddenly decided to sink (or something - its never really explained). You regain consciousness to the sound of crashing waves up and down the stretch of shore you're currently splayed out upon. Suddenly you're vision comes back (I say that, what I really mean is "suddenly you're loaded into the game"). You stand up, glance up and down the coastline, and scratch your head. You walk up the shingle, the scrabble of pebbles under your boots. A lone crow flies over head, and caws, much like you would expect from a crow. You reach the top of the beach and a vast landscape presents itself ahead of you. Eerily captivating in it's simple beauty, you gaze north into the endless reaches of mountains and pine forests. You stand there for a while in quiet contemplation of your situation, and admire the view.
Then you hear a gunshot from the trees and a .303 round whizzes past your face, it splices the air in twain with a crack that simultaneously deafens you and makes you soil yourself. Then it hits you, like that rifle round was supposed to; you've landed in Chernarus.
Chernarus, for those of you unfamiliar with it, is a charming location on the northern coast of the Black Sea, in the armpit of the former Soviet Union. For reasons unknown, it (along with most of the world) has been plagued by an infection that has turned the country's hospitable populace into a rabble of mindless drones with an appetite for us humans. Luckily for you (and everyone else on the server), you're immune to this infection for some reason. Yet because you're immune to it, and there's no cure, you're sole purpose in life now is to try and survive for as long as possible in this Eastern European wilderness populated by zombies, gun-toting madmen, and fellow survivors.
Then you hear a gunshot from the trees and a .303 round whizzes past your face, it splices the air in twain with a crack that simultaneously deafens you and makes you soil yourself. Then it hits you, like that rifle round was supposed to; you've landed in Chernarus.
Chernarus, for those of you unfamiliar with it, is a charming location on the northern coast of the Black Sea, in the armpit of the former Soviet Union. For reasons unknown, it (along with most of the world) has been plagued by an infection that has turned the country's hospitable populace into a rabble of mindless drones with an appetite for us humans. Luckily for you (and everyone else on the server), you're immune to this infection for some reason. Yet because you're immune to it, and there's no cure, you're sole purpose in life now is to try and survive for as long as possible in this Eastern European wilderness populated by zombies, gun-toting madmen, and fellow survivors.
"a charming location on the northern coast of the Black Sea, in the armpit of the former Soviet Union"
DayZero is, at its core, a real-time first-person zombie survival game (though you can opt for third-person gameplay as well, but I think it detracts from the immersion), and the game achieves this through a series of survival-centric mechanics originating from the original DayZ mod; thirst, hunger, and blood-level are the three things that your entire life revolves around, and the things that will both keep you alive, and ultimately get you killed. Basically, to survive, you have to keep this trio of levels as topped-up as possible, and to do this, you have to make it your livelihood raiding the towns, villages, military bases and countryside of the 225km2 post-Soviet apocolyptica (meticulously reconstructed from an area of real Czech countryside) that is now your home. Forget smart phones, the internet, TV, music, even money - the most sought after commodities here are water, baked beans, and guns.
Yet however important drink, food, and firearms may be, its a necessity above all else to keep your backpack stocked with medical supplies. If you get shot up by someone, or maimed by a zombie, chances are your going to succumb to shock, which makes your head constantly shake in time with your pulse, making it incredibly difficult to aim. For that you need a hefty amount of painkillers. After that, lets say you accidentally fall off a roof (or it may be deliberate, depending on the scenario), and you injure one of your legs: you can't walk, and unless you have a shot of morphine handy, you're going to spend the rest of your imminently-ending life crawling through the dirt. In another unfortunate circumstance, you may find yourself bleeding profusely, and without any bandages to stop it, that wound is going to be the death of you, unless you come across some in a house at the last minute, and save yourself with moments to spare. Then another triad of problems may present itself; your blood level is so low now that your head is pulsating violently, you're prone to fainting every other minute, you've lost all concept of colour, and you're about 90% blind. On top of all this, the nearest hospital is 5km away, and the chance of there even being any blood bags there to replenish your blood levels is very slim. On the plus side, your companion does have an epi-pen on him, so if you do pass out at least he can revive you. Medical supplies are vital.
Yet however important drink, food, and firearms may be, its a necessity above all else to keep your backpack stocked with medical supplies. If you get shot up by someone, or maimed by a zombie, chances are your going to succumb to shock, which makes your head constantly shake in time with your pulse, making it incredibly difficult to aim. For that you need a hefty amount of painkillers. After that, lets say you accidentally fall off a roof (or it may be deliberate, depending on the scenario), and you injure one of your legs: you can't walk, and unless you have a shot of morphine handy, you're going to spend the rest of your imminently-ending life crawling through the dirt. In another unfortunate circumstance, you may find yourself bleeding profusely, and without any bandages to stop it, that wound is going to be the death of you, unless you come across some in a house at the last minute, and save yourself with moments to spare. Then another triad of problems may present itself; your blood level is so low now that your head is pulsating violently, you're prone to fainting every other minute, you've lost all concept of colour, and you're about 90% blind. On top of all this, the nearest hospital is 5km away, and the chance of there even being any blood bags there to replenish your blood levels is very slim. On the plus side, your companion does have an epi-pen on him, so if you do pass out at least he can revive you. Medical supplies are vital.
A quiet life of foraging and living off the land in this seemingly picturesque country is not as free and relaxing as it sounds, and you may have reached that conclusion already from the above lecture on the importance of medication. The constant threat of other survivors (of which there can be another 59 at peak times) means you can never truly stop for a rest, nor take in the lovely scenery. One second you're trudging through a forest, minding your own, and the next there's a terrifying series of cracks in the air as a volley of semi-automatic rifle rounds whiz past you with inches to spare, and your literally fighting for your life, and the backpack of your friend that just got caught in the crossfire.
People like this are a nuisance if they're not on your side.
If you lose that fight, that's it. This is a perma-death game; if you get a bullet in the back of your head as you run across a field, miles from civilization, that's your lot. No respawing around the corner with all your gear in tact and a bloody revenge mission on the cards. Most of the time you don't even see your killer, and if you do you won't know who he is, unless by some miracle you met the guy before and recognize his face. I put emphasis on the "at its core" two paragraphs above because DayZero is only partially a zombie survival game. The real fun/terror starts when you bump into fellow players, and you slowly begin to realize that its other humans that are the real evil out here...
"if you get a bullet in the back of your head ... that's your lot."
So the gameplay is very simplistic in its being, and very complicated in its practise. You're objectives are but two; keep yourself fed/hydrated/medicated, and keep yourself protected from everyone else, yet this paves the way for a myriad of incredible adventures and thrilling encounters that are guaranteed to go down as the some of the best gaming moments you've ever had.
You may be wondering though, now that I've basically finished explaining to you what DayZ is, "why DayZero in
particular?". DayZero is, like I said at the start, an off-shoot of DayZ. It's set in the same location, with the same environment, the same goals, and the same mechanics for the most part, yet DayZero triumphs over DayZ in the smaller things. Performance, -both in game and at the servers' end-, is a lot more fluid, zombie AI is less buggy, weapons are improved both in characteristics and audio, and vehicles are more of an advantage than a liability. Perhaps the most important part though is the community. I find DayZero is a lot more active than DayZ, and the people that play it are more open to the experiences they encounter in the game world. Whether you're helping a struggling Norwegian chap with broken legs and very little blood get back on his feet, or negotiating your way out of an impasse in an old castle, players are more talk-first-shoot-second and less shoot-and-say-nothing-at-all.
You may be wondering though, now that I've basically finished explaining to you what DayZ is, "why DayZero in
particular?". DayZero is, like I said at the start, an off-shoot of DayZ. It's set in the same location, with the same environment, the same goals, and the same mechanics for the most part, yet DayZero triumphs over DayZ in the smaller things. Performance, -both in game and at the servers' end-, is a lot more fluid, zombie AI is less buggy, weapons are improved both in characteristics and audio, and vehicles are more of an advantage than a liability. Perhaps the most important part though is the community. I find DayZero is a lot more active than DayZ, and the people that play it are more open to the experiences they encounter in the game world. Whether you're helping a struggling Norwegian chap with broken legs and very little blood get back on his feet, or negotiating your way out of an impasse in an old castle, players are more talk-first-shoot-second and less shoot-and-say-nothing-at-all.
I witness a typical Chernarussian scene; a man (centre right) sprints to the relative safety of a barn whilst being chased by zombies (centre) and an angry fellow in a Land Rover (left). The latter also chased after me moments later.
Like in any game, however, there are some areas that can always be bettered. The infamous ARMA 2 inventory system can be a nightmare to work with, and it has genuinely gotten me killed before. The physics could be better; I have seen potatoes that can move around better than the people in this game sometimes, and some of the animations are laughable...
At the end of the day though, its the experience that maketh the game for me, and the experiences found in DayZ/DayZero are so enthralling that Bohemia Interactive commissioned the lead developer to transform it into a standalone game, though that's a story for another day...
At the end of the day though, its the experience that maketh the game for me, and the experiences found in DayZ/DayZero are so enthralling that Bohemia Interactive commissioned the lead developer to transform it into a standalone game, though that's a story for another day...
Give it a go if this sounds like your cup of tea. It is Halloween after all.
ARMA 2: Combined Operations is available on Steam for £16.99 (but it'll be on sale again before you know it), and DayZero is downloadable from zombies.nu and also from the equally downloadable DayZ Commander launcher programme.
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