First Impressions

DayZ First Days

So I started to play this game basically because of this... I was intrigued.

DayZ by *patrickbrown on DeviantArt

I had also talked to a few coworkers who had just started playing and their experiences so far had been enticing. 

So I picked up the game via Steam http://store.steampowered.com/agecheck/sub/4638. DayZ (Day Zed if you're British or don't want to sound like you're playing a game about a flower) is free but the ArmA 2 collection is $30. If you like realistic military simulators then ArmA 2 may be something you would want to play by itself. Before DayZ though I don't know that it was tearing up the charts. The DayZ mod and DayZ Commander (for finding games and updating DayZ) can be found and www.DayZMod.com

During the download process for all of the games I decided to do my homework on what to expect and how to play. YouTube will get you lots of content by searching DayZ but here's the one that I found to get oriented. (22min. You may want to finish reading first ;) )

You can check out the DayZ Wiki and such for controls and maps and more tutorials. I would also recommend playing the ArmA training mission to get a feel for the controls. The inventory system can take a bit of getting used to.

So after I got everything going I had a small window to play and I decided to see what I could do.

A few things have changed since this video was posted and could change back maybe later. You no longer start with a weapon. You start out in a 22 sq. km Russian area called Chernarus. The scenario is the zombie apocalypse has wiped out almost all signs of civilization. You are armed with a backpack, bandage, flashlight, and some Tylenol... yup. That's it. You start on a coast, somewhere between towns and villages. You make your way to signs of previous life in search of food, water, supplies, and weapons. 

I started without any buildings in sight. Considering how far you can see in the game, that's pretty impressive/depressing. I picked a direction and started off. I had heard that you should try to keep away from plain sight so i traveled from cover to cover in the middle (crouch/stealth) position. I made my way along the coast until I came to a forest. Being that zombies tend to spawn near buildings I figured I'd be relatively safe. I still trekked slowly along the way just in case. As you move along, here's what you'll see:

Again, some things have changed in the recent updates. The debug monitor is now off by default (you can turn it on in game settings). The face icon is no longer in use. Most games actually have no information about other players for you to use. You don't see any names or info hovering over their heads. No team colors. Nothing... Some players may be wearing a bandit outfit which doesn't mean their a bad guy but if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck... you get the idea.

So in my first game I was able to just make my way around the forest a bit without seeing any enemies or finding any stuff so I found a random place to log off and hoped I wouldn't have any surprises for me when I logged back in.

The next day I sat down to try and dive in to a longer game. One of the most important things that sets DayZ apart from most other games is permanent character info. That means that no matter what server you log in to, you start with the same gear, health, and location as you left. That means most importantly, when you die, you die. Everything you worked to collect is gone. :( Anywho, I logged back in and kept on moving. Before long I came to a valley and a small town. There were about a dozen houses/farms etc... and a few destroyed cars in the streets. As I got closer to the town, I found the zombies starting to show up in the fields and around the buildings in the town. There are a couple of different zombie types to watch out for: 

1. The walking zombie which typically comes in a mechanic, priest, or Jamie from Mythbusters skins.
2. The "monkey" zombie which you can find hopping around in a crouched or humped over pose. They seem  to jump around on all fours.
3. The crawling zombie is hardest to spot as they are always on the ground. If you hit the other zombies without killing them, sometimes they'll turn into one of these.

All of these guys move around in slow random patterns. You have to just make your way around them the best you can. If you notice the ear and eye icon on the screen, these are how well you are keeping yourself hidden. Crawling around keeps you at 0-2 bars for either icon and running at full speed can give you 5 of both. There are other things that affect these icons like shade, foliage, what type of terrain you're running on and how fast you're moving (holding shift moves you more slowly). 

I kept myself at a crouch/crawl trying to find a house to enter and find some gear. My liquids were getting low and my food was following behind. Not to mention the fact that I don't have a weapon. After a few close encounters or moment of sitting still hoping I wasn't spotted, I managed to get in a small house. Success! I was able to get in, close the door behind me, and take a look around. On the floor I found some ammo for a couple of guns, a can of Coke (yes, you survive mostly on Coke or Pepsi), and some more bandages. The coke kept me going for a bit but I was still a sitting duck for any zombie attacks. I sat in the house looking around for a little while to see where my next move was and after I saw what looked like another house I could enter, I decided to make my move. This is where I should point out that this game is intense. It keeps you on the edge of your seat almost all of the time. There are creepy sounds, ambient clicks and gongs, clocks chiming in the distance, wildlife noises, zombie shuffling and growling, and everything else to keep you jumpy as you play. So... I wearily headed out of my safe house (except that zombies can bust open doors if they know you're in there) and made my way to house #2. House #2 was not completely enter-able. There was a little shed/entryway type deal and inside... a crowbar. Yay! Self defense. I'd like a gun but this'll have to work. I equip the crowbar and make my way back to house #1. I log out and wait to die another day.

On the next log in, I find myself needing to find some food fast. I am in the red. I think I've seen all there is in this town, so I make my way out. Unfortunately for me, there were zombies in the waiting. I headed around a rock pattern in the town and found a walker waiting for me. He managed to get a couple of hits on me before I could move out of the way. I turned and got a couple of whacks on him. In hind sight I probably should have ran first and not stopped but they can keep up pretty well when they have you in their sights. so I decided to fight. I ran off as he fell to the ground. I was bleeding fast so I popped open a bandage and stopped the leak. Unfortunately for me, my battle had alerted a couple of other zombies who were fast approaching. By the time I had stood back up I had taken another couple of blows. I whacked the other zombies to the ground but by then it was too late. The world had gone grey and blurry from my blood loss. I was having trouble standing up and moving was almost impossible. I decided it was time. I hobbled towards the next closest zombie (blurry blob) so he could take me out of my misery. As I stumbled towards my foe and he spotted me, I hear a pop. A player must have showed up in the village. I don't know if he was doing me a favor or just killing me for potential loot but either way my suffering was over.

So that was game 1 & 2. I hope you liked it. Check out DayZ and see what kind of adventures you can get into surviving the apocalypse.

Next: A gun (guns!), a threat worse than zombies, and robbed at gunpoint...