I now own Dayz Standalone

I wasn't going to get his orginally. I played the mod, enjoyed the game but the patching system was annoying.

Then the tales of the horrors of game appeared. The roving gangs, holdups and pants bandits.

But then I released what Dayz was really about. Its a Roguelike, Dwarf fortress class of game, where you are setup to fail. Once you have this mindset you endup enjoying a difficult frustrating game where its up to you to make or avoid mistakes.

There is a old game called Robinson's Requiem. When I read the previews for this game  in magazines I was hyped. A survival simulator ( maybe one of the first 3d ones ) on a alien planet where you have to scrounge up gear to survive. The actually game itself was brutal and not alot of fun. I made it to the desert but  that's about it. When Dayz standalone announced more survival features, I realised this is the game I wanted Robinson's to be. 

All the times I have died ( which is alot ) have been to bad choices. Sneaking to a well but not checking behind the fence for the zombie. Trying to defend myself when I should have just run.

The sense of discovery, risk and reward in the game is what draws me in. It can be frustrating to search 20 houses and find nothing, but then when you do find other buildings that haven't been cleared and start finding better clothing, hats and weapons it makes it all worth it.

The Inventory system and clothing system is ported from Arma 3. This is by far the part I love the most. Clothing value for me is based on how much gear I can stuff into it. 6 Slot cargo pants and a hoody is the best I have found so far. Hats and gloves and glasses are also cool. Also detailed items like med kits full of all sorts of lovely items. Nothing makes me more happy than to find some water or food.

I have been going in wiki free, learning everything as I go. I do have some background knowledge of the map having played Arma 2 a lot but this is a more detailed map with more buildings to enter.

The zombie break is a bit limited with only 1 or 2 zombies scattered around the map, not the 800 odd I used to see displayed on the server status.

The game is in early alpha. I had swore off early alpha games as most of the singleplayer ones I had been part of were just glorified demos. As this is multiplayer its not quite so bad.

Still there are some major problems. One is the server owner community. The game is running on a upgraded Arma 2 engine ( not Arma 3 sadly ), which prides itself on its weather and day night cycle. The server owners though feel the game should be 24/7 day clear or as they community put it 24/7 daycare. This means the Realsky system from Take on Helicopters never gets used and you never really experience night time. No fog and no rain. It kills the atmosphere of the game. I find night to be good time to move as zombies have a harder time seeing you as well as players.

Other complaints is the clunkyness. I don't have to much of a issue as I am used to the Arma controls, the biggest problem is switching from Arma 3 keyboard shortcuts back to Arma 2. Double tap shift to walk instead of pressing W+S.

Ladders are death traps, doors can jam you into places you can't get out. Also I have been neck deep in sand. The game is alpha, but I don't hold my breath that all these issues will be fixed. It is Arma.

Network has been good, Arma used to always give me the dreaded red broken chain which I think means BAD NETWORK. And while i have seen it in Dayz, its rare.

So do I recommend this game, well its up to you. If you don't like buggy games with glitches and asswipes appearing to steal all your stuff ( or worse, character wipes due to patch's ) . Then don't get this game yet. If you want a country side walking simulator with the odd zombie then this game is perfect.