DayZ, this little mod did things that no other game has really achieved before. It pitted you in a MMO style world and forces you to scavenge for basic and advanced survival gear such as; water, food, weapons, ammo, and even medicine. It placed itself in a richly detail world filled with the Infected (Zombies) and also the extremely heart pounding encounter with other real life players...
Then comes a little game called The War Z. At the time of its announcement, it looked like it would be a very solid and polished take of the ideas of DayZ. I wont lie, I was interested greatly. I even bought into that HUGE LIE that the developers feed us about its development time.
They purposefully told us that this game has been in development BEFORE DayZ came to be... Well, later on we found out that statement was a load pure crap. Turns out that this game is a near identical re-skin of another game called War Inc.
Strike one right there!
When you jump into the game, it plays like you would expect. The world has some decent detail and the vulnerability is intact. You create your own character in the main menu with some heads, shirt, pants, and you also give them a name. I say them because pretty much FORCE YOU to make multiple characters that I will explain the reason for in a second.
Once your character is created, you can supply him/her with some micro transaction supplies. They can be things like food, health packs, bigger back packs, ammo, masks, etc... Why have that in a game that is about scavenging for survival? That completely defeats the purpose, even if it is not greatly used.
When you get into a server, you spawn in a "Safe Zone" and I use quotes because they are not safe in the slightest. You are unable to use weapons of any kind in this area, it is more of a gathering point for fresh Bambi's.
But it is a big hunting ground for bandits. The boundaries for "Safe Zones" stretch far into the woods where bandits can hide just out of reach and kill everybody who crosses it! Developer made "Safe Zones" do not work in a game like this. In DayZ, if you want a safe place--then you have to make it yourself. Clear out the Infected, and fortify the weak points.
Zones like in The War Z are nothing more than a death trap should you find yourself in one. Speaking of death, and referring to my untouched point; the reason for having so many characters is not only due to your dying a lot and having different lives to live in.
The reason for that is because when you die, you are FORCED TO WAIT FOR AN HOUR BEFORE YOU CAN USE THAT CHARACTER AGAIN! Why in the world was this even an idea?!?!?! Do they have any idea how stupid that is to have to wait on that character to come back? You cant name them the same name by the way, they all have to be something different.
And it is even more insulting that you have a limited amount of characters that you can make. So if you are that unlucky to get killed one after the other--then you better be prepared to wait.
Strike two!
The graphics are not even good in the slightest bit. Textures are blurry and pixilated, and the frame rate is just god awful.. There is a nice little feeling that the world has ended and the atmosphere can suck you in from time to time. You have a map with you at all times, so getting lost is near impossible. However, it detracts from that feeling of discovery. In DayZ you do not start off with a map in most servers. Exploring Chernarus and stumbling upon a town that is known to have rare loot is totally satisfying and feels fresh every single time.
Here however, it suffers. It is pretty easy to remember where loot will spawn and what buildings you can go in or not go in. Not to mention that the game is pretty much pure PVP. It is absolutely crazy how much this game resort to deathmatch. As soon as you find a weapon, be prepared to die with one hit to the back of the head by somebodies flashlight. Pretty much all people who have guns are going to kill you regardless because you can set your starting loot.
All of these mechanics are decent on paper. But when they are placed into an actual game, it falls apart very fast. The War Z in short comes down to nothing more than a shooter with Zombies in it.
If I recall correctly, one of the developers on the forums stated that the PVP will be less encouraged and loot will be more basic in out lying areas... That was bull crap. If anything, it is gotten worse. Once right when I spawned and survived the bandits camping outside the "Safe Zone," I found myself a fully specked out assault rifle with 5 clips of ammo beside it. It was not from a dead player, it was not stock piled. I literally watched it spawn right in front of me. Finding high powered weapons is very easy in the game, shouldn't that be the other way around?
Hey Hammerpoint?! Strike three!
The War Z is an absolute waste of your time and money. Not only did the developers sell us a load of Molyneux (see what I did there) the ideas and core features of the game are broken in lots of ways despite any test phase it is in. The "Safe Zones" are death traps, the wait time and character limit is atrocious, and the way loot spawns and PVP is broken.
I wont mind a copy of DayZ, but please make sure it is a good one!
FINAL VERDICT: The War Z gets an F.
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[Edited on 12.18.2012 3:28 PM PST]