I'm not big on zombie survival sims, but I'm not against them, and after seeing that you can actually take a camper for a mobile base in this game, I've decided to give it a try. The good: 1) Drivable vehicles. I don't know why they've all been stripped of parts, though. It's probably a balance thing. A bit annyoing having to hunt for so many parts, then to carry them back to the vehicle you want, but whatever, at least it give you purpose. 2) You can have a camper for a mobile base! Yes, as I've said, it was the main selling point for me. Now the camper's a bit small, but I've managed to cram a double-bed, several containers and a large shelf inside it, so I'm quite happy. Still, would be nice to have RVs as well. 3) You can use paint to recolour your vehicle and camper. Finally, I can live my hippie camper dream! 4) Large map to explore. I've not explored for long, but from what I've gathered there are supposed to be several zones, so having a vehicle is indeed important. 5) Storage, storage everywhere. Portable storage, vehicle storage, a cart that you can drag around to carry all that storage. It's useful, and it helps to not need to build your own containers, like so many survival sims make you do. 6) I actually like the fact that you can pick up random props and take them with you. Lets you make your base your own, and the prop placement mechanic is pretty good (my only qualm is that I sometimes pick stuff up instead of "using" it, but this can be fixed by changing the key bindings, I think). 7) Wild, non-zombified animals. I don't actually know of any zombie survival sims that feature non-zombified animals. Here, though, I've come across two bears, just chilling around. The game is supposed to have other animals also, but I've not met any so far. 8) You can modify your guns. You've got suppressors, sights, grips, stocks, whatever. And the gun-mods actually help, the supressor prevents enemies from getting alerted, for example. 9) The game has a day\ night cycle, changing weather, and apparently seasons. Haven't reached winter yet, and I could really use some rain, but whatever, it's still good. 10) The game can be pretty. The bad: 1) The zombie AI is pretty dumb. The zombies run at you mindlessly, but if you climb on something, or close a door in front of them, they just stand there, helplessly flailing their arms at you. Yet they also have enough intelligence to run for cover when in direct sunlight? That's just weird. 2) Grammar. Way I understand it, English is not the developer('s') native language, so technically this can be forgiven, especially since you can indeed understand what the game is telling you, but it just irks me when I see some of the weird grammar. Get a proof-reader, please! 3) The crafting is actually pretty complex, which is pretty good. But most of it requires a workbench, which sucks. 4) Some resources are way too abundant, but you have little use for them until you have access to a workbench, so they just take up space in your storage. I've gathered up so many rags, so much scrap metal, and so many 'components', yet I can't do anything to them! (again, not until I get to a workbench). 5) Quivers. You can find bows and arrows in the world, but can't use them, because you didn't find a quiver. As an amateur archer in real life, and a fan of achery in video-games, I find this design choice really frustrating. 6) Using some of the items is just busywork. So there are two ways you can carry an item: in your inventory (not all items) or in your hands (most items). The problem is that if you want to actually use some of the items, you need first hold them in your hands, because, for whatever reason, the game doesn't acknowledge you having them if they're in your inventory. I understand that it's a realism thing, but using an item straight out of your inventory is just a far better design choice. 7) Daytime is way too short. At 6 PM it's already pitch black outside, meaning that you have to go to sleep for 12 whole hours, unless you want to run around fighting or dodging zombies. The game supposedly features seasons, but there doesn't seem to be a difference in daylight between summer and winter. The ugly: 1) The game is badly optimized, even if your computer can run it on highest settings, you still need to wait for all the assets to render before you can actually start playing, and even then you might have to deal with props just popping into view as you go. I've seen a playthrough where the player was driving his car pretty fast and crashed into a broken bus that wasn't there just a moment ago, because the game didn't manage to render it in. Was a bit funny, but it's actually a serious problem. Suggestions: Aside from what I've written above, I'd like the option to switch off zombies\ bandits\ hostile animals when starting a new game. Sometimes you just want to explore the game world, to see how long you can survive without some mob constantly knocking down your door. Green Hell lets you do this, The Long Dark lets you do this, so why not? I get that the game's whole plot revolves around zombies, but options are always a good thing. Project Zomboid lets you toggle zombies off at new game, so why not? Another suggestion is to let us wield weapons lefthanded. I know it's extra work for the devs, but since you're already giving us the option to use the left hand for secondary items, why not make it fully useable? Overall, I like this game. If the devs fix its standing issues, it might just become a genre staple.
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