A gaming buddy of mine has just started playing it and said this:
I have to say people bugged me to DL this for about a week before I finally tried it out, and even then only because I already have Arma2 installed on my PC.
But let me tell you: this is the single best mod I have ever played since DC for Battlefield 1942.
It is exciting, suspenseful, and more addicting than crack cocaine. (I stopped playing Diablo 3 after I installed the mod and got it working) Sure, it is glitchy as f**k, sure Hoff...errr I mean bandits will kill you and skull f**k your corps for a can of beans, but the game is simply amazing. You start out with nothing, noda, zip, zilch, squat. And you scavenge and hunt until you have a few basic tools, so you have that feeling of progressing as you get better loot and equipment. But its not like RPG grinding, or FPS run and gunning. You start out with only the weapon between your ears and it is your most powerful. If you are careful and aware of your surroundings you will survive and prosper, then you WILL die and you WILL rage because you have to start all over. But it makes those few moments when everything does go right mean even more.
How much does it move you when you die in BF3? How much do you giggle when you simply shoot another player in CoD for the 100th time that day? In dayz every death is more bitter and every victory is sweeter. If some t**t pisses you off, just killing him once is immensely satisfying and it doesn't have to be a one in a million head shot or amazing feat of gaming skill either, just the simple fact that you killed his virtual alto ego is enough because you know that he now has to restart with nothing and is probably throwing his keyboard out a window.
Even finding a simple handgun is exciting because it totally changes the way you approach and play the game. I found a bike once...a simple, shitty little bike, but I was stoked because it totally changes things; the map is huge and your character will literally die of thirst/hunger if you try to run from one side to the other (takes several hours), but with a freaking bicycle you can move from town to town quickly, and even outrun zombies with ease. I squealed with joy when I found that bike. Just a stupid f**king bicycle, what other game can get that kind of an emotional connection with the player, from a stinking bicycle no less?
Just the way the players behave around one another is a fascinating psychological experiment and incite into the human mind. When you see another player, do you shoot them to take their loot? Do you hide? Do you try and help them? If you help them then you put yourself at risk because they may kill you for your loot. It is interesting to see the different ways in which different people behave in the game because the decisions they make--do they take a risk and help noobies? Do they shoot first and ask questions later out of extreme self defense, do they hide and go it alone, or do they set up ambushes to specifically target other players?-- These actions speak a certain degree to the player's real life character and disposition, much more so than the mere technique they use to frag people on a regular PvP FPS.
It is also the scariest game I have played since Silent Hill 2. The sounds the zombies make when they see you and chase you is chilling, and when you have good loot and don't want to die, running around in the dark hearing their growls, not knowing where they are, is very suspenseful. (I slow walked right into one once...) Seriously very well done audio. I don't even listen to music when I play, because you can hear zombies growl, bandits walking around or shooting at you, or even hear bandits/players talking on direct/area voip chat. The audio really enhances the situational awareness which is very important with the game being as stealth and tactics oriented as it is.
I'm nearly sold on this now. £25 on Steam at the moment for the full ArmaII pack that you need...
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