H1Z1 Fun yet?

I’m still looking for a game to replace Dayz MOD (not standalone), as the best Survival Game. H1Z1 seemed promising, and like it could be the one, but for the months after it was released, h1z1 was such a let down.

Let’s make it clear: I don’t even care about zombies, I really just want an open world realistic Survival sandbox game, and Its only that most developers are basing their games on a zombie apocalypse, and if they’re going to add zombies, they need to do it right.

To date, Dayz MOD is the only online game that has provided me the raw survival feeling. Even with all its bugs and lag, and stupid ass dumb running zombies, it’s still provides the best survival experience in my opinion.
When i mention “DayZ”, i am meaning the mod, not the broken boring mess that is DayZ Standalone.

I started to write a  review back when H1Z1 was released, but as many, I was confused about the game, so I didn’t know what to write. I kinda liked the game, but it was just so buggy and felt so limited, while at the same time seeming very promising. I just couldn’t solve this puzzle that was within my head.

The bottom line is, H1Z1 just wasn’t fun to play for long periods of time. There were constant bugs. The previous loot spawn issue ruined the game, and didn’t make me want to explore it any further to be honest. The game was pretty much running around checking hundreds of loot spots such as boxes, fridges, containers, trash bins, old cars, only for it all to be empty. It really sucked! Everyone will yell at you for bringing up bugs and glitches since it is Early Access, and I understand that agree that bugs are a given any any early access title, but i can also say that it wasn’t very much fun to play in its current state.

Main problems that made it unplayable:

  • Loot spawn glitches – loot would rarely spawn
  • random zombie spawns and weird ai
  • no fun if you’re alone
  • hackers and lots of them
haze and rain
Haze + Rain = Nice shiny Visuals
Zeds!
So many Zeds – Chasing my bud Seth!

Anyways, months latter my friend and I decided to load up the game, and give it a go. My first impressions were the graphics looked much better. They added some hazyfogginess-whatever to the game, which actually looks pretty nice, and sets the atmosphere.

The second thing I noticed is that there are TONS OF ZOMBIES. Everywhere. Maybe even TOO MANY! and I’m not sure how to escape from them. They seem to be drawn to you no matter what, unlike DayZ which as Zombie Agro which is alerted by noise and sight so you can sneak around and hide from the Zombies by crouching and crawling. The zombies in H1Z1 are just always aware it seems, but overall their AI  seems much better and more intelligent than those in DayZ, but there really needs to be a way to avoid them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9SbLCiMmyY

In the above video, my friend and i were stuck in an apartment building which was surrounded by at least 30 zombies. It Was kinda freaky hearing them try to get it and the closer you got to ground level the louder they became. Eventually we were able to escape from them by jumping off a balcony and just running. I guess we out ran the zombies because soon they were all gone and behind us. I’d hate to think that they magically vanished because that’ll lower the quality of the game.

*note – I logged in later and played by myself, and only saw a few zombies here and there. Which is weird considering the amount the time before. Maybe when two players are on more spawn, i’m not sure, I only saw about two zombies this time as I was playing alone, so i’m not too sure how the zombies work and what triggers them to spawn in.

Shoot, they is even Zeds on Mountains - Forrest Gump
Shoot, they is even Zeds on Mountains – Forrest Gump

Another thing I noticed almost immediately is the interaction between the Zombies and the animals. I’m always being constantly attacked by the wolves in H1Z1, which usually never kill me unless i’m already injured, and running into a bear means an inevitable death. Previously the animals and zombies would just ignore each other. Upon loading up the game I saw a zombie chasing a deer, which was hilarious. Some how the zombie caught it which i don’t see how since its nearly impossible for a human player to do such a thing. Now You can easily lose wolves and bears by leading them into zombies which usually end up attacking each other.

There is now tons of loot in the game that seems to spawn in just fine. It’s not OP as it was when it worked in the past, such as you wont find guns everywhere. I find tons of ammo, but hardly any guns. Zombies will often drop a bag with a hat or some other item in it which you can use to craft into bandages by shredding. I’m pretty happy with the loot system now.

hazey nights
Hazy Nights
Crafting - Craft Max
Crafting – Craft Max

There are some minor UI improvements, such as the craft amount and MAX option, which lets you select a certain amount of items to craft, depending on the resources you have. For example, you can click the CRAFT MAX option on arrows, and craft all the arrows possible depending on the sticks you have in your inventory. This option helps ALOT. This saves alot of repetitive mouse clicking.

There still isn’t an option for EAT ALL, which would be great if you wanted to eat alot of blackberries.  So, get your best clicking finger ready when you need to eat or hydrate, which the latter is nearly constant in the game.

Is the game worth playing now? Meh, I’d say yes, especially if you have other people to play with. If you’re playing alone you’ll probably be killed alot by other people who are in groups. I prefer the lower populated servers anyways.

Is the game better than Dayz Mod for me? Well, I don’t know. It doesn’t provide as raw of a feeling for me as DayZ does, and maybe even feels more arcadish, not as arcadish as WarZ, but I think it has more long term play due to base building and such. DayZ’s maps are much larger, so you spend alot of your time just traveling, which adds time to the gameplay. H1Z1 Potentially has more to offer especially with crafting items and building bases.

Since the game is only $15 on Steam during early access (free after release), i’d suggest going ahead and picking it up. H1Z1 is slowly progressing into a decent game with lots to do.

Be sure to watch out for the roof wolves!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNmiqG0lzM0

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