Relatively lightweight, a lot of options to fix that, if it isn't. Made with Java, guaranteed multi-platform with few issues.
The main point of the game is the options, there are so many things to do and to discover, and it works flawlessly, despite its being still in development, and things get added en mass with every update.
Rich man's Cataclysm: DDA, one could say. More in the graphics aspect, rather than the mechanics, but it looks like these developers are working on that.
Haha, my review was taken down. So I'll say it again: just nope.
Some constructive criticism? Sure.
This game forces the player to experience time at the same rate as the character in almost all situations (sleep excepted). This is the BIG one.
Second worst thing is keeping your horde organized, which is something even open source titles have managed better. This problem would be bad enough without the UI.
The UI is incredibly in-depth but lacks a streamlined interface to match. This MATTERS in dangerous situations. Just try to drop that backpack and run. It also matters because my time is not to be spent as the character's time; slowly fitting items into drawers.
There is no feedback on what is happening to the caracter so the player is left guessing what actually happened at ground level when something goes wrong.
Combat feels wonky largely due to the above reason but it's also just wierd. I often failed to communicate my inteded action to the engine, with no info on why.
This will sound strange; the characters have no energy. The avatar behaves like someone laying back and having a drink at a bar instead of trying to desperately surive and controls respond slowly. It feels like a turnbased game set to a timer instead of a real-time game. With controls to match.
Isometirc projection is generally avoided for good reason:
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/m8beg/whats_wrong_with_isometric_2d_games/
The "solutions" used by the devs don't work.
Let's also not forget the overly dramatic loading screen that gets old after one playthrough.
All that is just gameplay. I won't bother quoting the other critial reviews which are also correct.
This game is unique in many ways. I have bought it nearly 10 years ago, when it already felt more complete than many other early access games. Since then, the small team of committed developers have continuously worked on this project, and realized many of the milestones that I admittedly was sceptical of ever seeing implemented. With this track record, I am now willing to believe what the Devs see dawning at the horizon of the future of this game, and I am truly ecstatic about the future of this title.
The concept is simple. It is a hyper-realistic simulation of a zombie-outbreak, the Knox event, set in the early 90s. You start at a somewhat random point in a massive reconstruction of a collection of small towns and cities, with limited equiment. The rest is up to you. But your character will need to eat, drink, sleep, and entertain himself.. and not be bitten, obviously.
From this, the fight for survival will result in unique nailbiter stories. You might find yourself hiding in the relative safety of an office bathroom, with fewbullets left, injured, waiting for a horde to pass. Food is quickly eaten, and, since water has been shut off days ago, you will have to drink from the toilets. After three nights of reading magazines and munching pills to keep a 'positive' mindset, you risk an escape.
As you traverse the quiet office cubicles, an infected shuffles out of a corner towards you. Instinctively you shoot him in the head, neutralizing the threat. But now you realize what you have done, as the murmurs throughout the building awaken. Dashing toward the nearest broken window seems like the best option - you jump through, cutting your foot in the process. You limp toward the street, which thankfully is empty. You try the nearest car with the key you found in the office, hoping for a bit of luck, as your foot is in no state to walk home. But fortune is not on your side, the car alarm goes off. As you quickly look for your next hiding spot, the treeline stirs..
So the game itself is interesting and kind of fun. It's a really good Zombie game, no question. It has a lot of potential but it's far from finished.
I restarted several times. At first I didn't knew how to play, so I was finshed soon. The next time I was spawned in the middle of a horde and, yeah the first walk outside killed me - I had nowhere to go.
I tried the Sandbox, but there are always to many zombies around.
Sometimes there is no food, once there were no tools. It took me two weeks to find a hammer.
There are a lot cans, but - except in sanbox where you can find a can opener - I don't know how to use them.
The game crashed multiple times while loading and the start takes more than 90 seconds with a black screen before the first loading text appears. I don't what is done (the processor or the ssd don't work at that time).
Yeah, it could be fun, but it needs a bit more balancing. This time all houses near are out of food (except cans) and don't have any tools inside, but there are zombies. So I sneak around the first buildings to find a place to raid.
I read there is actually a new beta (the whole game is beta) and so hopefully there will be new updates soon.
I bought it for 20 Euros. That's okay if the development goes on, but it's too much for a game in this state if it was dropped by the developer.
If you've never played Project Zomboid, do yourself a favor and play it. It doesn't have the most realistic graphics or anything like that, but it still manages to be one of the most immersive games I've ever played. The developers put some much attention to detail in this game it's just bonkers.
For example, food. You have to cook it, it can go bad, you can create your own recipes kind of using whatever ingredients you have on hand and so forth. Beyond that, have you ever left your house and wondered "did I leave the oven on?" Well that's a real concern in this game too. Leave it on, and you might just come back to find your house and the local neighborhood is burned down.
Cars have individual parts (not super crazy like having to replace individual bolts and such, but still) that all require maintenance or replacement. Not only that, but they have storage in the seats, trunk, glovebox and so forth. They also make noise and attract zombies, so you have to watch out for that.
These are just a couple examples of things where detail just shines through, and the game at large is like this.
Personally, if you've never played before, I suggest the survivor difficulty. This game is HARD, and the slightest mistake can be all it takes to get bitten. Survivor tones that down just a little bit in all the right ways so you can get your bearings without dying 30 seconds in. It certainly won't be easy, but it's a gentler introduction to the game.
One last thing - the developers have been putting a ton of love into the game, having just dropped an update that includes more comprehensive building mechanics, farming and more. And this game is like 10 years old at this point. It really is a labor of love. Just last night I dropped a message to the dev pointing out a bug in the latest unstable build, and within the day he (or she or they...not sure) had put out a fix for it. Mad props there for fixing bugs so quickly!
It's one of my most played games of all times.
