UPDATE:

While I haven't played the game at all recently, I felt as though I needed to update this review to reflect on some of my experiences over the past couple of years. I have picked the game up again on occasion, but didn't find myself as content to continue playing as I used to be. There have been many changes over the past couple of years; mostly in terms of your character having a skill and perk system, which is a nice addition and adds a lot of RPG-feel elements. However, the game suffers from something I feel a lot of survival games lack; 'end game' replayability.

Being a new player in this game is fantastic, as written in my original review below (long before I had so many hours played), but the fundamental problem is that once you are established, once you have access to creating your own munitions and have the hardware to farm resources effortlessly, the game becomes quite stale. I'm sure the addition of more NPC's etc. in the future will amend this, having a reason to leave your stronghold and go out into the world, but I feel as though the developers are perhaps setting their sights a little too high.

A recent cross-platform release (consoles, *sigh*) was met with a huge backlash of negativity, mostly because the game needs so much work - not in terms of content, the game has an endless amount of items and block types and there is still the potential for a massively popular RPG/Survival experience in this game. The problem is that some of the core engine mechanics really, really need work. Movement feels sketchy, aiming weapons and firing them feels far from smooth and the game doesn't exactly run smoothly at high settings even with beefy hardware. This was forgivable 2 years ago, but for it to still be playing this way is dissapointing.

I still hold out hope for this game, and I'm sure I will return to it, but I would love to see the developers iron out the creases in the core game mechanics instead of having such an enormous amount of focus on adding new things. Finding poop in toilets and having the ability to throw that poop is hilarious, turning that poop into compost to grow crops more efficiently shows great ingenuity, but I only wish they would iron out the creases before adding to the already vast amount of items/blocks/locations etc.

I have no doubts about keeping my review positive - this is a fantastic game. I would still recommend this game to new players without hesitation, it is a great experience, especially with friends, but for it to become a true blockbuster, I feel the developers need to take a step back and improve on what is already there.

Original Review From October 2014

My first time playing this game was one of the most enjoyable noobie experiences I've ever had, digging a hole in the side of a hill before nightfall and hiding inside, starving and hoping nothing would find me, seeing sunrise has never been such a relief. After some exploration and scavenging for food and water, I found a town, thinking this would be a good place to lay my bed and fortify a building to try and hold off anything that came for me at night.

What a mistake that was, a horde came for me and trashed my defenses, the few crossbow bolts I had managed to craft were consumed in no time, and I found myself in a backroom hacking through the roof trying to find an escape route, my friend below me yelling at me to hurry up as he desperately tried to repair the door that was being pounded on by zombies. "I see daylight, I've found a way out!" Our glimmer of hope ruined when I looked down to see my friend, looking up at me, with the floor beneath him almost completely destroyed and a horde of zombies under him, barely a block left to stand on. I told him not to look down, but naturally he did, what ensued was a genuinely fearful collaboration of curse words, desperation wouldn't be a fitting enough word to describe it.

Genuine adrenaline rushes and forever fearing for your life, this game has brung about a whole new meaning to the survival genre, being in a fortified position and crafting yourself a lot of ammunition simply won't cut it, you can play rambo for a short time but your resources will eventually diminish if you use them too recklessly and you will find yourself back to being starving and hiding away once again, you really need to think about how and when you're going to engage the zombies by choice, because when a feral horde comes for you, you won't have a choice, and you better be ready for when that happens.

Not only is this game a great thrill-ride and at times a genuine tester for your grey-matter, it is also a brilliant game to play with your friends and rewards co-operative gameplay. Sustaining yourself, by yourself, is indeed possible, but with friends you can assign eachother certain tasks, for example me and a buddy built a fortified bunker with a deep mineshaft underneath, he spent most of his days underground mining, creating ammunition and such, providing me with raw materials, while I worked on our surface defences and food supplies. Do-able alone but so much more efficient if planned with a friend, or a few friends is even better, unless you are the hardcore lone-wolf type.

I have yet to play on a "no rules/ PVP" server, I can imagine that adds whole new elements of fear-factor into the game, knowing that other survivors may just snipe you from a distance and steal your stuff, at their own discretion, or maybe they will help you, it's up to them, I may build the courage to try this someday, at the moment I'm happy enough just trying to survive waves of zombie hordes on a PVE server.

Overall this game is already almost a finished product in terms of crafting and survival aspects, there is the occasional annoying glitch/bug here and there as to be expected in a game at Alpha stage but I have found nothing game-breaking as of yet. To think that there is so much more to be added in terms of character customisation, experience points, more weaponry etc. is a very exciting thought indeed. I can see this game making a huge impact on release, it is genuinely brilliant fun.

Highly recommended, especially playing with friends!

[b][u]UPDATE:[/u][/b] While I haven't played the game at all recently, I felt as though I needed to update this review to reflect on some of my experiences over the past couple of years. I have picked the game up again on occasion, but didn't find myself as content to continue playing as I used to be. There have been many changes over the past couple of years; mostly in terms of your character having a skill and perk system, which is a nice addition and adds a lot of RPG-feel elements. However, the game suffers from something I feel a lot of survival games lack; 'end game' replayability. Being a new player in this game is fantastic, as written in my original review below (long before I had so many hours played), but the fundamental problem is that once you are established, once you have access to creating your own munitions and have the hardware to farm resources effortlessly, the game becomes quite stale. I'm sure the addition of more NPC's etc. in the future will amend this, having a reason to leave your stronghold and go out into the world, but I feel as though the developers are perhaps setting their sights a little [i]too[/i] high. A recent cross-platform release (consoles, *sigh*) was met with a huge backlash of negativity, mostly because the game needs so much work - not in terms of content, the game has an endless amount of items and block types and there is still the potential for a massively popular RPG/Survival experience in this game. The problem is that some of the core engine mechanics really, really need work. Movement feels sketchy, aiming weapons and firing them feels far from smooth and the game doesn't exactly run smoothly at high settings even with beefy hardware. This was forgivable 2 years ago, but for it to still be playing this way is dissapointing. I still hold out hope for this game, and I'm sure I will return to it, but I would love to see the developers iron out the creases in the core game mechanics instead of having such an enormous amount of focus on adding new things. Finding poop in toilets and having the ability to throw that poop is hilarious, turning that poop into compost to grow crops more efficiently shows great ingenuity, but I only wish they would iron out the creases before adding to the already vast amount of items/blocks/locations etc. I have no doubts about keeping my review positive - this is a fantastic game. I would still recommend this game to new players without hesitation, it is a great experience, especially with friends, but for it to become a true blockbuster, I feel the developers need to take a step back and improve on what is [i]already there[/i]. [b]Original Review From October 2014[/b] My first time playing this game was one of the most enjoyable noobie experiences I've ever had, digging a hole in the side of a hill before nightfall and hiding inside, starving and hoping nothing would find me, seeing sunrise has never been such a relief. After some exploration and scavenging for food and water, I found a town, thinking this would be a good place to lay my bed and fortify a building to try and hold off anything that came for me at night. What a mistake that was, a horde came for me and trashed my defenses, the few crossbow bolts I had managed to craft were consumed in no time, and I found myself in a backroom hacking through the roof trying to find an escape route, my friend below me yelling at me to hurry up as he desperately tried to repair the door that was being pounded on by zombies. "I see daylight, I've found a way out!" Our glimmer of hope ruined when I looked down to see my friend, looking up at me, with the floor beneath him almost completely destroyed and a horde of zombies under him, barely a block left to stand on. I told him not to look down, but naturally he did, what ensued was a genuinely fearful collaboration of curse words, desperation wouldn't be a fitting enough word to describe it. Genuine adrenaline rushes and forever fearing for your life, this game has brung about a whole new meaning to the survival genre, being in a fortified position and crafting yourself a lot of ammunition simply won't cut it, you can play rambo for a short time but your resources will eventually diminish if you use them too recklessly and you will find yourself back to being starving and hiding away once again, you really need to think about how and when you're going to engage the zombies by choice, because when a feral horde comes for you, you won't have a choice, and you better be ready for when that happens. Not only is this game a great thrill-ride and at times a genuine tester for your grey-matter, it is also a brilliant game to play with your friends and rewards co-operative gameplay. Sustaining yourself, by yourself, is indeed possible, but with friends you can assign eachother certain tasks, for example me and a buddy built a fortified bunker with a deep mineshaft underneath, he spent most of his days underground mining, creating ammunition and such, providing me with raw materials, while I worked on our surface defences and food supplies. Do-able alone but so much more efficient if planned with a friend, or a few friends is even better, unless you are the hardcore lone-wolf type. I have yet to play on a "no rules/ PVP" server, I can imagine that adds whole new elements of fear-factor into the game, knowing that other survivors may just snipe you from a distance and steal your stuff, at their own discretion, or maybe they will help you, it's up to them, I may build the courage to try this someday, at the moment I'm happy enough just trying to survive waves of zombie hordes on a PVE server. Overall this game is already almost a finished product in terms of crafting and survival aspects, there is the occasional annoying glitch/bug here and there as to be expected in a game at Alpha stage but I have found nothing game-breaking as of yet. To think that there is so much more to be added in terms of character customisation, experience points, more weaponry etc. is a very exciting thought indeed. I can see this game making a huge impact on release, it is genuinely brilliant fun. Highly recommended, especially playing with friends!