Recent reviews by daxpwnsyouall

SO I have been around Project Zomboid for an incredibly long time (my hours played stat belie the reality of how many hours I have actually plowed into this game in almost a decade) - I have seen this game grow from a tiny Sims 1 low-fi minigame into a colossal sprawling ingame cannibal holocaust dystopia. The game community is fantastic, constantly rolling out quality of life content and bugfixes for common problems between official patch fixes.

Do not be dissuaded by the early access tagline and the fact it has been in production and development for a decade: Project Zomboid is without doubt the most compelling and rich apocalypse sandbox game ever made, bar none. NONE. Build 41 BETA patch somehow manages to further increase the quality of this experience, meaning that Project Zomboid main patch (currently at B39 at time of writing) is only inferior to Project Zomboid B41. Once multiplayer is stabilised within B41, this game will likely become one of the most popular RP and multiplayer sandbox games ever made - I say this with a very firm certainty as someone with many years of experience of early access and NDA testing multiple games (some went on to fame, others less so).

The personalisation possibilities and the infinite variety of ingame experiences (from good to the plain terrible) make this game a routine interest to check in on the progress with on a regular basis since investing in the concept way back when. I highly recommend this to ANY person that enjoys sandbox survival games or those disillusioned with the catastrophic failure that has been DayZ. You will find everything and more in this game (aside from the dull and mindless player killing you so often see in modern sandbox multiplayer games).

I feel Red Alert 1 has benefited from this remaster treatment more than C&C1 on the part of the AI pathfinding issues still present in Tiberium Dawn (I know this is intentional but it's the only real thing that stopped me enjoying TD as much as RA1). RA1 has serious longevity for the forseeable future in terms of multiplayer and replayability, whereas I feel TD is more of a complete and forget experience thus far.

Hard mode campaign is what it says on the tin - Loved every minute of it on RA1 but have had nothing but frustration from it in TD (despite having completed it and Special Ops numerous times on the original release).

Worth every penny despite my minor complaints about Tiberium Dawn - Definitely worth every penny knowing that this games' financial success will result in the same treatment being applied to RA2 soon.

This game only further improves upon the ground laid by "Enemy Unknown". The story is gripping and actually drops you into the pressure of saving the planet from aliens developing a world-ending technology with its "avatar countdown" system.

Every stage is a methodical tactical test - Some combining this with a turn-based time limit, and others even adding in capturable VIP's to further increase the tactical challenge posed by the game.

The research and construction element of the game balances how you proceed through the progressively more difficult campaign system, and is nicely controlled with time limits relating to available appropriate area staff members you have acquired. Side missions to gain materials, recruits, and income help use time effectively between campaign-critical missions - And the game doesn't feel as if it drags or becomes weary in a vanilla playthrough. Mods significantly amplify both the challenge and the fun in the game, but it is a game that can quite easily attain merit without needing any of them.

Whilst a lot of the default camera-related controls are incredibly irritating and the blatant flogging of menial (some may say basic) functions for in-game additional purchases (yes, I'm looking at you "gore mode") are greedy at the very least, the game itself otherwise functions masterfully. It forces you to learn what fights what effectively, and if you already know the world from the tabletop game then you'll be at a significant advantage in this department.

The models and graphics themselves are breathtaking when you're throwing mobs of cavalry at lines of helpless infantry, or a giant bat slamming into artillery bastions - It is immensely satisfying. The limitations of expansion for each race feel both natural and fair, although I recommend trying again the second time with the mod to allow anybody to capture all territories and see how you cope.

Overall, a very decent and full gaming experience for a fantasy RTS. The race balances seem fair, and the variety alone in the tactics for all the playable races make replayability a very decent bonus to the game as a whole. If only the in-game purchases from the developers weren't as bloodthirsty as the Vampires in-game...

I was an original player of the mod, and I can wholeheartedly say this game cannot be worth £20 - Even though it's a fantastic idea and the game is indeed great fun, the amount of time you're looking at waiting for the absolute basics of this game functioning correctly - Things such as no-clipping inside of walls and shooting out at other players, zombies totally ignoring solid walls and doors, the total lack of vehicles (thusly making this in fact a game of simulated running for 75% of your time, the other 25% spent looking through empty locations or areas full of hats and various other useless crap) seems to be proportionately forever in comparison with how often they're releasing absolutely useless crap such as berry-picking, campfires/cooking (wtf shoot me sign? On top of the fact food is in abundance in game anyway), create your own bags (despite yet again already being an abundance of normal bags) machetes that don't work, various terrible repair tools, and silencers (that don't silence anything at all).

If it ever appears in a humble bundle - Buy it instantly. Otherwise? Better investing in the time plaiting hair, or learning to speak Welsh - Because otherwise you're just going to be really angry with yourself that you allowed these people to take £20 from you when they aren't prepared to make the *absolutely necessary* basic concept of this game function as it should.

LATER REVIEW ADDITION: 10 years later, this game still falls short of a lot of basic functions it lacked even back then. It has, like most Bohemia products, depended upon the community to make their game a genuinely enjoyable experience. Even with the community's help with content, devastating persistent bugs continue to make the experience difficult. It's a unique game in what it provides as a multiplayer experience, but besides that - DayZ offers little but an excuse for a plethora of knock-off, half-arsed copycat games to be released in its wake. A very disappointing journey for a game that offered so much promise at its announcement after years of enjoyment from a janky Arma 2 mod.