The sound of waves hitting the coastline is what awoke me from my sleep. Sunlight was bouncing from the water's surface, forcing me to look away towards the cold grey sky in the distance. The grass was swaying violently as a cold breeze hit me in the face, causing me to shiver a little as I gathered my bearings. Where was I, and how did I get here? None of that mattered now, because it was starting to get dark and I needed to find some shelter.
I spotted a small farming town to the right, and I thought it would make the perfect place to seek refuge. I immediately walked to the road before I spotted my first Walker; the grotesque shell of a human shuffling in the distance, whimpering into the distance as if trying to speak. Immediately a spotted Hopper; a hunched-over zombie who literally hops along the ground, who had spotted me walking along the road. I reached for my pistol, and immediately placed a well-aimed bullet between his eyes. He keeled over and died in the grass, but now I found myself in a whole new world of pain. All of a sudden a dozen zombies were immediately drawn to the sound of my pistol and they were coming right for me.
This is when I learnt my first and most important lesson in DayZ, never trust anyone.
I bolted. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me as I ascended upon a grassy hill leading to the forest. In the distance I heard someone screaming "Need some help?", making my heart leap with joy. I replied with something sarcastic along the lines of "what do you think?" before I heard the commanding rumble of a high-powered rifle. I glanced over my shoulder to see one of my pursuers fall down into the grass, then another, and then another. One of the hoppers grabbed my foot, managing to take a big chunk out of my left before I put a bullet in his face.
I lay on the ground before my unnamed hero approached me and offered to bandage me up. He quickly dressed my wounds, but I had lost a large amount of blood. Thankfully he had a blood bag on him, and he offered to do an on-site blood transfusion to bring me back to full health. Just as he started the procedure I heard a loud gunshot and then total darkness. I was dead.
This is when I learnt my first and most important lesson in DayZ, never trust anyone.
For those who haven't been following what seems to be an overnight phenomenon, DayZ is a remarkable mod for the unremarkable ARMA II. It replaces the ultra-realistic military simulator with an ultra-realistic survival horror shooter that will test even the most experienced horror veteran.
What makes DayZ so different from other survival horror titles? Permadeath for one. Once you character bites the dust then you'll have to restart the game from scratch. At the time of writing, the average lifespan in DayZ is 32 minutes, and it's easy to see why after just a few weeks playing the game. You can break bones, bleed out, pass out from thirst, hunger, shock among other causes. You can catch the flu, get an infection and all of these conditions need to be treated with items you'll find in the game.
The problem is in order to find these items you'll need to scavenge supermarkets, hospitals, barns and factories in towns littered with zombies. Want an idea of just how big the game world is? DayZ has an impressive 225km2 to explore. To put that into perspective, Skyrim only has 75km2! In order to get around you'll need to find a compass, a map or a watch, and hope that you can find your buddies who will no doubt be on the other side of the island.
The most amazing thing however is how players are interacting with each other. While you are fighting for your own survival, up to 50 players on the same server will be doing the same. This leads to a number of murders occurring, severe trust issues, and could be the ending point of some friendships depending on the situation. There are a number of bandit groups who will slaughter you on sight to steal your supplies, others will lure you in with a false sense of security before shooting you in the back, and a few will actually be genuinely friendly.
Finding those kind of people is easier said than done.
Over the next week or so I'll be bringing you a daily blog of my adventures inside DayZ with my friends (and MMGNers) m4cr0bat and 4ng3l as we try to survive the treacherous world. These won't just be personal experiences, but I will also be offering tips, tutorials, videos and photos from our adventures.
If you are also enjoying the ultra-intense world of DayZ why not join us in our official forums? If you want to be featured in these blogs, get in touch and we'll meet up online!
By Stephen Heller - Bio