Why Day Z is the best zombie game we have...

I was originally going to write an extremely long post creating a romantic work of prose about my adventures in the ARMA2 mod, Day Z but I felt that whilst I enjoyed my adventures, that there was something a lot more fun and interesting that I wanted to discuss about this game and why people are getting such a connection with it.

And so many people to play with...

The original game ARMA2, which oddly enough stands for Armed Assault, was created back in 2009 and before Day Z the most notable mention of the game was the fact someone had used footage from the game to claim it was official IRA terrorist footage for an ITV documentary and that it had some very interesting DRM. This isn't to say the game is bad in any way, it was just not exactly notable. It's hard to compete in the shooter market when everyone is running around and being stupid. ARMA2 is a fantastic tactical shooter akin to the likes of the Operation Flashpoint series but it's great strength was it's focus on realistic gameplay in vast landscapes. This is where DayZ comes in.

And then promptly leaves screaming "Ahhhh Zombies" 

The great enjoyment, if you can call it that, for Day Z is how it starts. You often wake up on the shore, as if dumped off by a secret government boat and then you have to make your way in the world, finding supplies and taking out zombies. Of course, not knowing there are zombies on the island would have been a great way to start the game, but sadly the title ruins it for us.

It could stand for Zebras...

The island itself is the fake post-Soviet nation of Chernarus, which seems to be host to a series of small towns, some farm land, a few major cities and an amazing forest that even the Blair Witch could get lost in. Chernarus is a very lonely little island and it seems to be over run with zombies for no really good reason but this is the final piece of the great zombie puzzle.

Complete ignorance?

It is this immersive landscape and being truly lost is what gets me into the game. Knowing I can go anywhere and do anything and meet anyone and it all matters. There is a level of importance and the fact that it matters that makes it incredibly satisfying when I find a single can of coke or bandages or even a jerry can is indescribable. Of course, I also feel I'm not alone in the experience but see why so many people are enjoying the game, but I did have my doubts, like any wary player of a new game.

The game was purchased for me during the Steam Sale by a very awesome Twitter follower and whilst I didn't think I'd enjoy the game, mainly due to a poor laptop, I eventually found myself really caught up in the atmosphere of the game. An interview on Tuesday night on Australia's favourite game show, Good Game, Dean Hall made an appearance and was more than candid about how the game came about. It was four days after installing the game and hearing Mr. Hall discuss the game made me feel as if people who were really playing the game understood his intention.

New Zealander Hall states in the interview (which you can watch here) that it came from "a real strong interest in the horror genre" and compares it with his experiences in the army. Despite being a game dev, Hall also was briefly in the New Zealand Army and would take his troops out on survival exercises. Hall says that the mod was intended to really "connect with the emotions of the player."

You know...those kind of emotions.

However, DayZ doesn't particulary have a strong story or any story at all, but it's connection with the player that makes it so significant. The actual survival aspect is integral once you realise how easily you can die in the game and also the fact that zombies are not your only threat, everyone else is as well. The ramifications for simply going into a house and finding a stash of goods can have no consequences in other game, maybe a cop or two or someone calling you a criminal scum, but in DayZ, that stash could be somebody else's. Other games deal with consequences in a binary situation but DayZ has so many underlying factors based on complex human interactions that other games and developers only take such situations into account when people complain about the servers.

To be fair, you were trying to set us up the bomb...

Someone who could have a larger weapon. Someone might have some friends. Someone might be running away from zombies and where you are is their safe house. Someone who could actually help you and so DayZ actually feels like a game with consequences and where anything can happen and this is where players get caught up in the game. This is where the memetic and viral stories have come from players from the world over. At the moment, you can log onto the DayZ mod site section and see over eight hundred players in existence and that the current average lifetime of a player is 49 minutes. 

Dean Hall actually notes that zombie games haven't really "delved into...the characters and interactions" and have left the zombie experience "simplified" emotionally. He goes onto add the games focus on "just hero stuff", which I think he means characters who are overpowered or simply don't generate any empathy.  When you know your life is on the line and a single bite could have you run out of blood within minutes or a few shots from another survivor could leave you hurt indefinitely, then your survival instincts kick in. Maybe you can't make it to the next town, maybe you won't see one for ages and ages, maybe this is where you die. Of course, this is all comes from Halls' Permadeath function which was influenced from his army training. He would often create tactical simulations where ever move could lead to death or create problems for your troop.

You got the safety on, right?

However, the origins of DayZ isn't just all Kiwi tactics but also set in film. Hall talks in the interview about the interview he feels from watching zombie films and how he "gets angry at a character" when they do something stupid or sad when they die. Bringing it back to the Western origins of zombies, the three original Romero "Dead" Trilogy is the high school education for most people getting into the zombie mythos and a cinematic nihilistic look into human interaction. While the DayZ zombies are faster, especially once they have the sound of "human" ringing in their ears, it follows more the human side rather than the dead human side in it's survival and mechanics.

All Chernarus needs is a mall

If you've ever seen any of the original films, you'll know that you easily get caught up in the drama and the characters due to the helplessness of the scenario. Most zombie films have this sense of foreboding or doom and gloom, which has you thinking anyone could die at any moment. However, as the genre evolved and more people got bent on zombie films being pieces of action cinema rather than horror, it became more and more obvious who was going to die.

...or why they won't die faster in the second season.

The situational and trope conditions are what remain in DayZ. Hall is also not afraid to make mistakes and look into actually developing the game into something greater as the year lurches onward. A lot of people have been saying the game is too hard or that it is really hard to get into, but that is how it was made. It goes against the usual design principles of video games where they slowly hold the hand of the player through the controls and the scenario before they're comfortable to take the training wheels off.


It appears as though Hall is approaching the mod, not from traditional game aesthetics, but his own experiences, as well as from the classic zombie cinematic genre. You have to go your own way and make your own decisions. No one is here to tell you what to do and at times it is liberating. When regarding the difficulty of the game, Hall says "people are calling the game hardcore, but for me, that's real life!" He compares the fact that most games are heroes, but we're not heroes, "we don't matter to the world, if we're not there, it's like you know, whatever." 

Words of a true game dev.

I mean, DayZ is not perfect by any means. It has a lot of textual bugs, a few errors, servers are often full or take a long time to load, but I'll save that for another day. But DayZ has all of the beginnings of an amazing game that if you put in the time and effort, you will get a lot out of the experience, especially with friends.

Day Z or as I call it, Consequences with Friends!

It's the fact that anyone could die at any moment. It's the choices of whether you die of starvation or a bite or thirst or simply being gunned down crossing a courtyard. DayZ is the real zombie survival experience people have wanted for a long time and it took the mechanics of army survival, the engine of a tactical shooter and the heart of New Zealander to get the game finally made. 


You can follow me on Twitter or send me an email and we can play DayZ or talk more about vidya.