Project Zomboid

A large-scale, well thought out survival game set in the midst of a zombie apocalypse - something that the industry has been calling out for since zombies were first used in a video game, and yet any attempt at actually producing one has been far too feeble to be considered newsworthy.
When I recently stumbled upon Project Zomboid, a zombie survival game in production by indie-developers Indie Stone Studios, I was quick to dismiss it as another poor attempt - especially considering the project isn't even complete. That said, after a quick scout down the features list (both planned and incorporated) and 2 hours worth of gameplay in the pre-alpha tech demo <available here>, my mind was changed pretty quickly.

The game starts off with a few brief tutorial missions, which help give you some story backdrop as well as instructions and experience which will be valuable from the word "GO". You've taken refuge in an abandoned house in some suburbs in order to treat an injury your wife has sustained and in doing so must learn to make first-aid materials, properly secure a building, as well as scout and prepare food to survive on. You quickly learn that you could make the most impenetrable fortress of a house ever, but as long as you're not well stocked on supplies, you'll soon starve within thanks to a very thorough 'needs system'. I use the term 'needs' loosely, since it goes so much further than that. Several states are included, and examples shown from top to bottom here are: "panic", which reduces your accuracy the more panicked you are; "bleeding", which arises from sustaining an injury and slowly depletes your health; "injured" which, believe it or not, tells you that you have an injury; and "pain", which can have many adverse side-effects such as preventing you sleeping.
Despite all these ailments, however, the hunger icon represented in green at the bottom shows that I am 'well-fed' which provides buffs such as faster healing and additional strength. The game even goes as far as to include states such as "boredom", "depression" and "loneliness", which instantly goes much further than any game on the market and adds an interesting layer of game-play to which I would tip my hat, if they suited me.

Exploration seems to be a major part of the game, owing to the fact you must forage for what you need throughout the city in abandoned buildings and supermarkets, but how you do so and at what times greatly determines the odds of your success. I thoroughly enjoyed travelling by daylight when zombies are more sparse and raiding a few buildings, and feeling a sense of urgency to be back by nightfall. The amount of zombies that spawn at night is incredible and odds of survival are outrageously slim, meaning the need for at least one established "base" is pretty much unquestionable - somewhere you can hide at night to heal, eat, sleep safely, store unneeded items and craft all manner of useful items and weapons certainly has a charm to it, as well as being a survival necessity.

Onto the AI of enemies itself (since you'll meet armed enemy raiders as well as zombies), I was again pleasantly surprised at the levels of intelligence they showed. Enemies will be able to hear you if you're too noisy, and see you through windows if you neglect to board them up or produce make-shift curtains out of bedsheets. They seem to stick together, too, so it only takes one stray zombie following you to your home until you have more and more stragglers forming a horde trying to break down your door to make a delicious supper out of your intestines. Settings off alarms, too, will bring swarms of zombies your way which adds to the need to move quickly and quietly.

In terms of combat, there's not really much to expect from an undead brain-muncher; your typical zombie isn't too bright, moves with others and will go for an all-out attack with little thought, which is mainly what you see when you traverse the streets. What can be surprising, although it's a nice touch, is when you're exploring a building, heading into a room where you can't quite see every corner, only to have a zombie lurch a surprise attack at you. I definitely learnt the hard way to keep my wits about me.

On the whole, I still had some misgivings about the game - weapons and items are limited, and a co-operative multiplayer mode would add a whole new layer of interaction. At the moment, though, I don't think it would be too fair to go into the negatives, since the game is still in the alpha stages of development and so the developers have a lot of chance to iron out bugs and incorporate a lot of features.
Taking that into consideration, my viewpoint on this game is largely positive; the mechanics and immersion are fantastic and the isometric viewpoint and slightly retro graphics are pretty charming for a game in this day and age. I'll definitely be paying close attention to updates in the near future, and while it's a low price of £5, I'd recommend snatching this little number up!

Sam's rating: 7.2/10