Project Zomboid

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Game Information
Release Date: 12/29/14
Developers: The Indie Stone
Publishers: The Indie Stone
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Mac, Linux
Genre: Role-playing, Survival Horror
Players: Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Rating: 8.1/10

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Synopsis

Project Zomboid is a top down Zombie Survival RPG based in an apocalyptic abandoned suburban like environment. Starvation, illness, loneliness, depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide, insanity, trust issues. Theres more to zombie survival than shooting zombie heads off. Do you have what it takes to survive?

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Gameplay

Entering the menu is the first part of starting up your game. Choosing from different skills and making your character just the way you want him to for the impending apocalypse ahead. This game makes the skill system more realistic though. While you can choose skills that work to your advantage, you will have to choose other disadvantaging skills to balance your skill points back to zero(example below). Once you have done all that and you've started up your first playthrough, you may wonder, "Where do I even start?". That's exactly what the game developers were shooting for. They wanted you to start confused and wondering what to do with yourself, just like you would be if you actually woke up in a random suburban home in the center of a zombie apocalypse. And I have to say that I personally like that. While any game can lay out the steps for you, this one purposefully starts you off with nothing and makes you build yourself from the bottom up. And yes, there is oh so much to learn. Did you know you could collect rain in a barrel so that you could have drinking water, or that you can build your own protective forts out of building materials? I bet not and for some of these things you just may need to use that handy wiki. On top of that, they even have player emotions/feelings(IE: Hunger, Thirst) and things that calm/raise them. Is your character nervous? Use a pack of cigarettes. Is he really tired? Go to a nearby house and take a nap. The total immersion factor is what really hooked me and hooks most players and its what makes the game so great.

Skill System Example

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Graphics

The game, while very entertaining, lacks in the graphics department. Like most top down games, it has a retro-esque feel to it and its heavy use of sprite animations only makes it look less appealing. With that being said, the environment is still beautiful and large, with a variation of different colors that hold realism to the real world(Sorry but you probably will not find a pink house). These colors, while abundant, are dull like most of the other added colors as to give to the depressing mood of the apocalypse. Character and zombie detail is where the game starts to really lack. The detail in the faces and clothes is very poor and its hard to discern the faces of yours and other characters. In my opinion, they look somewhat like blobs. With that being said, this is a game that should be able to run on even the worst of computer and still look decent, but overall the graphics aren't a visual masterpiece, and in some cases they can be a visual blight.

Graphics

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Controls

The controls for this game are pretty straight forward and simple. Your a-typical
W-A-S-D and shift to run system. The inventories however can sometimes be a bit difficult. Trying to access the inventory of cabinets or other loot holding containers can sometimes be tiresome as you have to try to stand right in front of the container you are trying to loot most times. Otherwise the controls are fairly simple and easy to learn. My personal favorite part of the controls is how some of these can affect gameplay. When running, more zombies will be attracted and you will be fatigued faster, or when pressing your assigned attack bind, pressing it in just the right area at just the right time can be the difference between a kill, a knock down, or a simple push.

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Ratings (Personal)
Game play: 8/10
Graphics: 6/10
Controls: 9/10
Overall: 8.1/10