WarZ Alpha - Anyone playing?

[Revenge]

Hey Guys.

New to these forums, been reading for a bit while at work and decided to register.
So im sure some of you, especially the ones interested in DayZ may have heard of the new infamous Zombie Survival game by the name of WarZ.

It's actually just entered Open Stage Alpha, for the people who bought the Pioneer or Legendary version ($30-$40 at $10 discount prices). I'm looking forward to getting home to give it a go, wondering if any of you guys are playing it too.

Cheers and look forward to posting more on these forums

[Zoobi]

I've heard and seen many things about it. I'm semi-interested but waiting for release.

[Revenge]

I'll be sure to give you my feedback once im in game

[Marou]

I'll be sure to give you my feedback once im in game

Interesting, I actually hadn't heard of that. Thanks for the info. For those interested the site is here: http://thewarz.com/. I'm more interested to see what the DayZ devs manage to pull off with the standalone game, however I'm looking forward to reading your opinions. I'm of the opinion a cash shop, no matter what is in it; cheapens the idea of pure survival horror.

[VKhaun]

My CS:S/CS:GO group had a thread on this a while back. It sounds promising, but they say it plays just like Dead Island and Dead Island felt like crap to me.

[Valec]

It's supposed to be competition for DayZ but i'm pretty sure when the stand-alone comes out it's going to be much better than this nonsense. Still, it wouldn't be fair to judge it without playing it, so if I can check it out without giving them money at any point, I will.

[Revenge]

From my first day experiences in Alpha, it was... enjoyable. You play it much differently to DayZ and I see it in no way being competition to it. There are no Missions atm, or friending/clan systems in place. Alongside that you can't use the cash shop for now from my experience (And i do agree that that will be the main downfall of the game).

But aside a few crashes, and some glitchy zombies, it was fun to play. A few things i can point out that were annoyances, but are in the hotfix plans:
- Zombies kill you in 3 hits. I thought 1 hit K/O or Broken Leg zombies in DayZ were annoying :L
- Flashlights have a melee option, and you spawn with one. Problem is the damage it does is a 1 hit kill to a players back. Means the game has had similar starting as DayZ, spawn-kill fest. Its being dubbed "Flashlight Warz" on almost all servers, however i did once get on a server with more mature and friendly players.
That said, im not going to deny i didnt whack a player here or there and enjoy it, but the devs did show they knew about this, and it was in the first planned hotfix.
- You can't kill zombies with melee. At least not with Flashlight melee. While you are hitting them they are unable to strike you due to knockback (but anymore then 1 zombie and melee is not an option anymore).

For a few of the gameplay features, you spawn with a Flashlight, Bandages (Heals about 30% of your health), a Soda and a Granola Bar. You also have a consistent map in your pause/inventory menu. The running is quite annoying, as you have a stamina bar. It allows for more scary runaways from Zombies, unlike DayZ's current state, but it also is just a frustration and annoyance. It adds little to the game, and they are better off with a "shaky aim" like DayZ.

Sprinting (which drains your stamina) is a little difference between running, but is noticeable. Strafing while sprinting feels weird and seems to not work. Zombie survival without an ALT free-look feels bad, needs something to let you look around. You can only "zoom in" your view while wielding a weapon/flashlight. Jumping is a good feature, even if the animation is cruddy, it adds a new dynamic that DayZ sorely misses. The ability to see a rock or a car, or a crate and just JUMP up onto it is so amazingly good. Specially since its the only good way to lose Zombie aggro at the moment.

I didn't find any guns, but they have told us they are extremely rare. I did come across 2 guys with handguns, and heard a high powered rifle once or twice. I found a hammer, before dying to 2 zombies almost instantly while testing it out.

The map atm is pretty small. Imagine the distance from Cherno to Elektro, thats about it (30% atm apparently available). The major city was very interesting, dangerous, and atmospheric. But just like DayZ the map felt very recycled, and running is so painful with having to sprint every now and again due to stamina.

Overall im looking forward to exploring the full map, finding some weapons and vehicles, doing some missions while teamed with my clan. It is in no way a direct competitor to DayZ, its too much of a different game with different goals. If you love DayZ, and want a game like that, id suggest passing on this and just getting the DayZ standalone.

[VKhaun]

Holding alt to look around needs to be in EVERY game using first person view.
Fact.

[Marou]

Holding alt to look around needs to be in EVERY game using first person view.
Fact.

This, I never realized how huge of an innovation some of the stuff in the Arma engine was until DayZ. Now when those features are lacking it feels weird and constrictive.

[Valec]

Holding alt to look around needs to be in EVERY game using first person view.
Fact.

Couldn't agree more.

[DJive]

I picked this up for $20 a few weeks ago. I've put in roughly 15 hours?

Enjoy this game a lot. It's in Alpha, it isn't complete.. however at this point if the game succeeds or if it fails, I feel like I've enjoyed myself to justify the $20.

Much like DayZ the fun increases bountiful with teamed with some buddies and in Vent.

[Draconian]

Neck look isn't really necessary unless you have autorun. Most FPS do not. Would love it in planetside, though. :P

[VKhaun]

Neck look isn't really necessary unless you have autorun. Most FPS do not. Would love it in planetside, though. :P

Sprint is the key IMO, not auto run.

In games without sprint you can just turn the mouse and strafe towards what was 'forward' a moment ago, allowing you to turn around while moving for only a negligible loss of speed. When you add sprint you screw the whole thing over because now you have to pick between moving at speed and looking around, which -IMHO- should not be a trade off because your guy should just be able to turn his damn neck. The strafe thing was a work around when games were new, and games should have caught up by now. Instead they're adding new features without backfilling basic ones like this that were always missing.

[Draconian]

When have you ever sprinted in a moment of adrenaline and kept your neck craned to the right the entire time at a point of interest? It's not jogging/running - it's sprinting.


The best you can do is glance quickly as you hussle your ass forward. Go try to run full speed at a distant target without keeping your eyes on it and your path to it. Look to your side the entire time and run. Haven't played ArmA a ton, just tried WarZ for like a day so I don't recall, but tbh the game should disable neck craning while sprinting, or cause it to snap back after three tenths of a second while sprinting.

[VKhaun]

When have you ever sprinted in a moment of adrenaline and kept your neck craned to the right the entire time so you could make sure you didn't get flanked?


No. The best you can do is glance quickly as you hussle your ass forward. Go try to run at a distant target without keeping your eyes on it. Look to your side the entire time and run. Haven't played ArmA a ton, just tried WarZ for like a day so I don't recall, but tbh the game should disable neck craning while sprinting, or cause it to snap back after three thenths of a second while sprinting.

I don't entirely agree. I think you're writing in 'sprinting' as 'paniced and adrenaline rush' induced, but if a game developer agreed with you I would still really be fine with sprinting meaning the neck key just glanced and went back to center. Still holds control away from running until you let go so it doesn't make you turn accidentally. Have to release and hit it again to look again. It could be done, and it would serve the purpose.

[Andile™]

Perhaps would be best if it slowed your sprinting down once you turned your head for more than 2 secs.

Or if, like you said, your character's neck snapped and the head fell off.

Oh look, a pleasant breeze.

Body temperature? What are you doing? Body temperature? STAHP!

Dead.

[Sillywilly]

When have you ever sprinted in a moment of adrenaline and kept your neck craned to the right the entire time at a point of interest? It's not jogging/running - it's sprinting.


The best you can do is glance quickly as you hussle your ass forward. Go try to run full speed at a distant target without keeping your eyes on it and your path to it. Look to your side the entire time and run. Haven't played ArmA a ton, just tried WarZ for like a day so I don't recall, but tbh the game should disable neck craning while sprinting, or cause it to snap back after three tenths of a second while sprinting.

80% of your audience has probably never even jogged for more than 20 seconds, much less done a 40 yard dash type of sprint.

[Revenge]

I don't think i agree that one cannot sprint and look to the side. Sure they can't look behind them and maintain a straight line/balance. However looking at a 45, or even a 90 is extremely possible.

Even so, its necessary for a game that uses first person in any way to be able to cater for awareness that is currently not present in games. Your FOV is extremely restricted compared to real life, so this kind of system can really help, and its not like its exploitable like 3rd person.