Recent reviews by skuff

Ok, I think I have put enough hours into this game now to give it a fair review. I'm around 50 hours at the time of this review.

Well, what a big week for SOE. A massively rocky start to the early access with huge 3 hour queues and CTD's etc etc to a stable running game with plenty of servers for all. So fair play to them for that.

Obvioulsy we need to compare this game to DayZ, and some things are better and some are worse, but this game is in Early Alpha wheras DayZ in in some sort of limbo-alpha-♥♥♥♥ knows what state.

Combat: Definately better on H1.

Melee, although a bit of a random swing and hope fest it's still kinda fun, punches feel like they have real impact to them than weapons though right now and a running uppercut can send your enemies head flying upwards! One problem is as everyone looks the same if you get in a fight with a friend vs enemies you cannot tell who is who most of the time which is a massive pain in the ass. The melee area needs more wrok for sure but it has a fairly solid foundation.

Ranged are the shining light of this whole game for me, the mechanics are solid. Much more so than DayZ imo. The Bow and Arrow is aot of fun and easily obtainable very early game. It gives you a legit way of defending yourself against better geared players as one perfectly aimed headshot and it's GG for your enemy. (although the crash helmet offers limited headshot protection.) Guns feel good, a nice weight behind them and impacts feel about right. With this solid a foundation in this aea, with a very limited variety of weapons this only bodes well for the future.

The map, is very similar in look (graphics wise) to DayZ, but much much smaller. Although a much larger map must surely be on it's way in the future. There's just one big town and one medium sized town with a few villages spattered around the place so everyone just ends up at either Pleasant Valley or Blackberry (as we call it :) ) No military bases, only one police station that is camped by hackers most of the time makes it not much of a fun place to be if you don't have some firepower!

LOOT: Well, this sucks. Hardly anything worth scavenging unless the servers have reset recently and then there is TOO much loot, it's everywhere. This is the most important fix that SOE need to make, and fast. Containers are 99% empty, loot is super scarce. Not only does it make scavenging dull and unrewarding, it means that almost all encounters with humans will end in pvp, especially if you have a backpack! It really would be nice if players worked together vs the Zombies (yes I know there are PvE realms) but the chance of getting your hands on someone elses gear is too exciting to pass up the chance and be nice!

This is half the fault of the ZOMBIES themselves though. There just isn't enough of them around. The ones that are, are great though. They come in diferent flavours of speed. Some shuffle, some walk, and some sprint at you. They can do decent-ish damage and it feels good to headshot them with your bow. Again, a solid foundation on an area that needs a lot of work. Much, much better than DayZ's attempt at Z's though as they cant run through walls and can make it up stairs for a start!

Crafting. Amazing. This is what is going to make this game. From crafting a makeshift bow and arrows early on to complete fortresses if that's what you want to do. This aspect of the game should be exploited to the max by the dev's. When loot drops properly and things like metal are easie to come by crafting will be so satisfying. I can't wait to see where SOE take this, hopefully to it's maximum potential.

Sound: Needs work! You get eerie music at random occasions and clipping on and off when you crouch/stand. Weird and doesn't work well. Footsteps are fine but they are the same when you are creeping so it's impossible to sneak up on someone if they are being attentive. All of these things can and will be fixed in good time I am sure.

Conclusion:

I've had a ton of fun in this game, on my own and with real life friends and even made a few new friends along the way. There's obvioulsy some d1ckh3ads in the game that will drive you nuts but that's what makes this genre of game so unique. I've KOS, I've been KOS'd I've been friendly, I've been evil! I've spent hours in the woods killing animals and living off the land! I've sat in buildings trying to snipe any unsuspecting passer by. All in a days fun in H1Z1!