DayZ Standalone Sustains Position as Top Game on Steam, Purchased by 1M Gamers

Open world survival horror video game, DayZ sustains its position as Steam’s top selling game 1 month after its public release! The game was purchased and downloaded by more than 1 million people.

Buggy… as expected

The game is still in early access alpha stage. It is expected to evolve and improve in the next few months; and its more than 1 million “backers” are part of its journey to its imminent and final release. And yes, I am one of those who purchased the game and have been actively taking part in posting reviews on its page on Steam.

What is DayZ anyway?

For those of you who aren’t familiar with DayZ, the game was originally made as a mod for Arma II and Arma III. There is a mature community of gamers who play the mod version of this game. DayZ mod is free by the way. But if you wish to install and try this game out (mod version), it is required for you to purchase Arma II: Combined Operations on Steam for $24.99. Of course, most of you wouldn’t want to do that as a standalone version in alpha stage is already available. Well, if you can bear with all the bugs and unannounced character wipe-out.

The dude responsible in creating this mod is Dean Hall who now works for Bohemia Interactive. His employment to Bohemia was brought about by the success of his mod for Arma II, which quickly gained traction.

As a zombie post apocalyptic survival horror video game, your task in DayZ is to stay alive. It is open world, so it’s up to you how you’re going to live your life in the fictional Chernarus+, a vast 225 km² island. People are replaced by flesh eating zombies, so it’s up to you how if you’re going to deal with them.

Here’s my character on DayZ Standalone. Look how big this island is!

Resources are scarce in DayZ, so looting important stuff for survival is key. As a survivor, you are free to define your life as a plain survivor, hero or bandit. In DayZ, you can either live, live for others or kill fellow survivors to live. The game offers this freedom to choose although certain servers discourage or even abhor banditry.

This picture has lesser saturation because my character had already lost a bit blood.

The game values real-life circumstances, thus you can get sick or die in DayZ. For insurance, my 4th character (yes, my first 3 characters died because blood loss) got sick when I used a non-sterile rag to cover the wounds.

Inventory management is slightly similar to Diablo. Although you need to press ‘F’ if you see a lot or simply press TAB to show available and reachable loots. There is also an item hotbar if you wish to “put” something on your hand in a jiffy.

Fire stations are some of the best places to look for loots during the early stages of your game. Your next step is to look for military bases, where most high caliber armaments spawn.

System Requirements

Minimum

• OS: Windows Vista SP2 or Windows 7 SP1
• Processor: Intel Dual-Core 2.4 GHz or AMD Dual-Core Athlon 2.5 GHz
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT or AMD Radeon HD 3830 or Intel HD Graphics 4000 with 512 MB VRAM
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 10 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX®-compatible

Giancarlo Viterbo

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Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.