Remember the panic over H1N1? Well, imagine how much worse it would have been if it involved zombies! The recent trailer didn’t just make zombie-killer fans happy, but should’ve made pro wrestling fans happy as well with the use of one of AJ Styles’s final TNA Wrestling themes in “Evil Ways”. Zombie survival is a notable genre now, and H1Z1 is set to be the first MMO with that backdrop. The Planetside 2 engine is being used for the game, and given how fantastic that was, this should follow in its footsteps really well.
H1Z1 is due out later this year for the PlayStation 4 and PC via Steam. Item-crafting is a huge part of the game. You’ll use that for your weapons, and also be able to use the system to build things like a tool shed. Improvised weapons can be crafted as well. You can craft a variety of shelters, and there’s a risk/reward part in there as you can make a shoddy shelter quickly or make a better one and take more time. Taking more time means you’ll make more noise and you stand a greater chance at alerting enemies. Similarly, that mechanic is at play in the item setup. You can get some dirty water quickly to hydrate yourself, but you’ll fall ill quickly – making it a short-term fix. A longer-term solution is to get a dew catcher for fresh water buildup at all times.
A swarm of zombies during a scavenging run was dispatched with an assault rifle, but the noise from the gun just brought more ghouls to the party. High-power weapons like the assault rifle are not available through crafting, so they must be found. These weapons (and their bullets) are a limited and precious resource, so players must resort to throwing spears or using hatchets and other basic weapons to deliver death to the undead – and each other.
H1Z1 is expected to move into an early access phase soon.
