I’ve been thinking about early access games a lot over the past six months. On the surface it seems like an incredible way for small game developers to raise the capital to get their games made and for the gamers to see behind the curtain and have input into development. And when things go really… Continue reading Early Access Doesn’t Work. At Least Not for Me. Most of the Time.
I’ve been playing a lot of 7 Days to Die over the past couple of months. (In fact, I wrote an early release review of it that you can check out here.)
One of the things that has struck me about 7 Days to Die is how in-depth the game is when it comes to surviving in it, so much so that shortly after I started playing I started taking notes and writing down little epiphanies that I had as I played.
In an effort to help people who are new to this game, I would like to share some thoughts I’ve gleaned as I’ve been running for my life from a throng of zombies.
Nearly everything that you find in 7 Days to Die has a purpose. As such, you should always be gathering items from the world. Most commonly, I am always picking up small stones. They are literally everywhere you go in-game and are used in a few very important crafting recipes. The nice thing about picking up stones is that you can do it even when you are running for your life.
Even though I say you should always be gathering....
Be mindful of what you need most at all times and try to gather that class of items. Also, be thinking of what your secondary and tertiary needs are as well, and so on.
Nothing sucks more in a game than when you find a good piece of loot and you don't have the inventory space to pick it up. This is compounded in 7 Days to Die when you have a zombie—or twelve—bearing down on you intent on making you a member of their undead club.
7 Days to Die is a voxel based “survival horde crafting game” with a tower defense feel being developed by The Fun Pimps. Set in a post World War 3 apocalyptic world where a new virus causes dead human beings to return from the dead as zombies, you must gather resources and the knowledge to use them to survive. And right now, it looks to be one of the best, if not the best, zombie genre games ever.
Think survival horror meets Minecraft and you've got a good idea of what this game is like.
If you're like me, you love the zombie genre, but are sick of all the half-assed attempts at zombie survival games out there. Well, be sick no longer, friend. 7 Days to Die is the elixir you've been waiting for!
The first thing you're going to notice when you start up your first single player game or multi-player server is the huge amount of customization available in the setup menus. Whether you want a Walking Dead style game experience, 28 Days Later type, or something in between, it can be done in the setup menus. I assure you though, the first thing you're going to want to do when you start up is to turn the difficulty and zombie spawn rate down.
This game can be very unforgiving at “normal” settings. You've been warned.
I play free to play games.
There's lots of reasons why, but here are the important bits.
First, and foremost, I’ve become a bit of a penny pincher in my middle age. Money doesn't exactly flow freely and I find it hard to justify paying $60 for a video game. When you add the quality issue that a lot of video games seem to have on release lately (looking at you Watchdogs and Destiny), it just becomes foolish to buy most new titles.
Don't get me wrong. I’m happy to support a game when I have the money and the game is really worth it.
This is why I’ve taken to Free to Play (F2P) games in the last year or two. I’m not saying I don't play anything else, but when I’m looking for something new, that's where I start. Because of this I’ve come to realize what makes a F2P game work.
It comes down to playability, respect, and value.
Playability
When it works, the game is a fully realized concept. From controls to design, the game functions as it was intended to. The controls are smooth and react as you would expect them to and the game has very few bugs and is playable “right out of the box.”
When it doesn't work, the game is full of holes. It can be any mix of terrible controls, half-realized game mechanics, story, and bugs. In my experience, some of the really bad F2P games hide these shortcomings behind a pay wall where they only become evident once a player gets beyond that wall. For an example of this check out Regina and Rhonda's review of Swordsman on GoG podcast episode 125 and Rhonda's companion piece.
So I’m back playing World of Warcraft again. Even though I swore I would never be back again. I did pretty well though. I stayed away for around 3 years. Why I’m back is a story for another time. Why the fact that I am back is relevant to a review is this: I… Continue reading Review: World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor
Well, I think we're almost done here. I started this article series back in July thanks to my mother needing a little help understanding gamer speak. I’ve talked to her off and on over the course of this series and she's told me that she thinks it's helped her. I hope it's helped others… Continue reading Gaming Terminology Primer: Wrap Up
I was originally introduced to the world of PC strategy games by way of Command and Conquer and spent many an hour on my mother's computer playing it. Today, I hope to teach you a bit about my second video game obsession — Strategy Games: A game genre where the player acquires resources or territory,… Continue reading Gaming Terminology Primer: Strategy games
Today we are going to tackle the genre of shooter games. This is the genre that pulled me hook, line, and sinker into the realm of online PC gaming. (In this instance “PC” means Personal Computer and not Player Character.) Shooter Games: A game genre where the player's avatar, either in first person or third… Continue reading Gaming Terminology Primer: Shooters
In my last article I mentioned I would teach you to speak like a professional elf. So, let's get to it, shall we? Role Playing Game: A game genre where the player takes on the role of the main character or guides a party of characters through a storyline in a fictional setting. Seems pretty… Continue reading Gaming Terminology Primer: RPGs
So, recently my mother started checking out Game on Girl. She's been gaming on PC since the good old days of Doom and Hexen. She still plays Diablo 2 from time to time, as well as various games on other platforms. She told me that she really liked my articles (thanks, Mom!), but that she… Continue reading Gaming Terminology Primer: Introduction
