The War Z

So, I wanted to do my armor post, but I still don't have the picture I want to use.  Thus, I decided to do a post about The War Z, as I said I would yesterday.  In order to do an accurate post, I had to play it again.  I dreaded the thought.  Here is why I hate this game, and want so badly not to, and will probably keep playing it.  Bare in mind, the game is currently in public alpha testing right now.

First and foremost, the community of The War Z.  These people are divided into two groups: the care bears and the PKers.  Why care bears, you ask?  Because the PKers are all wankers, and that is the name of people playing War Z that don't enjoy Player vs Player (or PvP).  PKers stands for Player Killers, and as the name suggests, they enjoy PvP.  This division in the community will ultimately result in one thing: one of these sides will quit this game after all is said and done.  Honestly, I find most human beings to be total ass-hats, and don't really care which way the balance tips.  I'm a roleplayer, I came to roleplay.  If I want to play an MMORPG, I can play World of Warcraft.  If I want to play a multiplayer shooter, I can play... damn, what shooter do I currently play multiplayer on?  Oh, wait.  I stopped playing multiplayer shooters because of all the ass-hats.  Right, well, moving on then.


I think I skipped something: what the game is about.  So, five years ago (in game), the zombie apocalypse occurred, and now the survivors are left to explore the same towns over and over again, looking for flashlights, bags of chips, granola bars, bottles of water, hammers (to kill each other with), silly headgear, and maybe even guns.  The way I described it sounds boring, yes?  Well, here's a news flash for you: survival games are boring.  The PKers will have you believe that without PvP, War Z will be boring.  The fact is, its already boring, and if you want to shoot people so bad, play ANY other shooter.  The care bears are like me, they want a simulation.  They don't care how boring it is, they want to just live.  Living is really hard when people charge you with a hammer when you have nothing, but there lies the cycle of arguments that the community has become: PvP ruins the game, or the lack of PvP ruins the game.  Someone is going to quit.

So, before I go into more detail on my opinions, let me take you through today's adventures (term used loosely) within The War Z.  I created a brand new character (which we do often, as when they die, we can't play them for an hour, but since they lost all their stuff and Experience hasn't been implemented, we just delete them and start over - good thinking development team), and entered the world.  I decided to just Quick Join a server, so I could really get the experience of the general player.  I spawned half a mile from a town, so I ventured in looking for loot.  It was night, and I spent a good while dodging zombies until I came upon another player.  He had been watching me from behind a car.  I greeted him, he greeted back.  I backed away to show him I meant no harm.  So, he and I distrustfully started to walk together.  He turns a corner before I do and another player attacks and kills him.  I drop prone and try to hide.  That player sees me, walks up, and beats me to death with a hammer (which is easier than it sounds).  Time!  How long did I last?  Seven minutes.  It took seven minutes for another player to kill me... for no reason.

So, I made a new character.  This time, I selected a low population server (around 12 players).  Honestly, this life was a bit of a blur.  I found some stuff, some shmuck killed me.  It took eight minutes this time!  Improvement!

Then, I made a new character, his name: Not Gonna Fight.  I found me the lowest population server on the list: six players.  By the time I joined it had gone up to ten, where it remained throughout my play.  I spawned near the town I went into the first life, and said "frill that."  I went north, because I remember someone saying there was a helicopter crash that had guns, and at this point I was ready to fight back... despite the fact that I named myself Not Gonna Fight, which was, in fact, a LIE.

I did not find a helicopter crash, but instead a small village that I had never seen before.  I found a hammer, loads of water, and some food.  I equipped the hammer, and then just stood there.  I wasn't roleplaying, so what was there to do?  I thought about making for the Safe Settlement, where I could log out in peace, but I hadn't gathered anything of value, other then my prized hammer.  I was in a part of the map I had never explored, and I decided exploration was the best thing I could do.

Much to my surprise, I found another town!  Where had these been hiding?  This time, there were actually zombies here.  So, I scouted and prepared to enter.  I explored my first building, finding some food.  I was heading the the adjacent building, when someone emerged from it.  We both backed away, and he threw down a flare.  I said, "What does that mean?"  And he replied, "Means dun come near!"  So, I backed off.  I spotted him trying to sneak around the buildings, and he was holding something.  My first thought was, he is going to hammer me!  So, I charged behind him and gave him two good wacks with my hammer before he took off in a sprint.  I sprinted after him like a 64-bit serial killer, swinging my hammer wildly in the air.  I realized he had no hammer, only a flare, so I ceased my pursuit.  He dived behind a tree.  I contemplated asking if he wanted to join me, but by now even I wouldn't trust myself.  He logged out, and I continued.  He name was Zeen, I think.  Zeen, if you read this, sorry, mate.  I found yet another human!  A server of ten, and three of use in the same town?  Well, I got chased by a zombie, survived, and never saw him again.

So, I kept entering the town.  I would aggro zombies, run until they got bored, then return.  But, then I aggro'd a pair of zombies that were not getting bored!  I turned to face them, hammer at the ready.  With my mighty hammer, I killed them both.  They had hit me a little, but by now I had more healing items than food.  I realized that with this hammer, I could kill zombies with ease.  My next trek into town was not cautious.  I charged zombies, killing them where they stood.  I took what loot I wanted.  I ran into a zombie that bugged the crap out - where I could not hurt it, it could hurt me, but it couldn't move, so I ran away!  I saw a church, and thought, I shall secure that church with my hammer!  So, I rushed into the church, killed the two zombies and looted the plunder.  I found a helmet!  I put the helmet on like it was a crown given to me for killing zombies.

There I was, in the church I had made safe.  With my helmet and mighty hammer.  I realized, having a hammer made zombies completely pathetic.  I understood why every player that had killed me using a melee weapon instead of a gun had always had a hammer.  Having a hammer meant the game was easy, so why *not* PvP?  After sitting in my church for a while, proud of myself, I decided my helmet was really cool, and I wanted to stash it in my Global Inventory (which is like an offline bank).  To do that, I had to get to the Safe Settlement.

So I walked.  And walked.  And walked more.  Finally, I was there and I wasn't being shot at!  So, I logged off, and put my helmet away, never to be used because it was too cool to risk losing.  I had been playing for eighty minutes.

That pretty much sums it up, actually.  That is The War Z as it currently exists.  Zombies are pathetic.  Once you get a hammer, it becomes Mad Max instead of a zombie apocalypse.  Hopefully, as we are still in alpha testing, zombies will get much more threatening, otherwise this game is done before it begins.  I would love to roleplay on a private sevrer (which I plan on renting), but if zombies are this lame, there is almost no way to emerse one's self in the world.  Is PvP necessary?  On public servers, yes.  That paranoia is the only thing stopping me from going town by town with my hammer, killing all the zombies.  Do I enjoy it?  Not really.

I give this game a month after release to make me not regret paying thirty dollars for it (plus fifteen for a month of private server).  I'll probably revisit it on this blog in the future.