DayZ

Don't even try to play on official servers — only community ones. Officials are flooded with cheaters, and the devs don't care about the anti-cheat system

Joined PVE server to get grips on the mechanics of the game first.
First 10 minutes I am shot by a another player.
Joins PVP server, gets chased by zombies all the way to the top of an apartment like building to only get stuck at the top when I closed the door. Only way is to jump off.
I jump off thinking I will die.
I fall and break my legs only to pass out moments later.
I wake up thinking zombie will eat me,
I try walking to it to put me out of my misery and give em a lunch.
I pass out from the pain of the broken legs before I can get to him.
I decide to crawl to the zombie and the zombie beats me up and knocks me out twice before dying.
I believe he tenderized me before eating.
The fact I remember this much from my experience I can tell this game is something special.
I am glad I finally tried it.

great game. needs more vanilla faction servers. too many players play these ultra modded pvp servers with traders and weird mods. But an amazing game

Do not buy this game, the players will make you do sus stuff unconsencually. Ive playing video games for 15 years this is the first time i genuinely felt uncomfortable playing a video game. DO NOT BUY THIS GAME

empty, boring walking simulator. janky mechanics and a non interactive world. the houses are empty and loot few and far between. i regret this purchase and i got it half price.

This game is a mess. Searching for a server is horrible. I can't even click on one because it's loading thousands of servers at once so it's always scrolling. I can't sort by type I can only search words. When I search a keyword it will SOMETIMES give a result, but sometimes I have to search several times before the server my friend saw shows up for me. Then when I try to join it the game tells me I don't have the required mods. I started the game with the option for no mods, so the game knows I have no mods, why am I seeing thousands of servers that I can't join? When I finally found a server I can join the game crashed. What a joke. Deleted the game and I'm never supporting these lazy devs on any of their future projects.

I came from Arma mods, years ago. It's very similar, but I would always suggest community servers for better gameplay. Running simulator can be way more fun with mods.

dont know what you were thinking with this battleye thing but boy it works that good it dont let you in the game to evern think about cheating. four times ive downloaded this game reset my pc and updated and deleted everything to get it to work but nope, dont wont to do it, best i got was around 4mins playing time. keeps kicking me. not worth the stress nor the cost. and to top it off it counnts being kicked loading and just in the lobby as game playing time, good job i took screen shots and recordings, im to trading standards, good luck guys

Spawned and beaten to death by bear, then zombies, then another player, then another player. Survived for a while, drank water and caught a disease, died. Spawned, found clean water, found clean food, didnt wash hands, got a disease, dies again. Spawn, found food, water, cave to live in, killed animals, washed hands, handcuffed in my sleep, slowly bled out by cannibal players "So i'd taste better", eaten. Love this game 10\10 would recommend.

You are walking down a street with a plum. You've got a glow stick for some reason. Your world goes black. You wait.
You wait.




You wait.
You realise its YOU who has to hit ESC and respawn.
You click respawn.

Your in a field with an apple.

10/10

Would play again.

fun apocalyptic looter survival game. this game is so good because of how much freedom you have. you can almost do anything in this game. you can make make factions with other people, build bases on houses, team up with people to fight off a bigger problem, meet new people, and just generally have a good time in dayz. though you always have to watch your back for many factors such as sickness, infected, wildlife, and most importantly, players. players are the most dangerous thing in this game as you both have the will to survive. if youre lucky enough you might even be able to befriend them. but never trust anyone unless you are playing with a friend outside of dayz. players can still betray you in this game, causing you to lose everything because that one dude was being friendly to you for an extra pair of hands and eyes to look for loot. overall 10/10 game if you are looking for a survival game that lets you choose how you want to play.

Great, game; if you don't think, react, anticipate, plan, adapt, you die!

You can loot for literal hours just to die in less than a second. And that is what makes the game so damn good.
The fear of loosing all your progress creates an adrenaline rush like no other game.

rage cheaters galore , literally makes game unplayable. you cant even bury your stash with out someone using esp to dig it up. my favorite is when people tp your base in the air or put my cars on roofs. youll be minding your business inside a secured building and boom dead. these people love magic bullet

good game

-you walk alot
-you starve alot
-you find a person who then turns you into a steak

I prob got about 5k hours on console so yeah this game is good

Great game, never stops to surpirse and amaze

DayZ is a tense, unpredictable survival experience like no other. From the moment you spawn in the vast open world, you're immediately aware that every decision counts. The game doesn’t hold your hand, and the struggle to survive is constant, whether it’s finding food, managing your health, or avoiding other players who might not have the same survival instincts as you. The level of immersion is remarkable; the quiet moments spent scavenging for supplies are just as intense as the heart-pounding encounters with other survivors.

The dynamic weather and day-night cycle add a layer of realism, forcing you to adapt to ever-changing conditions. The interactions with other players can range from cooperative to deadly, and it’s this unpredictability that makes DayZ so captivating. The thrill of finding another player who might become an ally or a deadly threat keeps you on edge every moment. When you finally find a group of people you can trust, the experience feels incredibly rewarding, but you never forget that danger is always lurking.

While the world is huge and open, the game can feel punishing at times due to its mechanics and occasional bugs. The slow pace and the need for constant vigilance can be tiring, and the random encounters sometimes feel more frustrating than thrilling, especially when you lose hours of progress in a single unfortunate encounter. However, these moments are part of what makes DayZ so unique—the constant balancing act between survival, trust, and the ever-present risk of betrayal or death.

DayZ is a game that rewards patience and strategy, but it’s not for everyone. If you're looking for a raw, unforgiving survival experience, though, it’s hard to beat the tension and excitement it offers.

Brilliant game. Certainly not without its flaws, but ultimately with how big the maps are and how detailed the game is its extremely impressive. The game has fantastic mechanics, the graphics aren't the best but with these types of games you are paying for game play over pretty visuals. I would say to any new player, give it time... You will suck, you will die and you will get lost, however embrace it. It will eventually start to click.

This game has something about that always draws me back... The people in this game is crazy and create each playthrough a unique story that you can tell your kids in a scary campfire story. The mechanics are also good but somewhat janky.

Give this game a try. It will be slow. Try talking to some people. You will make friends. You will make enemies. You will have fun. Remember, even though its a zombie game, the scariest thing is not the zombies but the players in this game

Dayz has been around since 2012 as an Arma 2 mod, and yet it still feels like an unfinished garbage product.

Bad controls, over complicated UI, mediocre graphics, and subpar gameplay. Not worth full price.

Here is the thing... this game is amazing, can't believe it took me this many years to find it. However, their servers are horrible. If want to enjoy an amazing game and then aggravate the crap out of yourself. Try playing this during peak times when the servers will toss you constantly for an unstable connection. Interestingly, they say its your connection even though every single other game that you play, never punts your or blames your connection.

10 - 11 years ago I had a friend tell me about this mod that people were playing set in a zombie apocalypse (I know... they're infected..) he thought I should check it out. I gave the game a watch on yt, then played the mod, then standalone a bit and so on. I took a massive break from the game, mostly because, life, career, kids, etc. I don't remember what update it was when I came back to the game, but I believe it was around 1.23.

There is no real reason why it shouldn't be an abject failure. There is no real story or purpose, It is unfair, it doesn't respect your time, it will not tell you anything. You will die over and over and when you finally get past zombies, starvation, dehydration, sickness, you will be shot in the back, at a well, as a freshie, for literally no reason. But there is nothing else like it.

I've had more adventures and experienced more unforgettable stories than any other game I have played. It has made me literally sweat, shake, yell and randomly… made me much better at navigation on irl hikes.

Its a lot like hunting, you mostly do nothing, looking at nature for hours and hours and hours, stopping because you thought you heard a sound… then, out of nowhere, for 5 - 10 minutes you experience all emotions, all at once, in rapid succession and you're hooked.

Moral of the story, Its good, Sakhal is good, 1.26 and 1.27 have been phenomenal updates, cheating on official isn't as bad as some people like to make it out to be. The community by and large is very good, the community servers are as well. There are tons of streamers/yt’s making enjoyable content, if you like to watch what you play. And the modding community/map designers are incredible and we are lucky to have them in addition to the Dev team at BI.

get it and get a mic

Honestly Its always impossible to log in to servers with me. Iv barley played this game due to the fact that no matter what I do to fix servers not launching. Iv been able to log in a hand full of times but i'm sure it was out of luck, because when I would get in it was always cuz I restarted my computer a bazillion times over and over trying other bug fixes for the game. I cant ever pin point why the launcher seas its launching my games but doesn't.

This is a hardcore game for not zommers definitely :D It requires patience and love for games actually, and also being cautious and attentive. Btw, if you're into first Stalker aesthetic, you'll love this one for sure.

Despite all the drawbacks you may encout, this is a must have playing. Even in a few hrs this gonna give u an uniqe exp.
At this momment, idk is it worth spending houndres of hrs, but at a small try definitely worth it.

Survive if you can ;) ......

In theory an incredible game. Many call it an experience, and i have to agree. I've watched a lot of videos and streams on Youtube and Twitch when i wanted to feel the solo survivor adrenaline check...that was about it really.

The game fails on a couple fundamental things to me: ease of use and scope.

I personally love games with a deep and intricate Wiki but it has to be regarding content, not tutorials. There is no direction ingame regarding how to actually play and i think that's kinda inexcusable. Even Dark Souls 1 has a somewhat tutorial, even if rudimental.

Commands and actions are sloppy. Zombie movements and attacks are rough and they're more of a nuisance rather than a real danger. Why add zombies in the first place if they're just annoying and not dangerous?

Where is the loot? No, like, really, where - the hell - is - the - loot. Run for 10 minutes, scout every house. You've found a worn out sweater! OH... sweet. I guess i'm playing on a high populated server... wait, why it's all black? Oh right, i've died.

A smartass player gunned me down, little he knows his loot will be an apple and a pair of dirty socks. Cool?

That's the thing, you either play on highly populated servers where everything was scooped up and you're left starving OR you join some deserted server, loot everything your heart desires and...that's it. You loot.

There is no goal. There is no destination. F**k there is not even a journey if you ask me. It's all so barren. So identical. So empty.

I definitely prefer to watch super pros playing this game rather than playing it itself, because they perfectly know every single pixel of it and they don't even need to see the map to know where the best loot is. I'm personally not even enjoying the mistery of discovery myself.

/pass

realistic mechanics:
-hunt
-craft
-build camps
-zombie
-commit vehicular manslaughter with a volkswagen mk2

its okay i suppose

Worst game server ever, can't find anything. Nothing is optimized, can't find same server. Game glitches and crashes

Boring and empty.
Most houses have nothing to loot, the graphics are outdated, and the game feels like it had minimal effort in development. Not worth more than $10, and even on sale at $24, I regret buying it. Refunding within my 2-hour window

I don't know how they managed to regress so far from an Arma 2 mod that came out over 10 years ago, but my god is this game terrible.

>Stop playing this awful game after 44 minutes and plan to refund in the morning
>Close the game, but not the launcher
>Launcher open means I'm "playing DayZ for 18 hours" and can no longer get my money back from this dead inside scam shell of a 'product'

Please god if you're thinking about buying this game because you want to relive the Arma 2 days, don't. Stay far away. Let those memories be good memories.

There's no loot. Seriously, I know you're thinking "c'mon, how bad can it really be?" It's worse. I hope you like playing dress up, because the only thing you will find is clothing, clothes, and apparel.

You will be tasked with running a marathon for the prospect of finding anything other than Capri pants. Your hunger will drop rapidly while you sprint through the rain. You will try to eat the Capris because that is all you have. You cannot eat wet pants (in this game).

If a genie granted me three wishes, my first would be to erase this game from Steam. My second would be to put the devs, publisher, or whoever is actually responsible for this cesspool of spaghetti code through game design school to learn how to make literally anything better than this. My third would probably be wet Capri pants.

run around for 15 hours get geared up than die to some virgin with 15k hours

First life. Spawn in om the coast and look around, I am at some military base. It is night time, and my friend is 4 towns over. I crack the glowstick in my pocket, and start walking down the road. Find a shed, gets a flashlight. Lovely. Turn it on and continue traveling when I hear something behind me. Turn around, and just outside my flashlight beam is another person. We both crouch twice, and I turn back around and continue walking. They follow me. I turn around when I hit the next town, now, there are two of them. We crouch twice, and continue walking. I check behind me once I encounter a bridge. Now there are four of them, holding what appears to be the following items: A shovel, a pipe wrench, a can of beans, and a small pistol. I crouch twice, but am met with all four of them sprinting towards me. In pure panic, I run, and find a building to duck inside. Thinking quickly, I throw my glowstick into the road, and like moths, they swarm it, crouching in a circle in what I can only describe as a cult ritual. I narrowly escaped with my life, running and never looking back. 10 / 10

After over 1000 hours of playing this game while still in alpha years ago, I put it down. After seeing a Youtube video of someone playing Livonia recently, I decided to download and try it again.

This is my favorite game of all time. Though it can be extremely frustrating and gut wrenching to lose a character built up over hours of play and have to start completely over, therein lies the beauty of the game itself.

Honestly probably the best game around. Not only has it got me through some tough times. Ive also made some amazing friends from this game. Its beautiful, brutal, bullshit, and badass. 10 out of 10 would recommend to anyone. Just give yourself time to learn the game. Like me i would start on console. I have thousands of hours. Coming to PC is a whole new world. Be prepared.

I've almost played 100 hours now and I think that should be enough to form an opinion on a game.

I think the concept of this game is amazing. A mostly realistic post-apocalyptic survival game set in a fictional '91 post Soviet Union region on an open map of 225 square kilometers complete with towns made of enterable buildings where long-range gunfight is a thing and stealth and perception are fundamental? Leave aside the zombies, because quite frankly they're mostly scenery in this game, but... wow! I still can't get enough of it.

The execution is what drives me crazy. This game was apparently born as a mod for another game: (Arma 2 released in 2009) from which most base mechanics and assets come from. It was then trasformed into a stand-alone game in early access on 2013, and then launched in 2018. We are now in 2025, so give or take this game has been in the works for 12 years, and not even from scratch, by the same company of the original game too.

While writing this review, I am unable to join the official server on which I have my things because the game reports it as offline. However, it is not: reloading the game correctly refreshes the server list (which sometimes bugs out to show 3 servers instead of dozens) and allows me to join. Servers themselves need to be regularly restarted many times per day in order to function (memory leak?) and will still disconnect you or cause latency spikes at the worst time. These problems should simply not exist on a game with a price tag at all, let alone a game sold at 50€. (absolutely do not buy it for over 25€, and even then it's kind of a rip-off)

The development roadmap (and the respected roadmaps of the past) look like those of a dead game: it won't get fixed and you won't see substantial new features (only minor recycled ones). Not knowing these things, I bought it, and I might aswell play it some more: I enjoy it when it does function. But if you're in doubt? Probably better don't.

Absolutely worst community you could imagine. Nothing but cheaters, hackers and people who ruin the game for others. The developers are making zero effort to combat cheating/glitches. Do NOT buy this game if you have any intentions of playing the "right way".

I was one of the first testers in 2013 alpha with hundreds of hours. At that time, Dean Hall make $80mln and leaved the project. They make little updates for a couple a years (it was barely updates to be honest) and literally abandoned the development. (during that time Dayz had around 13-20% of positive reviews in steam with scam is the most popular word in reviews)
Why they succeed at the time? I think its a huge background, which Arma Dayz original mod had

Time passed, with new players, people forgot that Dayz Standalone was basically a buggy laggy fest in forever alpha state.
Bohemia hired some people for some additional "updates". But it was all the same story.

If you doubting my words, type in youtube Dayz 2013 gameplay and compare 😂

So.. what we have after 12 years of "development"?
Its basically new UI and lightning update, which make game look better in many ways. Anything else? Maybe Livonia map but man, its 12 years passed...

Just my humble opinion - its abandoned game after 2013 year when they hit the jackpot. Its still got bugs which is literally comical and "updates".. check the logs peeps - its not updates its minor quality of life improvements. If you look at animations and textures - they are all the same. And now people continue to buy their Frostline dlc. Scamfest continues 😂👍

I bought this game some time around 2016, and have probably installed/uninstalled 12 times. I've never given a game so many chances. Tried again today, and immediately ran in to a group of swedish dudes who just followed me around screaming racial slurs over voip. Although that was far more entertaining than the typical dayz experience, it couldn't make up for how incredibly janky, tedious, and uninteresting this game is. I truly do not understand its success.

when i bought this game in 2013 it was unplayable (compared to the original mod for ARMA2)
even 3-4 years later kept trying but it was still a big pile of crap with lots of unfinished features and very bad loot, they havent fixed loot respawn for years, people had to wait for the server to reboot in order to have loot respawned.
well since last year i tried this game again and i must admit at this stage i can finally recommend it, lots of content comes for free (mods) and it became a very thrilling experience. Loot does respawn, melee combat feels good (when you get used to it)
it became a survival simulator and iam addicted to it, even tho i came here to shoot people in the first place.
dont be mad when you die and have to start over again, a new beginning often feels refreshing and every story has to end somewhere right?
good luck!

Great game! That is, if you don't mind a ruthless environment killing you a few times while you learn the ropes. A great challenge for people who like survival games. Unique environment, set in a place of the world not usually shown in apocalyptic franchises. If you're a fan of exploration, hunting, raiding, roleplaying, or just surviving with your friends, it has something for everyone, even modded serves that are more pvp if that is what you want to focus on. Shoutout to the devs who don't always have the support they need, and unfortunately have ongoing issues with lag and souless hackers. Overall a great game, with lots of replayability. If you struggle at first, don't get discouraged! There are always resources out there to help you learn the game and once you do, it will be oh so rewarding.

What a piece of **** game. I came back to try it out after couple of years and its still the same under cooked, unfinished garbage that looks like it was made in a garage by two Russians. I can't believe the makers of this game can't iron out basic mechanics like combat with the zombies that after all this years still clip in to you suddenly getting behind your back and making you bleed. I wish i could refund this trash.

This game is seriously addicting, it's quickly become one of the only games I play at all. If you have any interest at all in this type of game, or even think you might, buy it, go on a server, and try and make a friend. Unforgettable experiences await.

Believe it or not the hours i have in this copy of DayZ are all in one mod that runs on DayZ, a S.T.A.L.K.E.R mod, that's the reason you probably should own DayZ .... Maybe not for DayZ itself, but for the universe of wildly varied mods that live inside its eco-system, if you like any form of FPS games, there IS a mod out there that's PERFECT for you .... Just gotta find it (wink)
Same thing goes for ARMA both offer a universe worth of varied content.

DayZ is a unique and immersive survival game that offers an intense and rewarding experience. The difficulty and realism make it enjoyable for those who love a hardcore survival challenge. However, the biggest issue is the repetitive gameplay loop after dying. Every time you die, you start from scratch, which quickly becomes frustratingg and makes frequent play sessions feel pointles.

The worst part, though, is the rampant cheating. After spending over 20 hours on a single life, fully geared and prepared, a cheater wiped out the entire server in an instant. I was playing with eight friends in different cities, and we all died at the exact same time without warning. This completely ruined our experience, and we even have proof of it.

Until the devs take cheating seriously and addres the repetitive nature of progression, its hard to recommend this game for long-term play.

Worst game I've ever played in my life. All you do is run around for 4 hours trying to find food and stay warm just to get killed by random players sitting in trees/houses. Its a game for rats. Waste of my fucking time.

I cannot recommend this game. After so many years of development, the official servers are still complete dogshit. Constant disconnects due to "unstable connection" when I have a wired fibre connection, ethernet to PC, stable 15-16 ping to the server and still getting kicked every 5-15 mins. Server quality is complete trash and this has been an issue for years. Do not buy unless you know there is a well populated community server where you will spend all of your time.

I don't think DayZ is an overall bad game, but if you have the patience and the time to sink into simply finding a server that has been freshly wiped so you dont starve to death right off the bat (takes a lot longer than you'd think), and if you have found the time to sink hours and hours into it to figure out the basic mechanics of the game, you then have to commit a week of your life to the game to make any kind of progress because people can come and loot your shit while you are away. I'm not saying I don't see where the appeal is; it's a high stakes survival game and when you drop in every decision you make affects the gameplay and there's MANY you can make. I get that. It is the multiplayer only aspect that makes and breaks this game at the same time, because other players can make it essentially impossible to learn or progress in the game. If you are a sweatlord beyond my caliber then this game is for you but I simply do not have enough sweat in my body to persperate the way this game makes me do so

spent 2 hours wandering around chasing gun shots in the distance.
found the guy
he offed himself with his last bullet
2 other bodies surrounded him
i take his magnum
my inventory says its empty
click f11 to pretend to shoot myself
it wasn't empty, i died
10/10 so far

Would be great to play alone without dealing with setting up a private server, or even if the included Dayz Server application worked without having to deal with files in Windows Explorer. Otherwise you're forced to play on an official server or community hosted server with their own rules and wipe schedules.

Once they can work out how to allow solo players to play without having to download premade .bat files or know where to find in their server files, I'd give this a second try. Also, Steam doesn't seem to enjoy trying to uninstall this, I had to manually find and remove all the Dayz files since Steam just got into a neverending status of "Uninstalling" the game.

yall need to fix the hacking situation before the wipe they are running rampped rage hacking for the past few days whats the point of wipe when they can pull all loot to them immediately as soon as they spawn in its just punishing the real players and ruining the game get maybe get a better battle eye or mods to take action on official servers and make a change cuz players cant kill the hackers its just hacks vs hacks and if you dont take charge in fixing the problem its just gonna come down to who can out hack who and the game will die off more than it already has and it forces new players to become part of the problem to fix it

the survival aspect is great same with the pvp, the pvp is quite buggy at times though,