2026 Update:
This game has finally matured and feels like ArmA Operation Arrowhead did.
I plan on assisting mod development.

2016 Original Review:

Why previously negative?:
This review is negative because I do not want someone who wants a completely unflawed and bug free game experience, to purchase this game in expectance of a perfect survival simulator.

TL;DR at bottom
I want to start off with a disclaimer that you should not buy this game in it’s current state unless you know for sure what you are getting and accepting of what it is. If you are prepared to deal with bugs on occasion, then by all means, buy the game. I also want to mention that it has become very hard to play alone due to the developers creating a new loot spawn system where the can make the coast (where you spawn) very barren in terms of loot spawns, and the inland areas (where lots of groups and geared players reside) spawn much better and higher quantities of loot. A positive to this though, is that with the new loot system came an engine revamp, and now the game uses DirectX 11 and a lot more GPU power, causing people to achieve much higher frames than ever before. If you’re reading this review right now and you’re yet to purchase the game, you might be wondering, “Well, what exactly am I getting?” I’ll tell you what you’re getting.

Before I start off, I want to tell you that you should play on servers with a lower ping (how much time it takes for the server to communicate with your computer, measured in milliseconds). There are currently nasty netcode bugs that interrupt almost all parts of the game, however, they can be reduced by playing on a server with lower ping as aforementioned.

You’re purchasing DayZ, an unscripted survival game which has literally infinite possibilities of what can happen during gameplay. You log into a server, and you spawn into the map in a random area in one of the preplanned spawn points. If you open your inventory by pressing Tab, you’ll see that you have basic clothing, a road flare and a rag. Now if you’re an experienced player, you’ll look around and see where you’ve spawned. Most of the time, someone who has more than 300 hours of gameplay can identify where they have spawned, and a player with 1000 hours or more of gameplay can essentially identify where they are instantly, however, this is not you. You are a new player.

The inability to identify where you are may come as frustrating at first. Perhaps you want to get the a military base to pick up some sweet firearms to defend yourself with? This is impossible to do without knowing where you are first, unless you head in the right direction without even realizing it. Know that this is part of the game, and if you play enough you will memorize the map quickly. Memorizing the map may seem difficult, however, it isn’t nearly as daunting as it seems. Over the many lives you will live in DayZ, you will notice that you ‘recognize this place’ more often than not.

Pathfinding is just one of the struggles involved in playing DayZ. Another grand struggle in this amazing game is the threat of fellow survivors. Imagine yourself, all alone running through a thick forest. You think you’re heading to the large western military base, but you don’t know whether you’re heading in the correct direction or not due to your newness to the game. You have a constant feeling of fear as you do not have any weapon in your possession except for your splitting axe. What if somebody with a gun crosses paths with you and poses an extremely unfair threat? What kind of fight would that be? An axe versus a carbine rifle is something you’d never experience in any other game. You heed not at all to the numerous trees that surround you, and you’re very ambitious to get to that military base you’ve heard rumors of. The very basic footstep sounds are annoying you, the constant crunching noise against the ground is enough to make you lose your sanity. The annoyance of your jogging shoes hitting the ground is broken by a distant noise, unmistakably a gunshot. The noise isn’t even far either. Your heart rate picks up as the frenzy of questions pass through your mind. Am I being shot at? If not, then who are they shooting at? You hear another shot, but this time it’s followed by a snapping noise. You’re worst fear has been confirmed, you are being fired upon. You hear another shot and a fleshy impact noise, your screen turns black with a small amount of text displayed which gradually comes into view.

“You are dead”.

That’s right, everything you had worked for on the character, though it may not be much, is now gone. All of those cans of beans you had stored in your taloon backpack now belong to the person who fired upon you. Imagine coming into contact with fate if you had the gear of the person that shot you? That’s where even more pressure comes in, hours and hours of looting, and days of surviving, all leading up to a single bullet fired into your skull. It’s extremely brutal, but that’s the game you’re getting, it’s DayZ.

Permadeath may not be your cup of tea, I mean, who really enjoys losing all of their progress from one idiotic mistake? It’s what makes DayZ what it is, it is known for being a host of extremely rough yet realistic gameplay. I’d like to say that you can avoid these mistakes by simply playing smart, however that isn’t the case.

This brings me back to the point where I brought up playing on servers with good ping. Unfortunately, DayZ has a bit more than it’s unforgiving environment that you have to worry about, the game is victim to lots and lots of bugs. You may find yourself running through a forest one day, your run on top of a rock and think nothing of it. All of a sudden you see the dreaded “You are dead” screen. Why? You didn’t hear any gunshots, and your screen had full color which signifies good health. What happened was one of the netcode bugs. The server’s idea of where you are and your client’s representation can be two very different things. You might have been in an elevated house at one point. The server might still think you’re at that elevation. As soon as you stepped on the rock, the elevation increased a lot in a short amount of time. As soon as you step off of the rock, the server thinks you fell out of the building from earlier which will result in a death.

Another very important example of glitches to bring up are that there are glitches with player movement animation. For instance, a player can be stuck in the swimming animation long after they get out of water. During this period they can pull out guns and use them, leaving only their head exposed, with their body under the ground while they see the screen normally as if they were standing up. Combine this with poor netcode, and it will be hard to hit the player’s head. You will be long dead before you can even hit a shot. Fortunately, these glitches can be avoided on private hive servers, as people are swiftly banned from them for exploiting the game.

If you are prepared to experience bugs, and are okay with them, then by all means, purchase the game. However, to the general people who want an unflawed experience with no bugs, I wouldn't recommend this game to you, because at some point you will deal with the bugs that unfortunately come with this beautiful game.

TL;DR
DayZ is a very diverse and fun game, however it comes with lots of unnecessary bugs and glitches. It’s far from finished, but the developers recently revamped the engine and the game runs much smoother now. DayZ provides an experience like no other game when there are no glitches affecting your experience, and when a glitch does cause you to lose your progress or cause something similarly negative to happen, it’s very upsetting. If you'd like to have an unflawed and glitchless game, then do not purchase this game. If you'd like a good survival experience, and are okay with bugs, then you should be fine.