It’s nothing to do with the crafting mechanics, the big map, or the extent to which it lets you free roam. What Project Zomboid has over The Long Dark, Sons of the Forest, DayZ, and all its competitors, is style and setting. Inspired by the original Sims, its simplistic, isometric design is consistently gorgeous. And instead of the wilderness or a long-derelict ex-city, in Zomboid, you’re fighting for life in places that look familiar from reality – if you’ve ever gazed out the window during a boring workday and started to fantasize about what you’d do if the zombie apocalypse started right now, then Project Zomboid is your game. And now it’s on sale.
It’s July. It’s 1993. Knox Country (expressly based on the real-life Knox County) has been overrun with zombies. You begin the game in your house. You need a weapon, a car, and a reliable source of canned food and water. A window smashes. They’re inside. You try to run, but there’s more outside the front door. All it takes is a single bite. What are you going to do? This is part of what makes Project Zomboid so impossible to stop playing – every decision, no matter how minor, is weighted with the possibility of death. The zombies are lethal, but the real villain is your own greediness. It’s a survival game where you have to work tirelessly to build yourself a safe haven – and where you might have to abandon everything you’ve earned, in a heartbeat.
With the release of unstable build 42 (‘unstable’ is Zomboid’s version of ‘trial’ or ‘beta’, which means features of build 42 are available to test, but aren’t fully finalized), PZ is better and more in-depth than ever. Combat is improved, the lighting system is more realistic, and you can breed animals now as a way of safeguarding a long-term food source. You might have heard about Project Zomboid before now, but never taken the decision to actually play it. If you want to try the best zombie game on PC, now is certainly the time.
From now until Monday February 17, Project Zomboid is available on Steam at a 33% discount, meaning that you’ll pay $13.39 / £11.22. If you need more convincing, of the almost 270,000 user reviews that have been posted for Zomboid so far, an enormous 94% are positive. You can get the game right here.
Alternatively, try some of the best open-world games, or maybe the best sandbox games available on PC today.
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